Bristish Gas Engineer refusing to go on roof.

Al1x

If there were two of them why couldn't one of them hold the ladder while the other one did the work?

albyota

Don't think I'd trust the suction pad though....:eek:
in the real world most engineers think for themselves, assess the risk, work safely and provide a solution and keep the customer happy..... so put the H&S book away

macman

Al1x wrote: »

If there were two of them why couldn't one of them hold the ladder while the other one did the work?

Because he was too busy brewing the tea...;)
I rather suspect that BG employ a number of engineers who have a fear of heights. They are required to do this under the anti-discrimination leglislation.
Recent posts on this board also appear to indicate that a large number of them can't tolerate the smell of gas either...

ben500

espresso wrote: »

You seem to be the odd man out on this thread, as you have been on various others so I would disagree.

Insulting me is not going to make me wrong nor is it going to get the op's flue fixed, the op asked if the BG's engineers objection was valid I merely confirmed it was and gave reasons why. What constructive contribution have you made to the thread so far?
My observations are based on knowledge gleaned from working within the building industry and eight years of risk assessment and have been supported with explanations.

Your contributions thus far have been about as much help as a chocolate fireguard to the op. You've simply come along to indulge yourself in a childish squabble, not at my expense thanks. Plenty of places on here to play.

In short to carry out the job with just a ladder not only exposes the worker to risk of injury but also damage to the property and possible subsequent litigation. Click on that.

Pincher

How many BG engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
None, because it's not in their job description.

All the installers: BT, NTL (now Virgin), Sky, refuse to walk on my bare joists to pull cables through. It requires bending, not even crawling. I always have to be present to pull and poke the cable through the wall. The bureaucrats sitting in an office gets one compensation claim about an engineer stepping through a ceiling, and the other ten million households have to suffer from a health and safety policy that hamper work. The man on the job should be able to make his own judgement on what is safe or not.

ben500

Pincher wrote: »

How many BG engineers does it take to change a light bulb?
None, because it's not in their job description.

All the installers: BT, NTL (now Virgin), Sky, refuse to walk on my bare joists to pull cables through. It requires bending, not even crawling. I always have to be present to pull and poke the cable through the wall. The bureaucrats sitting in an office gets one compensation claim about an engineer stepping through a ceiling, and the other ten million households have to suffer from a health and safety policy that hamper work. The man on the job should be able to make his own judgement on what is safe or not.

Hardly suffering is it to poke a cable through a hole? You mean like the engineers in the op did?

Farway

Pincher wrote: »

The man on the job should be able to make his own judgement on what is safe or not.

Except due to H & E the employer has a duty of care to his / her employees

Pincher

ben500 wrote: »

Hardly suffering is it to poke a cable through a hole? You mean like the engineers in the op did?

I do it all the time, so it's not a hardship for the engineer either.
The policy just ends up being an excuse the engineers get to use to do as little as possible. If I let them get away with it, they will just run the cable half way round the house using a staple gun that will make the house look like it was stitched together by Victor Frankenstein.

I see there's a fridge/freezer in the left of the picture.
All they had to do was to put it in position and stand on that.
But of course that would have been against the rules as well.

The real policy is to off-load all risk and inconvenience like platform ladders onto the householder. If window cleaning is run the way they do, the window cleaner will ask you to bring the 1st floor window down for him to clean.

ben500

Pincher wrote: »

I do it all the time, so it's not a hardship for the engineer either.
The policy just ends up being an excuse the engineers get to use to do as little as possible. If I let them get away with it, they will just run the cable half way round the house using a staple gun that will make the house look like it was stitched together by Victor Frankenstein.

I see there's a fridge/freezer in the left of the picture.
All they had to do was to put it in position and stand on that.
But of course that would have been against the rules as well.

The real policy is to off-load all risk and inconvenience like platform ladders onto the householder. If window cleaning is run the way they do, the window cleaner will ask you to bring the 1st floor window down for him to clean.

You made the comment that the householder was suffering not me, how is it a sufferance for the householder but not the tradesman? As for the fridge your suggestion beggars belief, I'm sure householders up and down the country would welcome such a suggestion. How about they just knock a hole in the roof and pop their heads through surely that would be just as easy if not equally ridiculous a suggestion. The cost of scaffold and or safety equipment is borne by the trader not the householder and factored into the price.

I'm sure you would be full of the joys of spring and not expect to be compensated by the tradesman who put a foot through your ceiling or abused your property in order to carry out his or her work too. Clearly you would have every sympathy in the event he or she followed your advice to disreguard their safety and injured themselves also.

gavjbrown

ben500 wrote: »

The main roof is clearly under maintained and an indicator that there could well be other problems unforseen.

The roof has recently been inspected and any necessary worked carried out, but I see your point.