On a side note - If you do continue to use rubber bungee straps, spend the little bit extra and get EPDM rubber tie downs. They are a synthetic rubber which holds up better to the weather and UV damage vs. the natural rubber ones. The natural ones have a tendency to weather and crack. The EPDM ones are like 30% more, but we’re only talking about a couple of dollars anyway.
I used bungees for one day and knew it wasnt the ticket…I reverted back to what I knew would hold something as light as a ladder or as heavy as a Harley Davidson, Motorcycle tie downs (similar to ratchet type securement), I loop two over the ladders and pull tight, they dont move much, I am able to strap down 4 pieces of sectional and one A frame with one length of tie down. After that, I then loop a cable type bicycle lock thru the ladders and thru the rack, so even if something COULD go wrong, the ladders are still attatched to the rack with the cable. Word of advice, dont buy the cheapy type tie downs, get Ancra brand, better ratchet/securment metal, stronger and wider strapping material.
Ancra International | Consumer Products
I would just sit down and give hima safety talk. I lost a 6 foot step ladder , and a extension pole that cars ran over until was flat before I could retrieve it.
I believe thats the way to go Steve. I know, in my city and maybe the whole state for the matter, a driver can be charged with a felony for something just like this. Thank goodness nobody was hurt. I’m a fan of " 3 strikes you’re out" but if this happened again, I would probably have to let that person go. I think about the traffic here and just cringe at the thought or losing a ladder…dangerous.
Accidents happen. But I see your point Kevin. Making a decision to terminate would weight heavy on my mind. Ultimately it falls back to having regular scheduled safety meeting or something of that nature. Id make the guy sweat it out. I hope he learned or will learn something from this.
So today I had a talk with the guy and began by asking him what happened. He admitted that it was his fault for not checking the ladder and realized it was a really serious thing to do. I also printed out three articles for him to read:
Overall he took it really well and was glad that no one was hurt. He knows there are no second chances with this and the next time will be termination.
I’m DANGEROUS…But yawl can call me DANGE…
That’s why I have the nic-name Dangerous…One of my customers started calling me that because of the danger he saw in the work I did as a window cleaner…
Hello Steve I’m Dange, I’m glad to see and hear that nothing serious happened,you guys dodged a bullit with this one, what about the ladder did get it destroyed to the point that you can’t use it ? I’m sure it did,I think because of that kind of error by the worker with this sort of damage I would make them pay for it ! A lesson learned !
Also I use those nylon ratchet straps @ the front and back, every year or wear and tear I replace them !
But we all make mistakes !
Say Steve-o go to the thread I started “My Desire as a Window Cleaner” and interject something ! You seem to be the kind of guy with big hopes…Come on by !
Dange
xxxxx
Dave, hate to admit, i’ve done it before, 1st time forgot to strap our 40 ft down and drove about 10 miles to a job and realized it wasnt strapped…i dont know how it stayed on the van…someone was definitley watching over us that day. Another time we again drove about 10 miles and realized again the 40 ft wasnt tied dwn when it started to slide off IN SLOW MOTION as we were making a left turn…cant even describe the feeling of watching it slide down the hood of the van, then it just stopped…and once lost a coffee cup on the highway that was left on top of the van roof (this time wasnt me)…thank God none of those resulted in any accidents…any one of those could have been disasterious
I have been guilty of this myself. Fortunately no one was close behind me and it was at a slow speed. Now I don’t put the ladder back on the truck without first locking it up and bungeeing right away.
Did anyone check the ladder thoroughly for damage? 24 feet is pretty far up in the air to have a rivet or latch break and the thing come crashing down
Yes. We inspect every ladder every week using a ladder inspection form that we got from Werner.
IN 1976 on my VW 1969 bug going to a Bible meeting I lost the
whole thing right under a traffic light.
I told my wife hurry up get out of the vw and help me.
We each got a end of the 32 foot ladder with the carrier rack still on
put it back on. My guys have lost ladders too many times.
We use two ratchet ties downs on all ladders now.
Upon finishing a commercial job last week, I left a damp microfiber on the rear bumper of my E-350 cargo van. When I returned home following the 15 mile return freeway trip, the towel was still in place. Who needs straps or bungees!
