I've just been reading this article
Electrical contractor fined after two fell down floor hatch - https://www.ioshmagazine.com/electrical-contractor-fined-after-two-fell-down-floor-hatch
"Four electricians arrived at 82-year-old Emily Begg's bungalow on 19 February 2018 to carry out the work, which involved accessing areas underneath the floor via hatches. On 20 February, one of the hatches was left open and uncovered while an employee went to fetch his tools from another room.
Begg fell through the hole and sustained a deep cut on her leg, as well as severe bruising.
Her brother-in-law fell through the hatch later that day when he entered the property to check on her, The Press and Journal reported.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said both incidents could have been prevented had adequate barriers and physical warning signs been erected around the hole.
R.B. Wilson Electrical admitted breaching reg 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations and was fined ÂŁ24,000 last week at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
HSE inspector Elaine McAllister said: "This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices."
Personally we have never used any purpose made 'adequate barriers and physical warning signs' in private dwellings, what are others using (if anything)?
We have relied mainly on peoples common sense and cooperation in saying 'please can you keep out of here / please don't go in there / are you going out' etc. This has an extremely poor success rate.
Could anyone point us towards a site sign (on an optional post?) that would be releveant to house bashing jobs- e.g. one that doesn't have heavy machinery, hard hat, report to site office etc. which are the generic 'building site' ones available.
See plenty of plastic barrier chain available in screwfix / online.
If you ask somebody nicely to keep out of the way, they will find any excuse to get in your way (I'll just grab this, I just have to do that... ). We are forever surrounded by the elderly, drunken dole scum and their feral offspring, and the terminally thick.
A woman approaching 100 years old would not stop making her way into her under-construction ground floor bedroom & wet room a few months back, for a look. A carer for a bloke with learning difficulties brought him home 5 hours early (the house was meant to be empty for the day- and was when we started), moved a lot of tools and furniture we had put in the way of the front door and made her way (along with the bloke) to the living room- with floorboards removed- to put a table and chairs back right in the middle of where we were working (asked them to leave- they wouldn't, they sat and had sausage and mash).
People will just ignore signs and move barriers, but if having them on site reduces the risk, and prevents us being liable for a ÂŁ24k fine and a naming and shaming then surely it's the way forward.
Electrical contractor fined after two fell down floor hatch - https://www.ioshmagazine.com/electrical-contractor-fined-after-two-fell-down-floor-hatch
"Four electricians arrived at 82-year-old Emily Begg's bungalow on 19 February 2018 to carry out the work, which involved accessing areas underneath the floor via hatches. On 20 February, one of the hatches was left open and uncovered while an employee went to fetch his tools from another room.
Begg fell through the hole and sustained a deep cut on her leg, as well as severe bruising.
Her brother-in-law fell through the hatch later that day when he entered the property to check on her, The Press and Journal reported.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said both incidents could have been prevented had adequate barriers and physical warning signs been erected around the hole.
R.B. Wilson Electrical admitted breaching reg 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations and was fined ÂŁ24,000 last week at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
HSE inspector Elaine McAllister said: "This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices."
Personally we have never used any purpose made 'adequate barriers and physical warning signs' in private dwellings, what are others using (if anything)?
We have relied mainly on peoples common sense and cooperation in saying 'please can you keep out of here / please don't go in there / are you going out' etc. This has an extremely poor success rate.
Could anyone point us towards a site sign (on an optional post?) that would be releveant to house bashing jobs- e.g. one that doesn't have heavy machinery, hard hat, report to site office etc. which are the generic 'building site' ones available.
See plenty of plastic barrier chain available in screwfix / online.
If you ask somebody nicely to keep out of the way, they will find any excuse to get in your way (I'll just grab this, I just have to do that... ). We are forever surrounded by the elderly, drunken dole scum and their feral offspring, and the terminally thick.
A woman approaching 100 years old would not stop making her way into her under-construction ground floor bedroom & wet room a few months back, for a look. A carer for a bloke with learning difficulties brought him home 5 hours early (the house was meant to be empty for the day- and was when we started), moved a lot of tools and furniture we had put in the way of the front door and made her way (along with the bloke) to the living room- with floorboards removed- to put a table and chairs back right in the middle of where we were working (asked them to leave- they wouldn't, they sat and had sausage and mash).
People will just ignore signs and move barriers, but if having them on site reduces the risk, and prevents us being liable for a ÂŁ24k fine and a naming and shaming then surely it's the way forward.
![[ElectriciansForums.net] Health & Safety - Signage / barriers](https://electricians.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/data/attachments/57/57424-36aa500b8c5eb24cdca47a828467857d.jpg "[ElectriciansForums.net] Health & Safety - Signage / barriers")
