I used trainers, but I didn't go up until the sun had dried off the overnight dew -- it was too slippery. I had a scaffold platform about 3 feet below the gutter line, so I wouldn't have fallen far.
Harnesses are not necessarily saviour -- particularly one man working. Look up suspension trauma.
Like a haggis, ISTR?
David
I know what you mean but don't think that's the right scenario... you could fall off your tower and kill yourself but falling off a kerb won't do you much damage.
However, consider walking along a 4"-wide plank lying on or positioned a couple of inches off the ground: most people could happily walk along that for miles without the slightest risk of falling off. But suspend it 100 feet up in the air, and most people would be in a blind panic about walking along it for a few yards. I know I would!
David
Was Emu holding the ladder?
Pardon, the language on this newsgroup is English.
DG
...unless it's the kerb of a really busy, fast road, which I assume is what Mary is getting at.
Same thing with railway platforms - around here you have a good chance of getting 400V DC through you if you fall off, yet we happily mill around a lot closer to the edge than we would with even a moderate drop.
Humans are indeed irrational :-)
Pete
I used to work with a bloke who went free-climbing for fun. He told me that fear is only relative. Once you get over the hurdle of realising that if you slip you're dead, it gets much easier and you can just get down to the real business of enjoying yourself. Indeed, the real fear is at the beginning of the climb - that you'll fall from too low a height and get seriously injured!
There are plenty of people go through A&E with broken or twisted ankles after stepping of curbs at the wrong angle...
In article , Andrew Gabriel scribeth thus
Yes very familiar with that in our line of work ..
But at least they stop the slide down the slates and or tiles and the drop of the end.. And if your harness is that long its too long. This is quite a simple arrangement and in the typical rooftop install you'd be hard pressed to hang anywhere vertical..
However on telecoms and TV masts another matter entirely..
Though in 30 odd years never known anyone to have suffered that...
The message from PCPaul contains these words:
...only in one direction, though.
Now that made me giggle!!
John
You've been on a haggis shoot aswell!
John
So far, this has got to be the funniest thread I have read on this group, keep it up, no pun intended!
John
Unless you missed the kerb last Tuesday evening carrying your tools out to the van, resulting in an undignified plummet downwards. which resulted in a FOOSH [1] injury to the left wrist. Been a right PITA for the last week.
[1] (Fall Onto Outstretched Hands)In message , Andrew Gabriel writes
I thought that modern fall arrest devices had progressive braking on them (a bit like car seatbelt pretensioners)? Aren't they supposed to overcome the injury which could be caused by the sudden stop in a harness?
I don't work in the field, but I'm sure someone who does could be more specific? Someone
In message , "George (dicegeorge)" writes
I once had a pair of trainer like shoes that were golf related, they had little rubber bits on the bottom, similar to spikes. You could almost walk up walls with them. Fine on wet surfaces too.
In message , tony sayer writes
I had a guy catch fire 100' up a tower once! Harness didn't help but an extinguisher would have been handy!
I've had a rotator cuff problem for a couple of months, from just such a fall. I was lucky - my daughter broke her wrist, falling, etc...
I found falling was not the problem, just every half dozen steps there would be a crack and another tile would break. Spent most of the time fixing busted tiles! I think the roof was trying to tell me something!
They do, but that only fixes a part of the problem.
Suspension trauma sets in while you are dangling after the fall. It can be fatal in a surprisingly short space of time.
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