Published on 12, July, 2020
Earlier this afternoon my son and I found ourselves watching a couple of men doing some garden clearance work at a neighbour's property, with a sense of amusement and also disbelief. However, to a person without insider knowledge, they may well have seemed perfectly legit and professional.
Several years ago, my son had done a garden maintenance course, which mainly consisted of garden clearance work. Health and safety was taken seriously and it was the first thing he learnt about. This included wearing appropriate clothing (PPE) like ear defenders, protective gloves, and steel-toe safety work boots. Before my son was allowed to be let loose with the likes of industrial lawn strimmers, hedge trimmers and so on without supervision, he had to prove his competence by demonstrating that he understood how to use them.
The men my son and I had been observing had no ear defenders, were wearing trainers, and only one of them was wearing protective gloves. Although it wasn't obvious to me, my son could tell that they weren't using the equipment properly, and in some instances were using incorrect equipment. My son said that a true professional would be likely to make an initial visit to assess the work that needed to be done and what equipment would be required. Based on what my son had witnessed, his opinion was that no prior assessment had taken place.
If the services offered by professionals includes the removal of garden waste from the premises, the use of canvas bags or plastic garden trugs tends to be favoured. It makes economical sense because they can be emptied and re-used, unlike plastic refuse sacks, which is what these two men used.
I know it's wrong to assume, but it wouldn't surprise me if those black plastic refuse sacks end up being fly-tipped somewhere.
Sporadic Sparkly said:Health and safety was taken seriously and it was the first thing he learnt about.
About 3 years ago I bought a 150 year old apartment on the first foor that had a rotting wood and glass conservatory over a big, old balcony overlooking the street.
We got quotes for demolishing this which came in between £4k and £6k and involved covering half the building with scaffolding for a month with demolition taking 2 weeks.
My brother has worked in the building trade for almost 50 years and we sat down to plan how to do it. We used all the PPE kit but basically wrapped the conservatory in a tarpaulin to stop anything falling outwards, braced all the internal walls and cut the roof off starting with a rabbit hole in the centre and working outwards.
Then out came the windows, wooden framework and it took the 2 of us less than 4 hours without the need for scaffolding but still done quite safely.
I agree some Health and Safety stuff is useful but it adds so much complexity and cost to larger projects that it can be a real drag when decent planning makes it redundant.