The easy way to lay slabs - Slab lifter

[lutonlagerlout]

"down, down, down " as amy winehouse sang
dan is correct though,on my allotment nothing is allowed to be permanent,even my path is laid on shuttered sand
LLL

[ilovesettsonmondays]

its ok for temporary paving , but done as a proper job would notice a difference after a cpl of years at maximum.the avant is a great little number to have for moving packs etc and sucker.could do with one to move indian stone round back of a house this week.felt sorry for guy who doing a job for .had to tell him that the soakaway crates the builder had put in where too close to the house (2m). after core drilling through his new wall that the builder did . i got the mini digger driver to dig a 2.3m x 1.5m for new soakaway . sorry to hijack thread , is it worth trying to take the crates out or just leave them in ground????

[GB_Groundworks]

if the crates where done right they should be wrapped in geotextile so yeah get them out at 40 each and reuse or was it just a hole filled with bricks?

[ilovesettsonmondays]

the guy paid for crates. he has took pics on his i phone . basically he has two drainage pipes coming out the ground about 3m apart. i dont know how many crates he put in . i have looked down pipes and i can see as far as say 800mm to a metre down them

[rab1]

On the the H/S part, common sense rules, don`t take offence here lads but myself and Sean work for the big boys and they have golden rules and if you break one one you are sacked on the spot.

My employer will hire a crane if the Manito cannot reach the work area. On a £50mil plus job all of this kit is available as and when needed but you lads don`t work in this environment and to be blunt how many jobs would you win if you had to enforce the H/S procedures myself and Sean had to work too.....?

[seanandruby]

Very true Rab. I thought being a site of "experts" we have to show DIYers, Joe public and anyone else that we practice what we preach. I've seen postings by most of you pulling guys on safety. LLL last week you pulled Hag up on using 240v leccy' cutter with water. Tony Mc is always quoting safety as do a lot of you on here. We have a saying on our sites, as Rab will agree saying: don't walk by. I know we all bend the rules a little bit, me included but that doesn't make it right. I thought i was being lenient because i didn't mention lack of other ppe, like, hard hat, high viz etc: things you need around plant. Could get a nasty wack on the head there with the forks. I apologise if you think i was out of order. Sean

[Dave_L]

but you lads don`t work in this environment and to be blunt how many jobs would you win if you had to enforce the H/S procedures myself and Sean had to work too.....?

Exactly, common sense comes into play.

[GB_Groundworks]

I agree with the think safe be safe moto

And younger lads are alot better than the old guard, my 64 old father on his own sites will never ever wear hi viz and hard hat. In fact he'd laugh at you which
Is completely wrong attitude, I'm trying to instilled a safer working attitude I wear hi viz and hard hat etc.

Now to negate this point and I'm not condoning it but there is a difference between what we do and what you do. As has been stated a tight 2 man team that works together all day everyday know each other and know the rules, stay out the way of plant etc. It's on the big jobs with lots of ppl that most the deaths and serous accidents occur.

So where do you stop? You have a certified lifting frame, a tested strap, a tested machine, a certified driver, full ppe Inc googles for all etc and in all the associated paper work method statements risk assesments permission to dig certificates, manually handling certificates, cut off saw ticket etc etc it goes on and on all that time your not earning so it means that 900 shed base becomes a 20k job.

Yeah you've got to be safe but it's not all black and White has to be done as the big boys do as there dealing with broad spectrum of lads and intelligence.

Yeah hard hat would have been a good idea and a lifting frame as your point loading the straps on the square sides of the fork but it's unlikely to break in that application.

Anyway point was you can be safe without going to extremes the big boys do to cover their arse from liability at the end of the day that's what it's about for them.

[rab1]

Just to give you all an insight how Sean and myself's day begins.

Before the lads start I have to walk the site and issue a pre start safety assessment and the brief the lads on this, next I check all plant etc and file a report on this also. If there has been any changes to the site access and egress routes etc we also have to brief the lads on this.

The lads also have to fill in a POWRA (point of work risk assessment) before starting work and if they move to another area have to do the same again. Tool Box Talk every week on the dangers and risks we all may face at work etc. The list goes on.

IIF (incident injury free) site inductions that last a day. That basically mean that we are responsible for each others safety. If you are working in an area and see someone working unsafely you must stop and ask them about the way they are working etc. If they are caught you will all be removed from site as you have not implemented your IIF training.

On the stairs to the offices there is a sign stating that you must have 3 points of contact at all times and Stanly knifes are now banned unless they have a spring loaded blade.

If you break the rules you are sacked as simple as that.

Incident Injury Free, Dont Walk By, Zero Harm

[dig dug dan]

whilst i agree there has to be a certain level of safety, it has now gone too far.
I spoke to a painter and decorator who was contracted on a big job near me (kodak building turned into "luxury" apartments"), and his job was to paint the apartments. he was on his own, no one else in the rooms, yet he still had to wear a hard hat, goggles, hi vis and toe cap boots. all he was doing was putting emulsion on the walls!
Another friend was asked to cut down a tree on the allotment, and they asked him for a risk assessment.!
So he filled one in. He put down things like, getting struck by lightening. stung by a wasp. deafened by the railway, slipping on banana skins. Pages and pages of silly possibilities. How can you put down every risk?

[ilovesettsonmondays]

do you still have yellow card and red card at laings .they dont half get some massive jobs . was on that one a few a years ago 900 million unreal . our firm had 85 blokes on it doing paving at its peak .

[lutonlagerlout]

because we use very little heavy plant our risks are far less than on multimillion pound jobs
due to fecking my own hearing at 28 ( never wore muffs till i got tinnitus) i insist on muff goggles and water when cutting
if you get the switch on the stihl just right it supresses the dust without flooding the site with slurry
the water thing is getting through though more and more i see guys using water (sometimes from a watering can :O )
cheers LLL

[haggistini]

i hold my breath and then run through the dust with the saw going and try to find clear air!

[haggistini]

and a rolley in ma gob!

[seanandruby]

Once again I bow to your superior knowledge lads. I s'pose that the lads on here who are forced to work in a safe environment need to open our eyes to the real world and not be so wimpish. H&S ....PAH!!!