Just Some Bloke Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 See . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 The ladder is sitting at a shallow angle, on what looks like smooth, icy ground - not a huge surprise that it slipped. I imagine this clip will be a stalwart of safety briefings for many years to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I imagine this clip will be a stalwart of safety briefings for many years to come... Makes mental note of URL.... :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 The higher of the two guys was providing a turning moment about the fulcrum of the guttering/roof edge and slippery ground makes very little difference in this sort of case. Once his partner got near that fulcrum it was inevitable. It just goes to show that even trained people can come a cropper and why solo BT linesmen tie the bottom before they set foot on a ladder on a pole. Forgot to add that the Ladder Association holds annual awards for Idiots on Ladders and their Facebook page is a useful teaching resource. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Speaking as someone who nearly died when the person footing the ladder walked off to talk to some girls... A 30ft fall and I survived because my fall was broken by a grand piano immediately under me (rather than the concrete floor) and a trained St John Ambulance medic happened to be in our crew who took charge immediately afterwards. This was a long time ago but I still get so mad when people treat the ladder-footer or tallescope guardian as an idle hand! I would not have expected a fire brigade team to go up an unbutted ladder that wasn't hooked onto anything even in perfect conditions, but what do I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 A horrible thing to happen to anyone, peter, but also an excuse to remind the inexperienced that more people die when falling from a height of 2 metres or less than all other falls combined. Fall from 30 feet the odds are that you will land on something close to your centre of gravity. Trip off a four foot stage and your head is most likely to hit first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 A 30ft fall and I survived because my fall was broken by a grand piano immediately under me It's a pity nobody was filming it - you could have been a YouTube star... Certainly sounds spectacular. Were there any ramifications for the venue or your employers? "Nearly died" would imply a length recovery period - how did that work out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 One of my pet hates is when people don't listen to instructions. We have at my summer venue a tall A frame ladder to focus the FOH truss and bars, and the safest way to erect it has been developed over the years and works safely like a dream. slide it down the aisle until one foot makes contact with the orchestra pit surround. The other foot is about six inches from anything solid, so all it takes is a foot to stop it going anywhere. One person the quickly walks it up, and when almost vertical they can simply pull out the two shorter rear supports and it is up, with minimal effort. So we tell people new to simply put their foot on the ground, keep it there and do NOT try to help. As the ladder rises, they have an uncontrollable urge to reach out and try to pull the ladder up, which immediately lifts it from their foot, and it topples back down at a angle, crashing into whoever is doing the walking up. This happened, crunching poor old Darren's left shoulder. We explained forcefully that we had said DO NOT HELP. I then demonstrated and up it went. We put it away, and then in typical theatre fashion, needed to get it out again. A new person, there when the first crunch happened volunteered to just put there foot there and do nothing else. They too were unable to resist the urge to help, and down it crashed again onto the same hurt shoulder. Two injuries to the same person, doing the same job, minutes apart. The mind boggles as to what else you can say to people other than "do Not help, just use your foot and don't move" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlinford Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 One of my pet hates is when people don't listen to instructions. We have at my summer venue a tall A frame ladder to focus the FOH truss and bars, and the safest way to erect it has been developed over the years and works safely like a dream. slide it down the aisle until one foot makes contact with the orchestra pit surround. The other foot is about six inches from anything solid, so all it takes is a foot to stop it going anywhere. One person the quickly walks it up, and when almost vertical they can simply pull out the two shorter rear supports and it is up, with minimal effort. So we tell people new to simply put their foot on the ground, keep it there and do NOT try to help. As the ladder rises, they have an uncontrollable urge to reach out and try to pull the ladder up, which immediately lifts it from their foot, and it topples back down at a angle, crashing into whoever is doing the walking up. This happened, crunching poor old Darren's left shoulder. We explained forcefully that we had said DO NOT HELP. I then demonstrated and up it went. We put it away, and then in typical theatre fashion, needed to get it out again. A new person, there when the first crunch happened volunteered to just put there foot there and do nothing else. They too were unable to resist the urge to help, and down it crashed again onto the same hurt shoulder. Two injuries to the same person, doing the same job, minutes apart. The mind boggles as to what else you can say to people other than "do Not help, just use your foot and don't move" Much as there's an element of human factors at fault here, two injuries in the space of minutes doing the same thing suggests your process may need some improvement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieDuff Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 1441560423[/url]' post='527108']Much as there's an element of human factors at fault here, two injuries in the space of minutes doing the same thing suggests your process may need some improvement! Perhaps a 6" wide wooden wedge? Can't grab the ladder if it's got no hands (and is an inanimate object...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 The process is fine. The sticking point is people who know better, and attempt to improve the system. Rather like saying do not grab the hot end of the soldering iron, and then them doing exactly that. Darren wasn't keen to do the process with anyone other than the ones he knows do it correctly. Apart from yelling after the event, not really sure I can do anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 You, or rather Daren, have the answer. Only use those who know the system and have experience of doing it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 It's a pity nobody was filming it - you could have been a YouTube star... Certainly sounds spectacular. Were there any ramifications for the venue or your employers? "Nearly died" would imply a length recovery period - how did that work out?This happened while I was at school - fixing lights at our sister school. So a long time ago and before everyone became litigious. I was there because I wanted to be and the accident was caused by a silly mistake - just like the fireman the ladder had never slipped before. But Speeches Day meant the floor had been polished and also why we had to manoeuvre around a grand piano, that ended up breaking my fall - and being seriously damaged in the process. From my point of view I was at the top of the ladder, blinked, and woke up in hospital 2 days later. Fractured skull was the only serious injury from which they were no after effects as I remain just as dozy to this day. The first 48 hours were serious enough to be on the "danger list" and get transferred to a specialist hospital and for the priest to be called. Once I was awake I was back at home with my Mum after about another week then a month or so of being spaced out on drugs (of the medical kind) - then back to school to do my O levels. It took a long time to be confident working at height again and my previous fearless feeling never returned so I could never be an Andy Jones. It would probably not be a good idea to fall and hit my head again (although some gantries seem to be designed to make you do exactly that trying to walk along them!) but not a bad idea not to anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 But how many people 'foot' a ladder properly? Have a read of "Evaluating the performance and effectiveness of ladder stability devices", "RESEARCH REPORT 205" from the HSE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 That's an interesting read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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