Working at height...

LadyInBed said:
but would a Folding Platform Step Up Bench Ladder do the job on yours? Oypla 150kg Folding Platform Step Up Bench Ladder for sale online | eBay
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I used to use one of those in fact I had 2 and I was grinding with an angle grinder on part of the hull on my previous boat I move sideways and my foot slipped off one end. The angle grinder slipped out of one hand and it cut into my finger down to the bone and if I had not thrown the angle grinder away on to the floor still running I would have lost my left index finger. I still have the scar and loss of feeling in that finger

Please don't use one of those unless you are working only in one place. Polishing/sanding/grinding is IMHO very dangerous.
 
Oh for heavens sake - a tower is a much better idea than what I have used previously. I had some idea in my head they would be horrendously expensive to hire in - £60 for a week!

I did six coats of varnish and rubbing down between on my fathers boat using the trescle method, as well as plenty of other work up there, but it's not for the faint hearted and on reflection, the £60 seems well invested.

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Rogershaw said:
I used to use one of those in fact I had 2 and I was grinding with an angle grinder on part of the hull on my previous boat I move sideways and my foot slipped off one end. The angle grinder slipped out of one hand and it cut into my finger down to the bone and if I had not thrown the angle grinder away on to the floor still running I would have lost my left index finger.
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I still mark my angle grinder as my most dangerous tool in the garage out of all my finger choppers. I was exhausted after grinding the rust from the keel with a flappy paddle disc last weekend more from the effort of concentration than the exertion.
 
When I started work we only had he big angle grinders the small ones had not been invented so we had to be strong to wheeling then all day smoothing down all the stick welding.

The small ones are a pleasure to use and with cuttings disks means you don't oxy /acetylene cutting I now haven't used my O/A kit for years now.

I use angle grinders for grinding/cutting/sanding/polishing/wire brushing and several other tasks.

When I do jobs like that I either use a local or one of these to support the tool and make it easer to use.

https://www.amazon.com/Reelcraft-TB-05-Tool-Balancer-5-Pound/dp/B002CVTKK6
 
MagicalArmchair said:
Oh for heavens sake - a tower is a much better idea than what I have used previously. I had some idea in my head they would be horrendously expensive to hire in - £60 for a week!

I did six coats of varnish and rubbing down between on my fathers boat using the trescle method, as well as plenty of other work up there, but it's not for the faint hearted and on reflection, the £60 seems well invested.

GOVzA9Ll.png




I still mark my angle grinder as my most dangerous tool in the garage out of all my finger choppers. I was exhausted after grinding the rust from the keel with a flappy paddle disc last weekend more from the effort of concentration than the exertion.
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if you hire a tower, try to get a firm agreement on when it will be collected from the yard, and give a few days notice. the hire companies can be rubbish at collecting them on time and even the right week, and after you have packed it away you are still responsible for it until they have it on their truck, and in the meantime other people have been eyeing it enviously. I often find other trades wanting to rebuild a tower i have off hired at work. Let them know no-one will be keeping it safe once you have gone.
 
Dan Tribe said:
Has it changed recently? When I last did a WAH course, we were told that any height where you would hurt yourself from would be considered dangerous, no minimum height specified.
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In the US standards for steps start with the first one, railings at 3 feet for regular working areas (not maintenance), and fall protection gear at 6 feet (depends on the railings and how you are working over them--construction standard).

Standards arn't dumb. I saw a guy end is sailing career by falling off a ladder sanding the cap rail. He didn't die, but he got busted up and never sailed again.

IMO, the most important, simple step, is to tie ladders and scaffolds off.
 
Dellquay13 said:
if you hire a tower, try to get a firm agreement on when it will be collected from the yard, and give a few days notice. the hire companies can be rubbish at collecting them on time and even the right week, and after you have packed it away you are still responsible for it until they have it on their truck, and in the meantime other people have been eyeing it enviously. I often find other trades wanting to rebuild a tower i have off hired at work. Let them know no-one will be keeping it safe once you have gone.
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And chain and padlock it to the cradle at the end of every day!
 
pvb said:
And chain and padlock it to the cradle at the end of every day!
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you can't leave it ready for collection with a padlock though, unless you leave the key with the yard staff. I am always astounded at how inept hire companies are. Maybe a combination padlock might be better if they just need to phone you for the code instead of finding someone in charge...
 
A bit of thread drift. As a freelance surveyor I had my own telescopic ladder always in the car. I went PAYE with one of my main clients. I lent my ladder to the boss and he ran it over and broke it, so he bought me a new one.
Then the safety man came and confiscated it until I had done a Working At Height course. He reckoned that if I fell off my own ladder, my problem, but If it was a company ladder they would be liable.
 
Dan Tribe said:
A bit of thread drift. As a freelance surveyor I had my own telescopic ladder always in the car. I went PAYE with one of my main clients. I lent my ladder to the boss and he ran it over and broke it, so he bought me a new one.
Then the safety man came and confiscated it until I had done a Working At Height course. He reckoned that if I fell off my own ladder, my problem, but If it was a company ladder they would be liable.
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bad safety man, he should have been making sure you were safe at work, no matter who owned the ladders...
 
I don’t think that you could always fit a tower between boats on our marina hard. With a draft of 1.5m, I can manage with a platform. At its highest it is probably not ideal, but it is stable and I take as much care as I can, placing a stepladder alongside when possible. I feel a lot safer than when working from a ladder.
 
If you do choose to use a harness you need to think about where you attach the work restraint so that you don’t actually fall far, ideally a matter of centimetres, any more I seriously painful even with fall arrest kit.

Second if that restraints then going to leave you suspended then that has serious implications in itself.

Proper staging suitable for the task is most advisable. I would recommend for large boats hiring suitable stuff from your favourite supplier

Or for smaller boats there’s suitable stuff available from screwfix and the like.
 
pvb said:
Not high enough, it only has a height of 0.5m. The OP has a Bavaria 40, so it'll be at least as high as my Bavaria 37 in the pic in post 3. The platform in that tower in the pic is set at about 1.8m above ground, and is perfect for just reaching the top of the topsides.
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I thought it was a Mirage, or is that what a Bav 40 is called?
MagicalArmchair said:
I have the job of cleaning, compounding, polishing and waxing the topsides of Mirage
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What you need is a podium access platform. Or two with a youngerman board and handrail between them if longboarding. If you are near Rye i can lend you two but my board went walkabout.
 
MagicalArmchair said:
A Bav 40 called Mirage :), not a Mirage?.

Thanks as always for the cracking advice. As above, a tower wouldn’t slot between the boats in the yard, hmm.
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you can get towers in single or double width, short or long span. Look up the dimensions for single width short span for a Boss tower with someone like HSS Hire. If there isn't room for a single width, you might even struggle with a podium.
it might be that there is just a small section amidships where the gap is too narrow that you could do with sturdy steps and the rest from a tower
 
MagicalArmchair said:
Thanks as always for the cracking advice. As above, a tower wouldn’t slot between the boats in the yard, hmm.
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As Deliquay13 said, you can get narrow towers. The tower I use is about 1.5m wide; narrow ones are about 0.9m wide. I'd have thought that if a boat lift can get to the boat, there should be room for a narrow tower.
 
People seem to regard access equipment as common property available for free use. I bought 8 trestles and 12 scaffold boards to do my topsides. The trestles were chained up when not in use but it's difficult to do when they are set up. The scaffold boards are hard to padlock but prominantly painted with boat name. Arriving to start work often meant time wasted playing "hunt the equipment".
I don't mind stuff being borrowed but it seldom gets returned and I've had a few altercations when I've gone to reclaim stuff.
"I'm only borrowing it, you can have it back soon"
"No, I'm having it back now"
 
ghostlymoron said:
HSE consider anything over 2m working at height
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I would say there is no minimum height .

It is not the fall that injurers but the landing.
A man was killed not so long ago falling off a step ladder less the 2m and impaling himself on a pole he had placed through the cable reel he was using. The company involved no longer permits the use of step ladders.
 
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