How many council workers does it take to change a light bulb

How many council workers does it take to change a light bulb

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Discussion

Puggit

Original Poster:

48,355 posts

247 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
thinfourth2 said:
Have you ever had to work off the top of a step ladder. Its a pain in the arse
I've even changed many light bulbs high up using one. Without safety equipment eek

Miguel Alvarez

4,944 posts

169 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
Bit of a wind up article. The guy would have been on the rounds and this would have been one of many and the crane would need to have been moved anyway to allow the back doors to be opened.

thinfourth2

32,414 posts

203 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
Puggit said:
thinfourth2 said:
Have you ever had to work off the top of a step ladder. Its a pain in the arse
I've even changed many light bulbs high up using one. Without safety equipment eek
So have i but if there is a cherry picker sat there i will use it as its easier.

crankedup

25,764 posts

242 months

Monday 25th July 2011
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I have another H & S over play spotted this morning (sorry no image. Its on a 'B' class road and involves a gully pot cleaning lorry doing what they do best, cleaning out road drain pots. So it a lorry driver in the cab, a workman operating the gully sucking thingii, and two other blokes operating stop/Go boards. Also involved a multitude of warning signs along each side of the road, traffic cones and flashing lights in addition to the now usual hig viz jackets.
When I were lad one bloke is all it took!

Ganglandboss

8,294 posts

202 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
More crap from the Daily Mail. The bloke probably drives all over in the van working on stuff that is much higher. He could get a ladder out of the van but that would be a more inefficient process as he would need to do a risk assessment. The work at height regulations quite rightly forbid the inappropriate use of ladders and if he has a sturdy basket at his disposal, with barriers on all sides, common sense says he would choose the safer option. It wouldn't take any longer to use the cherry picker anyway and working on a sturdy platform may actually speed up the task as both hands are free.

The cones and high vis would be needed irrespective and are a sensible precaution for anybody working near live traffic. He probably leaves the jacket on all day and the hard hat takes all of half a second to put on.

Deva Link

26,934 posts

244 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
thinfourth2 said:
Do you really think that a stepladder would be quicker?

If you have a cherry picker sat next to you why would you use a step ladder.

Do you think a steplader would be easier?

Have you ever had to work off the top of a step ladder. Its a pain in the arse
Step ladders are banned on many sites now.

Blib

43,793 posts

196 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
I'm sure that I read some time ago that hi-vis jackets are now so common, we humans have "tuned them out". So lessening their effectiveness.

I may be making this up.

scenario8

6,554 posts

178 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
Blib said:
I'm sure that I read some time ago that hi-vis jackets are now so common, we humans have "tuned them out". So lessening their effectiveness.

I may be making this up.
Either that or the author of the report you read did.

Negative Creep

24,942 posts

226 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
Johnnytheboy said:
Countdown said:
At the risk of stating the bleedin' obvious

There will be a "procedure" for changing lightbulbs
It will say that "X" method should be used, where "X" is the safest way of doing it

If the employee doesn't do "X" he/she might well be disciplined
If "X" isn't the safest method the Company may leave itself open to claims if something goesa wrong.

And in any case, so what? Its not exactly the end of the world is it?
...and frequently the operator will know damn well that "X" method is daft and due to the law of unintended consequences more risky than how he used to do it. But he won't have any input on this because it's "the rules".
Are they not also protecting themselves from personal injury claims?

MartyPubes

900 posts

158 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
Ganglandboss said:
More crap from the Daily Mail. The bloke probably drives all over in the van working on stuff that is much higher. He could get a ladder out of the van but that would be a more inefficient process as he would need to do a risk assessment. The work at height regulations quite rightly forbid the inappropriate use of ladders and if he has a sturdy basket at his disposal, with barriers on all sides, common sense says he would choose the safer option. It wouldn't take any longer to use the cherry picker anyway and working on a sturdy platform may actually speed up the task as both hands are free.

The cones and high vis would be needed irrespective and are a sensible precaution for anybody working near live traffic. He probably leaves the jacket on all day and the hard hat takes all of half a second to put on.
No, it's 'elf an safety gorn mad it is. We'd never win a war these days.

69 coupe

2,433 posts

210 months

Monday 25th July 2011
quotequote all
Council will sent him a parking ticket, he's on a double yellow smile

AJS-

15,366 posts

235 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
quotequote all
thinfourth2 said:
Do you really think that a stepladder would be quicker?

If you have a cherry picker sat next to you why would you use a step ladder.

Do you think a steplader would be easier?

Have you ever had to work off the top of a step ladder. Its a pain in the arse
Yes, a step ladder would be quicker. You take it out, put it up, climb up and change the lightbulb. He could even have rested it against the wall. I reckon I could do that inside a minute, without dying once.

It might even be safer as there is far less chance of someone hitting the step ladder than there is of someone hitting the van on the road. Not to mention the fact that you would only be there for 2 -3 minutes rather than 25 minutes, which reduces your time exposed to this deadly risk.

Setting up that little H&S road show looks like more of a pain in the arse than working on step ladders to me.

Westy Pre-Lit

5,087 posts

202 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
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Working off of step ladders.........I take my life in my hands every single day of the week, how I manage to survive till the end of each day is beyond me.yikes

Countdown

39,690 posts

195 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
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I am a Director of two step=ladder firms. We laugh with undisguised contempt at those who use cherry-pickers as we drink our cans of Red Bull.

Colonial

13,553 posts

204 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
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I wish I had so little in my life to worry about that someone using a cherry picker to change a lightbult in a street light could send me into a state of righteous indignation.

Frankeh

12,558 posts

184 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
quotequote all
This is a dumb thread. I haven't read past the first post so I'll probably be seconding or thirding what other people have said.

The guy almost certainly does loads of bulb changes for all different signs/lamp posts/whatever. I imagine a lot of them require the cherry picker.

Out of context it obviously looks stupid, but in context it's something I'd probably do.

MOTORVATOR

6,993 posts

246 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
quotequote all
scenario8 said:
Blib said:
I'm sure that I read some time ago that hi-vis jackets are now so common, we humans have "tuned them out". So lessening their effectiveness.

I may be making this up.
Either that or the author of the report you read did.
There is an element of truth in this.

It's like long term temporary roadworks set ups. When you change the layout you need to go over the top to get the attention of the motorist as surprisingly the most dangerous are the ones that have driven the route every day for the preceeding period and are on autopilot not expecting to encounter something different in front of them.

As for cherrypickers to install roadsigns / lamp columns etc. Well we've been using them for bloody years prior to the scary HSE interpretation of dangerous ladders etc. I believe it's because we find them efficient. rolleyes

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
quotequote all
I don't understand the point of the article at all. Yes a cherrypicker is overkill to change that particular bulb, but if you were driving around in one anyway then why wouldn't you use it?

mph1977

12,467 posts

167 months

Tuesday 26th July 2011
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crankedup said:
<snip>
When I were lad one bloke is all it took!
but claims direct and the like didn't exist when you were a lad did they ?
blame the 'claims farmers' and 'accident management companies, innit'