nath

The fact that the climber posted that video tells me he is oblivious to it being all his fault and he by extension what a dick it makes him look. To not see all that I can only presume he’s somewhere on the spectrum 

They lost me the day they bent over backwards pandering to the hse over the double rope fiasco. Talk about sell your own industry out 

No one heard of the ignore button?

I was vaguely aware of it but hadn't really looked into exactly what it does. I like the idea of it, but yeah it really needs everyone on it or no one

3 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

They never signed up for high levels of inflation that is effectively stealing their wages. They never signed up up for energy bills, fuel bills and taxation through the roof either. They have asked for wage increases to keep up with what they did sign up for and since that has been rebuffed they have been left with little option to either strike or quit. Many have quit and this creates another problem for the Nurses that chose to remain, a far heavier workload than they signed up for. A significant increase in wages will stop strike action and hopefully entice Nurses back to their jobs. A wage that genuinely reflects the very necessary work they do for all of us.

No one signed up for inflation, that’s an irrelevant argument, we are all faced with the same thing.

as for enticing new staff, well perhaps if nurses stopped whinging so much young ones might be more tempted to take on the career 

The country has a long standing love affair with the NHS and it’s nurses. They are risking throwing this all away, but the NHS is probably going to completely collapse anyway; and probably about time too.

next few years probably won’t be the best time to get ill, but hopefully after that we will have something good to work with again 

Too much is made of nurses. Yes we need them not that doesn’t mean they get to hold us to ransom. If that’s their attitude perhaps they are better off getting a different job. They are not as overworked as they make out either. Go spend a day in a hospital and see how many of them are standing around not really achieving much, or 3 or 4 of them sitting behind a desk laughing and giggling at something on their phones. Perhaps it’s just because I’m from an environment that if we are not moving we are not working, but I certainly don’t see hard work going on.

the fastest you see a nurse moving is when they are leaving for home at the end of their shift 

19 minutes ago, Retired Climber said:

Thank you. That's just the wake up call I needed; I didn't realise there was a post counter. Assuming 20 minutes of browsing per post made, if I'd not joined this forum, and done something productive instead I'd have been about £160,000 better off. 

 

See ya 

 

 

I wish you were my dad 

If you want the answer to why we are not taking seriously as professionals just spend an hour on various social media channels and look at how some people within the industry portray themselves, then you have your answer. Probably these same people who are complaining we aren't taken seriously as an industry 😁

Reminds me of something I’d read in the guardian from some witless journalist trying to be clever. Whilst he might have made a few valid points he also makes some ridiculous ones and the whole tone of it is a kick in the teeth to something like 30% of the industry.

I thought the aa seemed to be making good amends over the years getting rid of the ‘them and us’ reputation they always had, but the fact they published this shows the divide is still there more than ever. Hugely disappointing stuff from our ‘industry representatives’, and as for the author… 

most of his current clients were likely freelancers at some stage in their careers!

14 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

I'm with Joe, I think it's a pretty poor thing for the AA to publish as it does endorse the views.

 

He comes across badly to me, possibly wrote the article after 7 pints and sent it in for a laugh. Seems he tried being a freelance climber for a couple of months, couldn't hack it, and had a downer on small operators ever since.

 

The idea that there could be a freelancer with LOLER certificate who does a good job and pays tax is beyond him. I've done the HMRC CEST that he talks about and I'm not PAYE when subbing. Boof ! I don't exist !

Nailed it more or less. I'm going with 5 glasses of rosé though.

11 minutes ago, Gardenscape said:

If anyone, especially the midlands and down south, is sending your lads out to work all day tomorrow then you are a disgrace. Just reschedule your work for another week when it's cooler. Sunstroke is a massive risk tomorrow and Tuesday. Humidity in the UK is horrible and it feels far hotter than it actually is. I just know there will be bosses who don't care and will tell their lads to work or find a new job.

Just lol is the only reply I can think to this 

19 minutes ago, AA Teccie (Paul) said:

Just a quick one to say, as anticipated, and certainly in the short-medium term (relatively, meaning 5-10 yrs maybe), we are aware, anecdotally, the industry hasn't embraced / engaged with the '2 rope working' (which, AAMOI is one option in achieving the use of a back-up system...but others are available) in the whole. 

 

HSE, as the regulator, have insisted on this, they actually wanted '2 ropes' at all times so other options equating to a backup system is a concession that we pushed for and that's what's written into the industry ICOP and TG1. Simplistically they saw IRATA as setting then benchmark and require us as an industry, collectively, to reach a comparable safe system of working...in their eyes. 

 

I don't climb these days but I do understand the resistance, and the rationale / reasons, I really do, but equally I have seen contractors / climbers who've embraced it and work effectively and efficiently, okay maybe a little slower but arguably a lot safer...arguably.

 

AA TG1 is a priced publication, some claw-back for the funds invested in writing it, and the ICOP, but the associated Safety Guide (AFAG 401 / 401 replacement) which gives some insight is a free download  

Arboricultural Association - Arboricultural Association Safety Guides

WWW.TREES.ORG.UK

---

A range of tree related help and advice for members of the public as well as tree surgeons.

  

ATB and 1, 2 ..or 7 ropes, keep safe.

Cheers

Paul

 

As the voice of the uk Arb industry, did the AA at any point actually fight this or merely look for concessions? Simple yes or no answer would be great

27 minutes ago, Rob D said:

 

Yep I really feel the same way - there was a fairly big protest yesterday near us shouting 'No Oil, No Gas, Keep the Carbon in the Ground'. And my thought was 'how am I going to get to work? and have they thought how they were going to get to work? drop the kids to school?'.

 

I am part of the problem - we all are. But I don't have any answers. I don't think there are any clear answers right now.

 

 

I have the answer. Mass depopulation. Its THE only solution. All these stupid summits are just pissing in the wind and done only to make it look like they're making an effort. They know the real score.

Too bad theres not a vaccine or something that could humanely depopulate the world somehow.

£40 for something you basically get nothing in return for, but if you don't pay it you get a hefty fine. That by most peoples definition is a protection racket.

On 15/03/2021 at 07:52, Lowestoft Firewood said:

Probably not quite the right thread, but saw this on a local news site. How the councillor thought that willow could be affected by Ash dieback, and how she hasnt even done any research around the coppicing of willow to see its been done several times before on those trees is beyond me.

 

Anger as hundreds of trees chopped along A47

WWW.EDP24.CO.UK

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She added: "The real irony is that most of that section is in my division and I was the one who put forward the idea for the one million trees project."

The real irony is the fact she's getting any airtime whatsoever. Her comments throughout that article are incredibly ignorant and laughable! Was an amusing couple of minutes read even if it did make my blood boil a bit.

Agreed. And thats the best you're going to get without better photos. Theres a chance it might be a variant of something or other though.

All wood burns! I think Sweden for one would be a bit buggered if they weren't allowed to burn Pine. People should just burn what is most prevelant in their region. Having the ability to import all this kiln dried hardwood is just another symptom of how spoiled we have become as a nation.

Great topic, one I have often had with colleagues!

I don't really follow any one method, and to be honest it largely depends on the size of my balls on the day! If i'm working on something like a leaning poplar i'm often quite keen to get the top out early on. It can be quite disconcerting having to balance on a leaning spindly top on the last stretch.

Theres often times when you won't necessarily need to go back up to the top of the tree once its been stripped, so in those cases i'll definetly remove the top at the same time as setting my anchor point.

Like 5 shires, i'm no economist either. Heres a few things that occur to me though.

Well over 100,000 dead so far and still rising. Lets say by the end of this that 100,000 of pensionable age are dead. thats 100,000 X 175.20 the government have saved themselves every week, which comes to £17,520,000 a week. Thats got to take the sting off things a little bit. At the rate things are going it could quite easily be double that. Sorry if that comes across insensitive, but its fact.

Then you have all the ineritance tax. Good possibility that some of those 100,000 will have a few quid to spare. Whats inheritance tax at the moment, 40%

And the money that isn't taxed is all going to be new money for people, who unlike their elderly relatives might well have a bit of a sprending spree, further helping the economy.

The more I think about it, the more possible ways I see of the government clawing money back, Im not as pessimistic about the whole thing as I once was.

Yep thats parish councils. They nearly always have their own pet tree surgeon and just get other prices in to check boxes.

3 hours ago, Tommy_B said:

? Maybe I'm old, but what does this mean?

sausage factory, brighton area. No idea what he could mean

On 28/12/2019 at 00:55, Witterings said:

Bit of an afterthought but why don't people like chaps as opposed to trousers??

Because times have moved on! 20 years ago chainsaw trousers were thick heavy things, the option to go for chaps which were a little lighter was a feasible option. Now chainsaw trousers are lighter, and quote wearable, which has made chaps a thing of the past. Probably worn more in the states than over here, and that was probably always the case anyways

Whats with the split?

Good work