Another Warning...Lets Be Careful Out There

JonM

Three Roofers Electrocuted

Story 1
http://nhregister.com/articles/2010/...ocker_0108.txt


Story 2
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2...8521488219.txt

MAD Renovations

Thats to bad...... It does disturb me that the media can not just report the accident and hope that they recover but instead they have to smear thier names by saying that they did not have permits and were not supposed to be doing the work..... Which is correct but just the wrong venue for that I think.

JonM

It's the newspapers job to report the facts...All the facts.

SLSTech

Sorry but that doesn't fly, how many articles do you read or see on the news & you are left wondering about a few aspects. I guarantee if John posted this as you stated, someone out here would be going did they pull a permit, why was the ladder so close, did they have the experience, they must be hacks.

I think they did a pretty good job at getting all the facts out - what the status of the permit was (received not issued), who was involved, next steps, etc...

It actually is kind of nice reading news were due diligence has been done without any slant to it

Oh & yes I hope they all recover fully, unfortunatly the business won't - not with OSHA's new mindset

__________________
Alabama Full Service Remodeling, Renovation, and Preservation by SLS Construction
Certified Energy Efficiency Audits, Ratings, Modeling, Verifications, & Consulting
Residential, Commercial, & Industrial Infrared Thermography Scans

boman47k

It seems to me they had applied for the permit, and it had been signed but not issued. It also sounds like they may have been preparing to do roofing work by loading mat's. It was stated that roofers can use ladders to prepare for roofing. Time is money, weather is worrisome. Is it that unusual to go ahead and get things ready in situations like that?
I'm not sure I see what the rpoblem is, except people got hurt trying to make a living.
But, maybe some details as to what was being done was left out.

Either way, it is abad situation, and I wish the best for those involved.

DavidC

It is too bad that these men were injured and we need these stories reported to help us all remember to be careful.

I also think it's too bad they put so much focus on the permit angle. Wouldn't it have sufficed to say the permit was not issued and dedicate more space to their welfare or cause of the accident? I know that I have had jobs were a permit was applied for and we started before it was issued. In those cases it was discussed first with the enforcer handling the paperwork and I would get a verbal go ahead. Could have easily been the case with this crew, but they couldn't say that to the press.

Good Luck
Dave

__________________
www.CookContractingLLC.com

JonM

Happens here all the time...technically they are not suppose to start until the permit is issued, but inspectors know work is slow here. Especially in the winter and usually get the nod...These guys weren't trying to get away with anything, as the job they were injured on can literally be seen from the building inspectors town hall office...only about a 100 yards away.

bwalley

I think it is good that they reported the facts that they did not have permits, how is posting facts trying to smear their names?

DavidC

The point being made is that they may well have been acting on a wink and a nod from the permit office. This is apparently a normal and acceptable practice in other locals besides my own.

If this would be the case here (keeping in mind that we do not know) then they would not be the only guilty party. Code enforcement may condone the practice by example but be protected by the technicality that the permit was not issued yet.

It was accurately reported that the permit was applied but not yet issued. That would have been good enough coverage pending proper investigation. Either I missed it or the actual how and why of the accident were not covered.

Good Luck
Dave

__________________
www.CookContractingLLC.com

JonM

Here is a follow up for the three guys.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2..._folo_0109.txt

boman47k

Are they saying the electricity jumped from the wire to the laddr-vator, or that the ladder and wires actually made contact.


I don't like to get anywhere near powerlines with a metallic ladder of any kind. I can't get the pic's out of my head of a lab with electricity flowing from one electrode to another even though they are not making contact. Heheh, maybe showing my ignorance here, but so be it.

While I was installing vynle on my house this year, I had to get pretty close to the incoming line at the meter and gable above the meter. I was not comfortable!

SLSTech

Boman - ladder actually made contact, third person got it by trying to pull one of them off the ladder instead of kicking them off (rubber soles - no grounding)

Hopefully they all recover fully and this just turns into a life lesson that they can laugh about later

__________________
Alabama Full Service Remodeling, Renovation, and Preservation by SLS Construction
Certified Energy Efficiency Audits, Ratings, Modeling, Verifications, & Consulting
Residential, Commercial, & Industrial Infrared Thermography Scans

boman47k

I remeber my daddy telling about having to knock a ladder from under a fellow worker in the plant. Doing something electrical and grabbed a pipe when he got a little off balanced, I think. Whatever, he became grounded and could not turn the pipe loose. It was either let him hit the concrete floor and maybe kill him or leave him be in which case he was almost certain to be killed. These things can happen so quick!

DavidC

I'm glad to read they are recuperating and will survive. Hopefully the one in critical will improve soon.

Good Luck
Dave

__________________
www.CookContractingLLC.com

A W Smith

odd that the businesses on the power line side of that address are single story. Unless this was an add a level roof?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...29.26,,0,-0.38


Also this i find troubling:
Yet the comments on those three articles by people who know them personally claim they were hard, upstanding, long time workers for that company. So Uh oh. Doesn't appear they were covered by WC insurance

__________________
Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

JonM

This is the actual structure...sometimes Google maps aren't so accurate.

Leo G

So if they had the permit pulled, do you think the accident would not have happened? It's the same guys doing the work, all that would have happened is a little money would have been exchanged and a pc of paper would have been signed and nailed on the house. Having a permit doesn't make stupid people smarter.

__________________
Sawdust Follows Me Everywhere

http://lrgwood.com
Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut