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where can i source access systems please?
Hi everyone,
our company is quite new to the signage game and we have come to our first major obstacle! Access!! the majority of shop fronts we are doing require access of about 3m something like that!
i have seen other sign makers using what looks like 2 sets of ladders with a platform sitting above. are these good access systems? does anyone know where i can purchase these from?
or have any other suggestions for good access?
many thanks ben
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10 Replies
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Aluminum trestles and catwalk is what you are after.
a good few firms do them now, some better than others. we have them in wood and a few pairs in aluminum. alloy ones are by far better and easier to work with. i have done the whole scaffold and ladders thing many times years gone by, never will i go back. danger is one thing, speed and ease while working is another. we owned our own tower, dozens of good sets of ladders… worked all over the UK on larger towers building on-site etc… as i said, no more… if i outreach our tressles i move to our own cherry picker, failing that ill hire one.
for general shopfront fittings and the like… get 10ft trestles and 10ft catwalk. but… check what you van can hold as we have a small sprinter also and that only holds 8ft sets, but 10ft can go in at an angle at a push.i bought mine through the clow group and have an online site for them here
http://www.ladders-direct.co.uk/aluminium-trestles.htmli know you can buy cheaper but have found the aluminum can come in different gauges and the rungs and legs can be bent. so be careful not to buy too lightweight a set.
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But bear in mind without Kick boards & hand rails, Trestles do not meet H&S standards.
Kev
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Trestles and platform is my best investment yet, don’t know how I fitted sign before. I went with Robs advice and went for the 10ft set, it doesn’t fit in the van but got roof racks that they fit on, the aluminum is fairly light so easy to get up and down from the roof.
It also speeds the job up and time is money 😉
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quote Kevin Flowers:But bear in mind without Kick boards & hand rails, Trestles do not meet H&S standards.
Kev
i have never ever been questioned on this regardless to where i have been working kev, by that i mean onsite with H&S officers all over the place. as soon as i am, i will purchase the clamp on rail, not a problem and not expensive.
i am inviting H&S to do a survey of our premises soon, so i am sure i will be told one way or another then. I have never had an accident on tressles, but have on ladders and scaffold… i have two Friends, on separate occasions, almost been killed on scaffold. still, i would take scaffold over ladders any day.i was told by the guy altering my SKY dish that ladders are no longer regarded as safe if you have to remove a second hand while working. so much so they must bolt and harness themselves to the building while installing a dish.
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I usually just hire an aluminium access tower these days. My van isn’t big enough to hold this as well as all the tools I need as well as the signs – so I hire a trailer to transport everything as well.
My local tool hire company is very competitive and I just add on the cost of hiring the tower and trailer for a day to the price of a job (I also mark up the hire charges in my quotations so that I even make a small profit on hiring). I have considered buying a tower and a trailer but don’t use them that often so stick to hiring when I need to.
To be honest I would rather spend all day at the unit making signs rather than going out to fit them – but there is a market demand for a supply and fit so I do it. I recently carried out a job which involved working at height and extensive use of access equipment. My client admitted he had difficulty getting anyone to quote the job (I was the only one out of three companies he contacted that bothered to return a quote) so I ended up getting the job 😕
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Rob
this is what was quoted to me when i went to use them in a local shopping arcade:"The platform shall be provided with handrails and kick-boards that meet the requirements of the
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, (Regulation 13) for permanent platforms and
the Health and Safety in Construction Regulations (HS(G)150) for temporary platforms."I didn’t argue the fact just took a tower instead with kick boards.
I prefer trestles for shop & truck work but have seen people step of them.Kev
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Kev, You are probably right mate… i just mean i have never been asked in all the years ive used them. but like i say, in a few weeks time, if stipulated under the inspection, ill get a couple of sets of rails in.
ive worked on allot of big scaffold towers over the years installing signs.
i think the thing i dislike the most is after half a day working, climbing and lifting tools etc up them you are exhausted and your hands ache gripping on.
as i said, two friends nearly killed on towers…
one head dived 50ft into a carpark below when one of his apprentices left the trap door open going for the tea… he broke his back and various other injuries. cant stand for longer than 15 minutes at a time now.
the other fell about 30ft between the tower and the roughcast wall it was up against after it wobbled due to some idiot down below climbing up the outside. he had one sore face and was in hospital for weeks.i recon its just the speed you can work on trestles. how easy and quick they are assembled and how stable you feel on them. if you do fall its at most ten feet… when you start going way about that i just feel safer and the jobs done quicker using a cherry picker and like phill says, just include it in the job.
i am not saying my views are correct, just how i prefer to do things.
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We’ve got a scaffold tower. Mainly for trucks in the factory.
On site we hire access equipment mostly scissor lifts and bill the client. I find it invaluable to be able to drive around and to go up and down easily. It makes putting up composite panels easy. Build clamps attach them to the scissor lift, go up and screw the top into the wall etc. I find I’m also alot quicker like this.
We will also use boom lifts etc.
If your only going 3m in the air then trestles will be best. Although Scaffolding you’d only need two sets of sections to get 3m in the air working height that is and you can wheel it around.
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Many thanks guys, just about to order 10ft trestles now, however the lady on the phone did mention that they can sell 10ft but we are not supposed to use them over 2metres..
Any way. many thanks as always very helpful replies.
Ben
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I’ve got the 8ft ally trestles with a 14ft staging. I wanted 8ft in particular as they fit inside the van and is OK for 95% of jobs.
I also have the handrail kit just in case (which has to be in place if working over 2 metres).
I’ve never fitted it though as it really gets in the way but if an employee was using the trestles it would be open to legal problems should they fall backwards.
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