Working at Height

[petben]

Hello, up to now we have been working off tall Zarges step ladders to do jobs like replace projectors in high ceilinged rooms (halls, studios etc) or put up lights on the rig in performance spaces. Probably not the safest practice, so what do others do to work at height - up to about 6m for our main hall. Do you use ladders, towers, scissor lifts? How do you cope with the time it takes to setup, maintain, be trained for, compared to just grabbing a ladder?

 

Thanks

[synaesthesia]

Depends on scenario - have full use of proper electricians ladders for general access, small lightly ali steps for things just out of reach, ceiling tiles etc and have full (supervised and trained) use of a school owned small scaff tower for hall AV. We get the usual training everyone else is entitled to but looking to do proper working at heights again (have done it previously with a local company including full scaffolding, restraints, working on roofs etc)

[smurfomatic]

At that kind of height, it should be a scaffold tower or scissor lift - especially if you're rigging lights, as you will need to use both hands when lifting them and a stepladder would be unsafe. A full risk assessment has to be done before working at height.

 

At my last school we had a scaffold tower, used for exactly this kind of thing. A 12 rung stepladder barely reached the projector hanging from the lighting rail, just enough to adjust the alignment/replace cabling.

[paulellam]

We purchased a scaffold tower, and me and the prems officers get certified to build it etc avery few years, saved us loads of money doing it ourselves.  6.5m ceiling in our hall, so similar.

[3s-gtech]

Yeah, tower. Only takes one fall from that height to wish you'd been using a tower instead (while rapidly descending). If you can't keep three points of contact it's just not safe - and I've done some sketchy ladder climbs (away from work).

[MicraMan]

I'm happy with heights, however sometimes its just not worth the risk i have dangled off ex Raf buildings at my last job about 10m for stuff but then again i look back and if i fell it's not ideal at all, better safe than sorry...

 

[FragglePete]

Should be a alluminium tower and you'll also need to get your PASMA certification that certifies you to build and climb it.  Without that, your breaking all sorts of Health & Safety Regulations.

 

PASMA should only be day out in a classroom with the afternoon actually building the tower, most builders merchants run the courses and has be renewed every five years I believe.

 

Pete

 

 

[Rob_D]

Site team has some taller ladders that would get us maybe 2m off the ground, anything above that we'd have to use the scaffold tower. Some years, our site team has rented a scissor lift for the summer holidays (I assume the site manager has a potential time savings v cost of the lift metric to know whether it's worth it for that holiday).

[Ditto]

Minimum is a tower. I know a couple of people who suffered falls from ladders, domestically, and it was highly impactful. Don't let the school cheapsake, protect yourself.

[Andrew_C]

As an alternative, have a look at https://www.escauk.co.uk/esca3000-access-equipment-operation .  A huge saving if you need to move while up top. Which you shouldn't  do on a tower!

[FragglePete]

10 hours ago, Ditto said:

Minimum is a tower. I know a couple of people who suffered falls from ladders, domestically, and it was highly impactful. Don't let the school cheapsake, protect yourself.

 

Guilty as charged!  

 

Fell off ladder cutting one rouge branch off a hedge at home - only a few rungs up.  Snapped Achilles Tendon on landing resulting in operation to repair and twelve weeks on crutches..... then four years later an infection from the internal stiches results in what was described as 'limb reconstruction' by the plastic surgeon, 15 nights in hospital!  Still plays up from time to time some tens years on.

 

Get a tower; do it properly.

 

Pete