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Fitting signs in windy weather
At what point do you decide it’s to windy to safely put up a sign?
With all the snow and freezing weather recently I have a backlog of signs to put up. My customers have been phoning me asking when their signs would be fitted putting me under pressure.
Consequently I had agreed to fit one large sign over the weekend to ensure it was in place Monday morning for a client who had an important visitor on Monday. Yesterday it blew gales and rained hard all day which meant it was not possible to do the work. Today was dry but still very breezy, but I headed off at lunch time to see if I could get the job out of the way. When I arrived on site it was still blowing hard and I reluctantly decided it wouldn’t be safe to try and fit the sign. On returning home though the winds had dropped and I was feeling guilty for not fitting the sign so headed back out to make a second attempt. This time, even though it was still intermittently breezy I decided to give it a go and successfully completed the task. However, I have to ask myself would I have expected an employee or anyone else to fit it under the conditions I fitted this and I have to say the answer is no.
At what point do you decide it’s too windy to attempt to fit a sign?
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6 Replies
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Had the same issue myself Phill this weekend, snow had made pre- christmas install not feasible and tower as due to go on site Friday am for fitting brackets etc with 3 large trays due to go in over the weekend.
I pulled the plug at 8am Friday even though the wind wasn’t that bad but the outlook for the weekend was high winds.
Job is not direct to client so the creative co it’s through were not overly impressed.
Until Saturday when I got a text saying I had made the right decision.
It’s all very well saying we are been paid to carry out the task in hand but common sense has to prevail, and I’m not breaking my neck for anyone.
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Its a difficult call, I have a small sign to put up since before Xmas but because the building is on quite a slope and with all the snow and ice I decided it was not safe to fix it. Now the snow and ice has gone it has done nothing but rain. I also won’t fix in the rain as ladders get slippery and electric tools are a no no, and your tools get rusty so I always refuse. It can be a pain sometimes but the customer don’t care about your dilemma but I always pull the Health & Safety card out and they tend to shut up. I also tell the customer that I have to make a business decision to call off a job and get on with something else rather than wasting time sitting in the van for an hour in the pouring rain hopeing it will stop.
Its your business and your call! -
as said common sense is best.
if in doubt, start writing a imaginary accident form and see how it reads, you will soon come to a answer. -
It’s always worth pointing out that they are responsible for ANY injuries on their site, whether any employee or contractor has caused them.
Never used it though 😕
Steve
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quote Phill Fenton:At what point do you decide it’s to windy to safely put up a sign?Easy, at whatever point you feel compromised in either safety or not being able to complete the job correctly.
Your terms and conditions should mention adverse weather conditions and safety.
One is always going to have to make the call and one will always worry if you could have possibly done it but at the end of the day it is never important enough to risk injury.
Don’t be pressurised by anyone else, especially not the client who has completely different motives and understanding of the dangers. -
In addition to health and safety, I also mention Im not covered to work in adverse weather by my insurance company, it soon gets the message across.
It is a tough call for the self employed, as we tend to push ourselves a little harder than an employee, mainly because I know my limitations, the same cant be said for putting someone else in the same situation.
As for power tools its a MUST to use 110V equipment on site as the maximum belt you can get between earth and the tool is 55V (safe-ish) due to the safe design of the transformer. Its well worth the expense, as most gen sets output at 110V and it doesn’t cost much to have a 110V supply in the workshop.
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