The recent thread on spectators (WoodDucks) got me thinking about turkeys who just ignore everything and walk into the middle of your worksite. Big sites are usually tighter than a fish's backside but us small contractors have to control our own sites, which can be anywhere...private homes..etc. How much and what type of access control do you put in place?. I'd like to tell you where I'm coming from: A few years ago I was demoliting a big old freezer room. It was 40ft high. After I took the roof panels down I was left with 1' thick wall panels, 6' wide and sunk about 2' into the concrete slab. To remove them I just speared the panels with a forklift and lifted them out of the concrete and let them fall off the forks into the middle of the slab. Quite effective and safe when no WoodDucks are standing around. Anyway, I'm working my way round the outside and just as I'm about to drop a panel I notice this turkey in the middle of the freezer room checking out the insulated panels I had already dropped. To stop from squashing the turkey I crowded back and gunned the fork forward causing the panel to go backwards over the forklift and hit a shed wall. That all happened in about 2 seconds. No major damage as the panels are only foam with aluminium sheeting and not too heavy...but it would do some damage if it landed on your head. The forky was an old Hyster with really solid ROPS/FOPS and the hoist protected me...although I was pretty glad I was wearing the trusty brain bucket. (The standing joke amongst my guys is that I don't have to wear a hard hat cause I've got one built in) Now I learnt years ago that yelling at people doesn't often produce good results but this turkey made my blood boil. The WoodDuck seemed a bit miffed as I very politley questioned his IQ, questioned his genetic origins and suggested that if he didn't leave my worksite I'd stick one of my forks where the sun don't shine and remove him shishkebab style. The point being, he walked into a fully fenced site (private property), past two warning signs into a self evident dangerous area and I nearly killed him. My spotter turned his back for no more than three 3 mins...and the bollicking he got was Really subtle too. I figure the best I could have done out of squishing him is an increase in my insurance premiums.....if the judge looked favourably on me. To say that I view unauthorised worksite access very seriously is an understatement. We use all sorts of tape, barriers, signs etc but we don't have the manpower to have guys standing around just looking out for Wood Ducks. Very often we only work a site for a few hours to a few days so extensive controls are not set up. How much is enough?? What do you guys do? and...shouldn't this thread be in the safety section?
Your wish is my command... :notworthy (But don't anybody start taking advantage of my good nature!!) :nono
Hhmmmmmmm 73 views an no replies???
You can only do so much, people will still find a way into anything short of an 8' fence with barbwire and lookout towers with armed gaurds. What really bugs the hell out of me is when im working and people decide to cross the fence with their children, i wouldnt feel so bad if i injured in adult that walked into a fenced construction zone, with equipment running. but its not a kids fault that his moronic parents let him think its ok to be there.
I was about to reply this morning, but ran out of time. I wonder if the obvious lack of replies indicates in any way that we all recognize this as a problem that we can't do enough about. Kinda what Tyler said about 8 foot fences with barbed wire. I have more thoughts, which I'll get to later...
maybe next time somebody wanders into the jobsite act like they are the temp help that is late showing up, push a shovel in their hands and scream stuff like "where have you been!!!" "Get down in that trench and get that muck out!!!". Either that or charge for the show. I have to be careful about getting too mad at the gawkers (unless they are too close/dangerous), many times I get a second/third job in the same neighborhood from them. I have also though of making a sign that says "I don't work in a fishbowl" for the days I'm sick of being watched.
I have more concerns about who might be wandering around after working hours than during them. If it's during working hours, I'm (hopefully) going to notice before doing them any damage. (Although, in the example Squizzy opened with, it would ba a tough temptation to resist.) Typically these days, I'm digging foundations in a development that already has all of the streets, curbs, sanitary and storm sewer laterals, and other utilities in, and run up to the curb stops. There's also street lighting and trees, planted specially to interfere with construction activity. In some cases, the houses are as close as 10 feet apart, and the porch steps end inches from the sidewalk. The way we're doing things, is that, at the same time I'm digging the foundation, I'll also uncover the sewer taps, and the water curb stop, and the plumber will make his connections and run pipe into an otherwise empty foundation hole. This works fine as far as the actual digging goes, but what results is a set of open trenches, from 4 to perhaps 12 feet deep, leading into a hole that's usually between 6 and 8 feet deep, and all of this is within 10 feet or so of the pavement where the neighborhood children, pets, and old ladies are feee to wander. I've made it clear that, in the day or two that I'm digging these things, I'll put up caution tape, provided by the builder, across the frontage of the lot. Sometimes one end of it is tied to the neighbor's porch railing. (If they asked, and provided the materials, I'd put orange saftey fencing up all the way around the excavation, which would be equally pointless--read on.) WITHOUT VARIATION, when the plumber shows up to put his pipe in, or the crew shows up to form their footers, they'll park next to the curb, walk up, tear down the caution tape, and go about their business. At the end of the day, it'll still be laying on the ground. I've repeatedly pointed this behavior out to the superintendent, but it never changes. Even so, there remains a 6-8 foot deep overdig around the house up until we've backfilled it, and that can be many weeks later. Just because I dug the hole doesn't mean I'm going back every night to protect it, but it still makes me uncomfortable.
Hey, its too late for this stuff...but yes We often have to empty a swimming pool and fence it off while we are working (to reduce the surcharge) because we have the fences down to build a wall (pool fencing is mandatory here). Ineviatably some moron comes along and takes down our barriers and bunting. Unfortunatley, and the law is very clear on this, but it is the equally the site supervisors and the "last man out" responsibility to secure the worksite when they leave. Plumbers and electricians are the biggest offenders and they are the enemy my friend. As somebody on this forum says ...you can't fix stupid. I believe that we go to greater lengths than most to prevent unauthorised access to our sites but I still think the legal types will get you by the goolies. In most places in Europe, if you enter a worksite improperly dressed and get injured nobody will give a toss...its just your fault. However, it seems accepting responsibility for your own actions is going down the gurglar in most places.
That's how I see it, and those couple of days that I'm digging those holes, I am the last man out, so I do what should be done (with the resources I've been given). After that, I'm not going to feel responsible, particurlarly since I've made a point of mentioning it repeatedly. I'm still fearful that I might be deemed responsible in a court of law, for having been the guy who dug the hole in the first place.