Rupe
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Everything posted by Rupe
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What, you expecting him to do the work there and then? And he turned up with blokes ready to work? Sounds like a right dodgy outfit and a dodgy way to go about things, no wonder he said £1500. He wasnt a grand more, you were a grand less. His price just made you look cheap, whereas you were quite expensive. If I had quoted £300 it would make you look like you were stealing. Its all relative. Dont give a second thought to what others quote for work, the prices on the jobs they dont get are not relevant,, its the prices of the jobs that get accepted that matter, and yours got accepted for £500, and got done in a time that converted that price to profit, well done, thats what tree surgery is., no more than that. Many jobs dont get done in the time we would like them too, so as long as the good ones cover the bad its all good. Maybe the other guy had had a few bad ones recently and was trying to make up lost ground, who knows, who cares.
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Dont forget that the other guy didnt charge £1500 he just quoted £1500. Every now and then I go and quote for a job and if theres something I just dont like about it, like quoting to another trade rather than to the customer directly, I might well put in a high price so that the other tradesman cant add much on. If the guy had quoted you a fair 4-500 you could have stuck 100 on top and done no work for it at all, they way he quoted meant you had to pull your finger out and do some work, so you got a share of £250 but worked for it as apposed to £100 for doing nothing. I think he did the right thing. If he wanted the work it woud have been a lesser quote, but as I say, he did charge £1500 for the job and probably doesnt ever charge that much, he gets paid for quotes that he wins and I bet they are all a lot less than that, and for the jobs he actually wants.
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Yes, building sites are the only time I've had any kind of safety person question our methods but in my case that was from safety officers employed by the construction companies and not Hse. Construction sites are, quite rightly, a different situation and for someone just setting up they are not something to worry about yet, so I still stand by what I say, there is virtually no "trouble" you can get into by doing private work without things like coshh and definitely don't need to worry about riddor.
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You dont need insurance from yourself, but you could get a personal accident poilicy if you wanted, as long as it includes "at work" and that included treework. If you have "subby" groundworkers then they are employed by you, even if just for the day and even if they are self employed, you still have a duty of care to them and there is a requirement for you to have EL insurance to cover your liability for that duty of care. So if a requirement of yor EL is to have a written coshh assessment (and adhere to what it says) then you must have one. Riddor is much less likely to be needed. The main mistake people make, which I try and get accross, is hiring people in with their own insurance does not make up for your own lack of EL insurance. A "subby" with PL just means you have two people on site with a PL policy (assuming you are going to have PL insurance) so its a waste of time and money, only one person can be in charge of the job and thats the person who needs the PL.
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Yes, actually I agree, they do. But there is still very little "trouble" you can get into. Unless you are reported to them, and they come and carry out an inpsection,they dont go round giving people a telling off. so for a one man band doing tree private tree work there is no trouble to get into. And not having coshh or riddor provision for yourself is the last thing you would get pulled up on.
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You cannot get into trouble for putting your personal safety at risk. Employees on the other hand do need to be protected and those regs are more for their benefit. Loler will only help you if you have a rigging related accident and damage/injure a third party, be that the public or an employee. How many do you employ? Which insurance is it that you think might be "void" without coshh and/or riddor?
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Of course its safe, but its up to you what hitch you tie, and some are more reliable than others. Some need to be set nearly everytime you put weight in them which can be a bit unnerving. Just try adding a basic pulley to your prussik to start with and move on from there.
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Are you helping to pay for his holiday of a lifetime adventure?
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Ah, I didnt really look at the harnesses or rope, just the bits and pieces.
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Whats the difference between basic and progressive kits? Nothing other than a differnet lanyard with a little pulley?
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I think you can test out stuff there. FR Jones is nearer you though I think, both are very good. I do understand the urge to buy kit, I'm the same with climbing kit and cycling stuff etc. there is a big draw to "having the right stuff" but at first you need practice so keep it simple. On karabiner and one rope and one hitch, thats it. Plus a lanyard of some kind but that could be made out of 3m of rope cut off the end of your climbing line, and then you need one karabiner for that aswell and a prussik loop which can be girth hitched onto the harness so no need of a karabiner on that side. And your off.
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thats good. Thats the horse lead clip I was on about, I think for starters it should just be clipped to the main karabiner between the prussik and the spliced eye. It works a treat.
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Yep, its the simplest way to do it, and the way everyone gets taught. In fact you would be taught without the pulley to start with. It helpp if the bridge of your harness has a sliding ring or "D" so that the one karabiner sits sideway on, then the prussik goes on the karabiner, the the pulley if your using one anf then the termination splice. A larger karabiner is required, the oval type ones are really for use with the hitch climber, but a large ish pear shaped karabiner will do fine, and they can be cheaper than some of the oval ones. Of course if you move to a fancy hitch you can use a hitch climber but you still dont need to, pasic pulleys will do the job for now.
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Ill dig one out, but your right the hitch climber has multiple hole but they are there for a different reason, if you were using a prussik the holes wouldnt be where you want them and there would be too many! The hitch climber is designed to have the end of your rope clipped to it aswell (so you need two karabiners) and if you did that when using a prussik you would have a difficult job attachind the prussik in a way that keep it all aligned. Cant find a picture at the moment. With a basic prussik you just put the tail end of rope onto the same karabiner as the prusik so no need for pulleys with lots of holes, then you can add a basic pulley onto the same karabiner, so only one karabiner needed and no expensive pulley.
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If you are climbing with a prussik and you then want to add a pulley (or start with a pulley, whatever) then the hitch climber pulley IS NOT the one you want! Any small pulley will work with a prussik loop, and in fact the hitch climber will not be that great, at best it will just be too big, its designed specifically for use with hitches that are made of legths of cord not loops (except blakes its not designed for that either). So starting with a prussik loop is perfectly good and if you want a pulley under it then great, a petzl fixe or an ISC basic pulley works best, and in my experience attaching one of the simple gold pulleys via a horse halter clip thingy to your krab works really well as it give some rotation to the pulley so it work whichever direction you are pullign in. Also hitch climbers are expensive, they are good for what they are designed for but addign a pulley to a simple system does not need to start with a hitch climber.
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That about sums it up. I suppose if a climber was hired in as the rescue climber within a team that already had first aiders (who didnt climb) then the necessity for the hired in climber to have FA is very low. But as you say, its upto the employer to decide what he/she needs. As with most of these regulations its the employer who must comply, the workers dont HAVE to have anything at all as its not they who would be liable for anything. But they do have to have whatever is required to secure regular work or employment.
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If your freelance then your not getting employment as such, but work with other companies, so the requirements are whatever those prospective companies ask for. You dont HAVE to have any first aid training, but if you are working on a site and their is an accident that a first aider could have helped with but their was no first aider present then the overal employer could be liable, not you the freelancer. So, yo can "get away" with nothing, in the same way as you could "get away" with having no CS units, if you can get work and no one gets hurt then no worries. If you cant get any work because all the companies around you are looking for someone with first aid tickets then that answers your question, but it is still your choice to get the training if you feel it would help you get work.
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How far have you ran/cycled/swam today?
Rupe replied to Christopher Schroeter's topic in General chat
And swam 1600m in the lake tonight. They have a measured 400m course so for laps, in 30:20. Longest swim I have ever done! -
How far have you ran/cycled/swam today?
Rupe replied to Christopher Schroeter's topic in General chat
Took part in mountain mayhem at the weekend as part of a ten man retro bike team, so old bikes only. Used my '92 cannondale and it was flawless as usual, also the Saracen did a lap but I got a puncture! -
Bit of a side isssue really, but if that happens (they come back to you 3 years later) just say no, or give a new price that they will or wont accept. None of us are bound by our quotation for any amount of time at all. Of course it would look bad if we declined to do a job we had just quoted for but we would still be allowed to if we chose. I haven't yet, but just recently I very very nearly withdrew my quotation for a job because of the client being a knob and annoying me with calls and emails every day (and some other issues, regarding the work) so there is no obligation for us to stick to carry out the work we have quoted for, especially after a significant period of time has passed, and certainly freinds and family would be understanding.
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With injuries at the weekend, yes you would have to pay sick pay but if it persisted the employer would be within their rights to say "this isnt working out" and then go and employ someone who doesnt injure themselves at weekends. I didnt mean this thread to go off on a who's allowed to what at weekend tangent, just trying to inform the OP that some caution should be considered. I dont know if he has a trusting boss and all will be well. I say go for it and do family jobs at the weekend, just keep it quiet. The less that know about it the better. If your on PAYE then have nothing about it on paper, and so by that score you dont need a written quote, if its family and friends only then a verbal price would surely be fine? If you need to go as far as providing a written quote with payment terms and how long your quote is valid for (as suggested above) then that sounds like your going beyond friends and family to me.
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I didnt mean sacking for sporting injury but some words for starters, persistantly being unfit "could" lead to "taking action" and possible future dismissal. The working on the side thing is instant dismissal IF the employer choose to. Great way to get rid of someone who you dont want to employ for any other reasons. I didnt meant to derail the thread like this, lots of opinions on this of course. Start a new thread if anyone wants to.
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Thats my view, better put!
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Yes, I know some employers dont mind. But, no, there is no right for him to do his own work AND remain in employment, what I mean is the employer would have every right to instantly dismiss someone for this, no discussion, pack your bags. Same with any other industry. Im sure many did start this way, telling the boss about it is not necessarily a good idea though.
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Wasnt he a gymnast in a previous life? (thats why he did gymnastics coverage at the Olympics) and he cycled that rickshaw thing for miles, he's an annoying twit sometimes but fitter/stronger than you might think!
