27.02.2014

A pallet platform that plumbs new depths

Spotted by a reader in Belgium, a man with two forms of access one static, one powered, neither safe at all.

The photo was taken on Tuesday (Feb 25th) in Maaseik near the Dutch border and half way between the JLG factory in Maasmechelen, Belgium and the town of Roermond in Holland which at one time was the base for Genie Europe. So in the heart of powered access country.

Our man has set up two ladders with a staging bracket and two heavy planks, while better than a plain ladder, it is questionable at this height, given there is no guardrail or fall protection and it is getting on for six metres high.
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Maaseik Belgium and two forms of access,both qualifying as Death Wishes

However the man photographed is not using this form of access, instead he has rigged a pallet up with two web slings and had himself lifted into place with an aging loader crane. An increasing number of people consider the use of man platforms suspended from cranes as unfit for routine work at height, however in comparison to this form of crane platform they are state of the art.
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A closer look

No question about this one – a definite Death Wish and one of the worst we have seen in some time.