Climbing Kit, Loler and the Sole Trader, Whats the Point?

[Pete Mctree]

Insurance is invalid without it. A claim is easily nullified when you have not adhered to the letters of the law. Very much like an onsite risk assessment - they only want to see it when the shitty stuff hits the fan.

[dan494]

I completly sympathise but i have my personal kit lolered without exception and with this in mind-my stein cambium saver failed as the stiching at one of the rings had started to frey,i didnt notice it even doing weekly checks.If the loler hadnt highlighted it i may have had a sore one

 

 

How bad could it have been if you couldn't notice it? I've towed fully loaded transits with retired 13mm climbing ropes that have had knicks in them (don't know any climbers that weigh 3.5 ton!). I've also had a frayed seatbelt that passed the mot no problem? I think some of this stuff is retired too readily

 

 

 

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[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

There is no point, which is why I don't do it.

 

That does it. I am sending the fuzz round!

[treequip]

Like the title says, you're a sole trader/contract climber, you purchase and use your own equipment, you don't let anyone else use it and you don't use anyone elses, you do pre use checks and keep a written record.

 

What is the point in taking it to a Loler inspector to have it checked on the 1st day of the 7th month when you've been deemed competent enough to do your own checks every time you used it during the preceding 6 months?

 

Well LOLER is more than tree work, its a catch all of any lifting in all industries in many lands and we are the smallest part of a tooth on a minor cog.

 

There is a lot of resentment for LOLER, particularly among freelancers, phrases like "as of I would trust my life to dodgy kit" are common. What is often missed is that its not just the climber that's at risk, OK, so the chances of getting hit by a falling climber are low but if his saw lanyard fails or a lowering rope breaks there will be tears before bed time.

 

The point of the formal 6 or 12 monthly inspection is that it is independent.

 

The sum of it all is that LOLER is designed to protect all.

[devon TWiG]

I do not have anything lolered either , I do not inspect it weekly ... I inspect it continuously whilst in use , and would notice anything different or wrong , my rope runs through my hands every time I coil it up , and when in use , also I like good kit so am not the type to be using anything that is knackered , I have just retired a willans harness that is 20 plus years old and I would still be happy from a safety perspective to use it . I hear so many far fetched "what ifs" to do with H&S I have neck ache from shaking my head with dis-belief !!

[Mark Bolam]

That does it. I am sending the fuzz round!

 

 

They'll never take me alive!

 

 

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[treequip]

The first time my yale hedera was getting lolored the inspector said it wasn't tree climbing rope! Of course I proved it was and he looked the fool. As he didn't do any srt he hadn't seen it before

 

Surely then its a rope climbing rope

[tree-fancier123]

Insurance is invalid without it. A claim is easily nullified when you have not adhered to the letters of the law. Very much like an onsite risk assessment - they only want to see it when the shitty stuff hits the fan.

 

that is quite scary, that a small set up could damage someone's house or car, thinking the insurance will cover them, and during the claim the insurers ask to see loler certs for the lowering ropes

£90 is a lot of money though

[Joe Newton]

I don't bother, not a bravado thing mind.

 

I'm not the worlds most masculine man, but I know what I am.

[Daythe trees]

I do it for the above point about insurance and the fact that some companies I subcontract to ask to see my loler certificate and know when the last one I gave them ran out, so for me it keeps me working! The other day a lad who serves as my second climber on a subbie basis noticed the crab on my saw strop was not snapping shut properly, I suspect it had got crudded up that day dismantling wet slimy syc however was it three weeks ago it stopped working and I hadn't noticed in my weekly checks? So even though I resent paying a second pair of eyes with no vested interest in saving your pennies in my mind is worthwhile.

 

Panic not a bit of wd40 and the airline and the crab is saved from the scrap bin, fifteen quid saved!