Could a Great Safety program from one of our national Associations have prevented ??

Not sure if a safety program would have prevented this or not but a big part of the burden is with the man lift rental companies. Over time, the lifts get paint on them and the safety stickers (the kind with the pictures of staying away from power lines, transformers, etc....) get covered up and not replaced.

Also, the rental companies need to remind everyone about the power lines and make sure that if the people renting the lift don't speak english then the safety warnings need to be in other languages like french, spanish, chinese, german, etc.... so that the safety messages can be understood.

Maybe a good idea instead of the safety stickers, maybe like luggage tags to where when they get damaged or covered with paint, just cut them off and replace with another as the stickers from the factory get covered up with paint, the new stickers probably will not stick to the dirty/oily painted surfaces.

It is a shame that every year people get burned and/or electrocuted from power lines, we really need more safety messages sent out, more safety training and maybe even start showing pictures of the people that have been electrocuted (very gross to see) so that people have a visual understanding of what high-voltage power lines can do to a body, how fast you can die and what happens to your body (won't go into very gross details here) so people will take the power lines more seriously.

Growing up in a tree trimming business we were always told to stay away from all wires on the telephone pole and the tree branches that were close to the lines were left up to the more experienced guys or my dad to make sure that people were always safe and make it home to their families every day.

We had the insulated hot-sticks, safety ropes, etc.... to deal with getting close to the wires but we never touched the wires no matter what and the tree branches that were close to the wires were carefully cut so they would not land on the wires or touch the wires, safety for our guys was always more important than making a few bucks.
 
I think a great safety program could help. I took the Uamcc course in Tampa last summer and picked up some valuable info that actually led to me turning down a 5-10k contract to wash a commercial building.
It had powerlines within 10 feet of the building in a few areas and there just wasn't enough room to operate a lift safely.

I also made sure to let them know exactly why I wasn't qualified for the job and they should be very careful of who they choose.

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"Safety Conscious" is not only a way of thinking, it is a way of acting..
Careless simply means..
.. with no consideration of consequence.

You have to be a person that is considerate of other people to Not be a negative influence on them and yourself.

Funny how the same guy that leaves the power cord sticking up from the floor (as someone could trip over it),
is the same guy that breaks drill bits,
leaves the cap off the marking pen,
gets the paperwork wet,
and when he cuts his finger, he whines for the 2 weeks it takes to heal,
since he won't take the advice to use ointment every night so it heals fast.

For things to "go well" you have to plan for them to engage the opportunity to do well.

If I am ever referred to as "a wise man"..
I will say it's from being raised by 2 narrow-minded and inconsiderate asses..
I chose to survive that environment.

Avoid pain and hardship like the process proceedure it is.
Teach your children the difference between the considerate and the inconsiderate.
The active application of consideration..
is inherently Cautious.
 
Sometimes even the HVAC guys look at us like we're crazy when we tell them we pressure wash coils with high volume.

In the tens of thousands of coils we've cleaned since 2005 we have only popped ONE fan motor. And that was because the customer INSISTED on cleaning it hot and signed a release. Chris and I did the work ourselves in that case and would never let any employee clean a hot unit. (Let the beatings now begin)
 
Lift companies Fault? For them being ignorant? I think if you put a man lift up against a power line it is at least 95% your fault. The other five % is up for discussion though. In Virginia you have to go through a osha approved class to legally operate these things.
 
Will make you our safety director too
Tony Shelton said:
Sometimes even the HVAC guys look at us like we're crazy when we tell them we pressure wash coils with high volume.

In the tens of thousands of coils we've cleaned since 2005 we have only popped ONE fan motor. And that was because the customer INSISTED on cleaning it hot and signed a release. Chris and I did the work ourselves in that case and would never let any employee clean a hot unit. (Let the beatings now begin)
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Down here they rent to just about anyone if you can pay for it or have a credit account.

In the past 20+ years I have used manlifts and scizzor lifts I have never had anyone ask me if I knew how to operate it, The first time I had to use the larger 125' lift they asked if I knew how to extend the tires out for stability for the higher ranges of the lift and had not done that before so they showed me, other than that they never asked but I have a lot of experience with them. Not sure if they ever ask anyone, they never even ask if you have a harness to wear.

I think that the rental companies should be asking these questions because even though it would be operator error if something happens, if it ever made it to court, the rental company could be at fault for not asking the questions or making sure that the renter knows how to use the lift or knows what they are doing.

I think that anyone renting the lift should show the person dropping it off that they know the controls and what to do in an emergency, if they don't know what they are doing, then that is an accident waiting to happen. These lifts are not rocket science but they also are not like a car with the gas and brake pedals and a steering wheel to get you where you need to go.
 
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