D A D B L O G S
A dad blog by a geek dad with two geeky kids.
I was exploring the city the other day when I came across the construction site of a huge mall. The first thing that caught my attention was the scaffolding system. I saw two workers at a high point up above the face of the unfinished building. To my surprise, they seem to have been standing on a movable piece of wood plank that was set on nothing more than the parallel rungs of two thin, foldable, metal ladders running down the building. I knew the plank was movable because at some point, one worker removed it while he was hanging from the ladder and moved it up. Talk about Spidermen! I'm not an expert in large scale construction or even in scaffolding but the setup I saw was clearly unsafe. Shouldn't a proper scaffold system have locks to prevent the frame from collapsing? Shouldn't there be rails too to ensure that workers don't fall off? Lastly, shouldn't modern systems now be made of sturdy metal pipes that can withstand stress and weathering? International standard scaffolding companies are numerous enough online for construction companies not to know what safe and modern systems look like. Moreover, many of these companies rent out their equipment so that construction companies don't need to buy their own if this isn't a financially sound option. I think what I saw was in clear violation of workers' safety laws. It's a surprise that no one has yet met an accident at the work site. As I see it, if an accident does happen, both the contractor and the company that contracted could be held accountable for it. I'm an extremely busy person. I work eight hours a day at my regular job. In my spare time I do on call carpentry, maintenance and electrical work. All other hours I can spare I devote to my family and to staring at my fish. I find that extremely therapeutic. So with a lot on my plate already, what am I doing blogging? I've heard its a demanding pursuit too and yet here I am. I naturally don't want to complicate my life but somehow there's this urge to document what I go through everyday as a working dad. I don't expect people to notice me or even my kids to read my posts when they're grown up. I guess I just want a spot I can go back to when I'm old and weary. So here goes nothing. Here's to a fresh start at something new. |
Hey there. My name is Jim. I'm a dad & I know some dad stuff & I like to write about them here. More about me.
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