Mr. Squirrel

At the very least 'lockdown' last week when the death toll was already rising exponentially. China instigated it at less than 20 deaths, Italy and Spain were both around the 200 marks, Germany sub 50. And Boris waited until what, 350? The lack of testing, as WHO recommends is also a wild oversight as far as I can see. I was telling this to a friend in Italy and all they said in response was 'You're fucked'. All he cares about is the economy, which will be fucked anyway. He doesn't give a damn about the lives.

I'd have a grumble. I already pay my fair share of taxes, and not a penny less. There's plenty of high earners and companies who go to great efforts to avoid paying any. That lot need hung out to dry for all they don't contribute. But yeah, lockdown. It's a thing. The AA statement is about what you'd expect. They aren't a government branch, they're just trying to interpret the government stance, which was pretty ambiguous for us really. Boris has fucked this whole thing up so badly, I hope he lives to see the end of it so he can get burned alive for his lack of even a hint of leadership or initiative so far.

Yup, locked down. Down tools I think. I'll work tomorrow as I've got to finish todays job. May work later in the week as it's storm damage over a (usually) busy road. Depends if the traffic management are still running though really... Then that's me until further notice. Thoughts are with everyone directly affected by Covid. Just gotta do our bit and try to slow the spread...

Sounds like a lockdown is inevitable. The sooner the better too, people are cutting about like nothing is happening. This shit is serious though. Regardless, I've called off all work from Friday, and will happily cancel that work if I'm told I should. BMC and mountain rescue teams all over the UK are telling people not to go rock climbing as they don't have the resources to respond to incidents at the moment. They will of course, but it will be stretching them ever thinner, and the level of care you get surely won't be the normal. With that in mind, I think it's in everyone's best interest of even we, the tree guys, stand back for the time being. This also doesn't sound like it's just affecting the elderly and vulnerable. I've been told by a nurse there are otherwise fit and healthy people in their 30s in the icu who don't look like they'll make it. Shit's real folks. Stay home. Stop smoking.

You never seen French protestors on the news? They make us look spineless. If they can make it work in France they can sure as heck make it work here.

Least we spend most of our time up trees and not interacting with the public. The lads are making their own way to site, (for which I'm offering a bit of extra cash) and I'm not shaking hands with or spending much time speaking directly with customers, but otherwise it's business as usual. I'm not doing pubs, crowds or visits. But I don't see any reason not to work...

I know one guy who has performed two aerial rescues, and several people who have had to self rescue of some description. Self rescue has to be your go to whenever possible, basically unless you're unconscious or preventing yourself from bleeding out I guess. With one hand you can operate any of the friction hitches or mechanical devices on the market for a descent. Even with the tail of your line deflected over another branch this will work. With two lines the friction caused by the two deflected tails severely hinders and can completely prevent descent. And obviously having two systems you may well be unable to use them with one hand. That would necessitate removing a system to descend in an emergency, which is a pretty sub-optimal situation. Unless their second rope didn't have a stopper knot either. Or their second line was running alongside their first one (most likely) and they cut them both. They may not have fallen, but to say they wouldn't have is nonsense.

Got the small ISC block and dmm impact block. Both really good quality. Earlier ISC blocks weren't as well put together but nowadays they're solid. ISC is lighter, quicker and easier to install. Dmm has a bomber closure and WLL you'll probably never get near. I like to think I need the dmm, but realistically two of the ISC blocks would've been fine...

I guess a damaged wrench could potentially have sharp edges etc which could damage ropes. I'd refer to the user guidelines as to life spans. I wouldn't be buying one at the moment anyway though as ISC have been pulled up on the wrench being certified as a pulley, which obviously isn't it's intended use. Lots of people aren't selling them now and I imagine they will need recertified under something more relevent.

As Spud said, wholly depends on maintenance. I have one of the first batch of 560's, now over 8 years old, which has seen loads of use and runs great. I know people who say they've died after a few months and they're sh**e, but I'd suggest perhaps that they don't know how to look after tools very well...

Husky tech extremes have an amazing fit and last me about a year, a bit longer maybe. Arbortec breatheflex pros are really nice too so long as they fit right. Feel tougher than the huskys.

Why?! Have you seen his list of failed projects while he was mayor of London? The man is beyond incompetent. Anyhow. HS2 will be a failure. But lots of people will clearly get absolutely minuted in the process. So pretty much like most government projects then, but more ambitious...

That's amazing, thanks Paul! Absolutely perfect. I'd give the second one online but it seemed a bit overboard for the size of my business and my typical jobs, first one is more like what I'm wanting to produce.

Good advice! Cheers Stephen. I hate to be wide but if anyone had an example they'd be willing to send, or knows of one online it'd be great to see how others do it. I'm not wanting to copy it necessarily, but just for a visual idea of how to present it. I've been looking at some examples and they seem very similar to my generic risk assessment. I guess the differences lie in the method statement describing how you go about a task, and as Dan said the decision making hierarchy, rather than the risks associated with it. But it's still doing my head in... Cheers

Cheers mog, all very true. And why I've never done a method statement in my life. You can come up with the best plan in the world looking at a tree from the ground, only to realise when you get up there that things are not as they seemed... And vice versa, you could write down that it's a cut and drop job then realise the angles are just right to speedline over a house or some madness. So I guess I need advice on method statements then really... What do people do for them?

Hey ya'll, looking for a wee bit of advice. I have my generic risk assessment and site specific risk assessments, but a client is asking for my RAMS before a job can go ahead. So a method statement basically aye? How do you folks go about this? I presume it's lots of waffle to say 'gonna climb up a tree safely, cut bits off without killing anyone, tidy up with out polluting the place and go home in one piece'...? ?

Targets, other than the fence? It looks like there are some good options to heavily reduce it if that was a possibility. Obviously there isn't much left of it, and at present it certainly sounds unstable. But if it's in the right place and can be left or pruned to reduce likelihood of failure that's airways a positive move.

I remember the first day I wore my airstreams they were agony. The size was right but the fit just wasn't. They ended up being incredibly comfy though, like a heavy extension of my legs. First time wearing my scafell lites wasn't nearly as traumatic, and the fit is absolutely bang on. So I've high hopes for them! Waterproofing... Fingers crossed. Though unless you're really caring of them, taking the insoles out and washing inside, treating the outsides etc. they're gonna leak eventually.

I had an HP, which was fairly decent, but after 3 years couldn't do much besides make a lot of noise. I replaced it with a Lenovo which was a piece of junk and lasted about a year before being irreparably useless. After that I bought a macbook pro, which has worked absolutely perfectly for 5 years. I know it's way over spec'd for what I do with it, but it's been far better value for money against the other two...

I'm totally against these plans, but yes. I've heard of several accounts of anchor point failures during ascent resulting in fatalities. I wouldn't say this was a failure of a system though, but of judgement.

I mean the *2004 report IS quite dated. But another such report, a study, something that displayed some level of critical analysis would've gone a long way. Shower of bastards.

I was agreeing with you man... Agreed. You can't expect someone who's only had a weeks training to actually be a competent climber yet. But passing those who are clearly deeply uncomfortable, and I've seen many, puts others in a dangerous position.

Yeah I can't see a massive advantage to training providers. If anything it'll be a setback, having to buy more kit, maintain more kit and pay more for loler inspections. Kit suppliers and manufacturers on the other hand... But I don't imagine any of them are involved in writing up the ICOP/training standards.

For a start there are no 'compliant systems' as there is no training schedule for this change yet. So personally I feel as though aerial rescue training should be on the back burner. It's crap for training companies, technically these guys are training in line with a non existent ICOP. And then I wouldn't be using a setup like that. It's 2020, prussik loops and body thrusting are virtually obsolete in today's industry.

Here's an entertaining watch for everyone... Cutting edge my arse.