An old hand told me my ladder setup on the cutterhead was asking for trouble

I was working a sandbar job on the Mississippi near St. Louis, and had my inspection ladder tied off to the suction pipe like I always do. A retired operator visiting the site said, 'That's a quick way to get a bent ladder and a bad day if the pipe shifts.' I moved the anchor point to the main frame the next morning. How do you guys secure your gear for quick checks?

2 comments

2 Comments

harper_rodriguez9718d ago

That "bent ladder and a bad day" line hits home. I saw a guy on a dredge in Louisiana tie off to a discharge elbow that was just on blocks. Whole thing rolled about two feet when the pump kicked on. He didn't fall, but he dropped his tools in the drink and we lost half a day fishing them out. Solid call moving it to the main frame. I use a ratchet strap from the ladder's top rung to a solid gusset on the hull, never to anything that can move or swing.

lunaw7218d ago

Yeah, that's a good point about the strap. I read this safety bulletin from a marine contractor group that said like 80% of ladder slips happen because people tie off to pipes or rails that can shift. They had a photo of a ladder still tied perfect to a handrail that had just sheared right off at the weld.