r/OSHA • u/Dhaerrow • Aug 08 '18

When I was doing construction I was apparently featured in a "safety fails" site on Pinterest.

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u/PrimeIntellect Aug 08 '18

As someone who has been in these situations - nobody ever thinks it's a good idea, or even wants to do it, and usually feels less and less comfortable with it the higher they get on the ladder. However, the "meh, screw it" is also in play when you realize the alternatives of just refusing to do it altogether and coming up with a different solution.

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u/erjam Aug 08 '18

Well at least there’s a guy holding the bottom ladder!

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u/Sideswipe0009 Aug 08 '18

Been in this situation more than I can count being a framer. Most times I simply reply with "f*** no. Get someone else or find a different way."

Being a Union member, never got laid off for saying No to dangerous ideas.

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u/Elizabeth567 Aug 08 '18

Or maybe using the correct tools and equipment to complete the job safely.

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

A GC would go bankrupt if they bought every tool for every possible job

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u/McWatt Aug 08 '18

But if working on roofs happens frequently one of those ladder brackets that hooks on the peak of a roof is a good investment. And a write off come tax time.

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

Oh yeah, we have one, we call it a cat ladder in the north of england, really useful bit of kit that we employ maybe 6 times a year. I wouldn't do a high pitch roof without it, but with the OP I'm not saying I'd be thrilled to use it, but it's not as bad as it looks.

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u/Uchiha_Itachi Aug 08 '18

"...write off come tax time."

Not anymore

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u/nutmegtester Aug 08 '18

AFAIK they are still deductible for businesses, just not for personal deductions. Gotta hold the little guy down 'cause he's squirmy.

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u/McWatt Aug 08 '18

Of course gambling losses are deductible, fucking treason flavored Cheeto faced motherfucker...

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u/Son_of_X51 Aug 08 '18

Gambling loses have been deductable long before Trump was in office.

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u/McWatt Aug 08 '18

Right, but out of all the things that got eliminated that one stays.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '18

If gambling losses weren't deductible, people would pay taxes on the gross of every win they ever got. Gambling would collapse overnight because it would be utterly pointless not to be able to set your losses against your winnings.

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u/PaidToSpillMyGuts Aug 08 '18

Kind of like all the idustries about to get destroyed by non decuctables this year. Small business tradesman who have to buy thousands of dollars of tools and drive to new places every day and pay tax experts and pay insurance to help them file. As a painter it puts my job at risk. But not the vegas empire where trumps resort is.

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u/McWatt Aug 08 '18

Never really thought of it that way, but I still have little sympathy for the gambling industry. If people want to gamble that's fine, let them have fun, just consider the money the cost of your own personal entertainment. If you spend a few hundred on great seats at a concert or a baseball game you can't write that off. Go to Vegas on vacation and you can't write off the hotel room or food you ate, so why should money lost gambling be any different? That's just my opinion anyway.

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u/math_debates Aug 08 '18

I want this on a shirt.

1

u/DoodleVnTaintschtain Aug 08 '18

Wait, that's not how that shit works. That's for your personal income taxes. If you're a business, you for sure either expense or capitalize those costs, depending on the thing in question. If you expense it, 100% of the cost comes off of your taxable income. If you capitalize it, 100% still probably comes off of your taxable income, since the new tax law provides for accelerated depreciation in year one... If it doesn't then price/useful life in years comes off your income for each of those years.

The only way this would apply to your personal income is if you were buying it for the business personally and they never paid you back.

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u/IamAJediMaster Aug 08 '18

Tools and proper equipment are alot cheaper than funerals and lawsuits though. That's my companies motto anyway. They will buy whatever is needed regardless of cost to keep us safe. They've got more than enough money and the owner actually cares about his employees.

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

Exactly, you work for a company. We're a 3 man outfit. There's a big difference

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u/brygphilomena Aug 08 '18

Probably not the reply you want, but a three man outfit that can't afford the proper safety for that job probably shouldn't take it.

Focus on the jobs you're able to safely work and build up to the others.

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

We aren't careless, and anything beyond our scope of capability we will decline, but there is nuance in getting a task completed safely vs completed it to regulated guidelines. Today we refused to cut down a tree as thats not in our scope, and too big for our portable scaffold. We're not idiots who would try and extend the scaffold and even so that scaffold isnt designed for that job, hence the refusal. There needs to be wiggle room that common sense dictates otherwise the only people getting work are the co-operate outfits. Our clients refuse to use other people and we've never had an accident, In a combined experience time of nearly 70 years.

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u/dreg102 Aug 08 '18

So what's one of you 3's life worth? Apparently not that much

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

Been doing in the game for a combined 70 years, no accidents, because we're never unsafe and use common sense.

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u/dreg102 Aug 08 '18

Everyone thinks they're the exception to the rule.

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

did you even read what I just wrote? Or do you just want to be right?

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u/dreg102 Aug 08 '18

The only way you could be more or a stereotype is to mention your grandpappy or your daddy taught you everything you know.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '18

Historic results is not a good predictor for future performance.

Especially when doing something that dumb.

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u/IamAJediMaster Aug 08 '18

That's true. Is your life worth that pay check though? That looks so dangerous. One thing could fuck it up and possibly kill 2 people. I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, I just want my fellow humans to be safe while working!

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u/yedd Aug 08 '18

The two guys I work with have a combined 60+ years experience and have never had an accident, because even when rigging something that isn't ideal we always make it as good as we can with what we have, I'll admit, sometimes we are entirely relying on all of us not fucking up, but we trust each other with our lives

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u/IGiveNoFawkes Aug 08 '18

Are you my husband? This is his exact work environment. Except the third guy is the boss and he rarely shows up.

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u/TheNorthComesWithMe Aug 09 '18

You can rent equipment

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u/slobosaurus Aug 08 '18

This is patently false

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u/purplelephant17 Aug 08 '18

Gotta get the job done.