My Boss almost got killed on our construction site. Safety Tips

By -

And a gust of wind came up and the 40-foot aluminum ladder came straight back off the side of the 2-story house and landed with a boom about 1 foot away from where my boss was standing. 


THE REST OF THE STORY

Way back in the '70's when I was studying civil engineering at Penn State University, I was building houses during one summer as a carpenter assistant and laborer. 

One day I was carrying roofing shingles up onto the roof of this 2-story house that we were building. 

The 40-foot aluminum ladder was propped up against the 2-story house. It was about a 24' climb to the roof. 

My boss just arrived as I was ascending the ladder. He parked in front of the house and when he got out of his truck, he yelled at me.

"What the hell are you doing carrying one tab of shingles at a time? In my day, I carried 2 tabs at a time. That roofer needs those shingles up there pronto."

So, I carried 2 tabs of shingles up on to the roof for the remainder of this task. Yes, it's dangerous.

After I completed this work, I went over to the garage driveway to talk to the carpenters about the next work that they were doing. 

My boss stayed in front of the house. He was talking to someone when all of sudden a gust of wind came up and sent the ladder backwards off the house. It slammed on the ground to within a foot of where my boss was standing. 

It definitely would have killed him if it hit him.

Years later after I graduated from college, I was working in Florida for a heavy commercial construction manager. I learned the proper safety procedures that are to be implemented on our construction projects. I implement them on my jobsites today.

And one of the lessons that hit hone to me was that our ladders must be tied to the building that it is propped up against. 




READ MORE….


Shettig Construction Management provides Professional Construction Management services from the inception of your project through completion. www.shettig.com

mshettig@gmail.com

 


 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

When is it good to use the Design-Build Method on Construction Projects?

By -
Image
The Design-build method on your construction project versus the traditional Design, bid, build method. Project: Huntsman Chemical Computer Building Addition, Conroe, Texas  I met Huntsman in mid-August and reviewed their completed drawings for the project.   They required that their project be complete by December 1 st . Their design showed a 44’ x 40’ painted block addition, one story along with bar joists and a structural steel deck with poured concrete and a gable steel frame roof with metal roof panels.                                  Bar joists with metal deck and poured concrete deck. METAL BAR JOISTS SCHEDULE PROBLEM Bar joists require a 10–12-week delivery after the shop drawing review. This puts the delivery in early December. Their design is a 7-month schedule project, not the 3 months that they desired. REDESIGN OF THE PROJECT TO A STRUCTURAL STEEL FRAMING I discussed with them that they would have to change the design to a structural steel beam design instead of the bar
Read more

Notices of Nonperformance to a Trade Contractor on a construction project

By -
Image
  Bridgewater College Dormitory Project Let me give you an example of an underperforming contractor from one of my past projects. I was involved in the building a $2.7 million Bridgewater Dormitory on the Campus of Bridgewater University in Bridgewater, Virginia. The Structure is 3 stories with a basement. Bridgewater Dormitory Liquidated Damage Project This was a liquidated damage clause project. The project had to be completed before the school year started in late August. Liquidated Damages clause means that if we go over the allotted time for the project then we would be charged a specific amount for each day that we were over the time limit. So,  the overall schedule of this project was very critical to the completion of the project. The critical path of this project was the construction of the exterior masonry work which included the brick and the Capstone on the top of the building. Every Trade Contractor is tied to the overall schedule of the project and the completion date.
Read more

Pre-Construction in the Design Build Method of Construction

By -
Image
The Design-Build Method is an alternative in the building of your project.  In the Design-Build method, you will start an immediate collaboration with your Design-Build consultant (DBC) The Pre-Construction activities are the first part of the Design-Build Method. The pre-construction phase starts with a Preliminary drawing or sketch that can be generated by the Design-Build consultant or the Owner. Develop Estimates and Budgets From there, you want to establish the Budget of the project from the design stage through the construction stage. The DBC team will start with square foot estimates. As more detailed drawings are completed by the  D BC, they will develop a more detailed construction estimate.   Incorporate Value Engineering into your  project. At this point, the DBC will develop some Value engineering suggestions and Options for the building. The Value Engineering suggestions would look at alternate materials, methods, and components in the design that can add value and reduce
Read more