Hello - Richard @ Carobyn

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carobyn

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Hello - looking to help keep all stilt users up to date with HSE / good practice!

Some may know Carobyn - we've been selling DURA-STILTS since 1980 - but I've registered here because so many plasterers seem to be getting hassle on site using stilts, but they're so busy on site they don't have time to sort it out there and then.

Help is at hand!

If you have any queries please post or pm me.

Richard
 
grand wizard said:
do you do a method statement for stilts
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What you need is a simple piece of paper saying " Work to be carried out on DURA-STILTS according to manufacturers instructions (copy attached)" or similar.

You can download the instructions off the web, or find the original ones you had with your pair...

One word of caution - if a safety inspector or site manager reads the statement and you're not following the advice (particularly regarding maintenance of stilts) you might regret it! Make sure the straps are good and all the bits are there.


Richard
 
Method statement for stilts according to nelly

Dont trip over......... do get paid!


thats pretty much it really. ;D
 
having never bought a pair, only tried someone elses id be interested to know just what the instructions do say exactly?
for instance - what is the recommended method for getting them on and off?
are you really supposed to wear a harness and strap a lanyard to the ceiling rose? ???
 
Chris W said:
having never bought a pair, only tried someone elses id be interested to know just what the instructions do say exactly?
for instance - what is the recommended method for getting them on and off?
are you really supposed to wear a harness and strap a lanyard to the ceiling rose? ???
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That might work, but I've never seen it done...

For 60% - 75% of jobs you're working at 2.4m, which means your stilts will only be 14 - 18" high (35cm - 46cm) and you can - with a little practice - step up onto them from the floor. I've seen ceiling fixers vault onto 40" (1m) stilts as well...

If you're near Uckfield you can come and try a pair first.
 
I think i chucked the instruction away once i had them set up and i dont remember any method statement any chance of a link to it ?
 
now dont think im disrespecting all the stilt boys here, im just interested to know what the 'recommended method' of 'mounting' the stilts is?

reason being i can just see an hse inspector walking through the door just as im trying to wobble myself up on one leg and fasten the straps leaning drunkenly against the wall..

seeing as theyve bleeding well banned MILK CRATES!! on sites and hop ups are next (or have they banned those already?) it tickles me to find that stilts are (in the opinion of the hse) SAFER than using hop ups or milk crates? they must be or stilts would be banned also surely?

not really much use to me to be honest as 90 percent of my work is domestic and i tend to work alone, and even when ive got the lad with me we mix up together and get on the trowel together, one hop up each, opposite corners of the ceiling to start ..

that said, i am interested in the h&s aspects of all this new 'legislation' regarding crates, hop ups and stilts..
 
I've always found the easiest way to get on stilts is to sit on a window sill and strap them on and then just stand up nice a steady.
 
Chris W said:
now dont think im disrespecting all the stilt boys here, im just interested to know what the 'recommended method' of 'mounting' the stilts is?
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This is where you get to apply your years of learning and graft - the Working at Height Regs are nice and vague on lots of details. They DO NOT ban certain tools nor do they RECOMMEND specific tools.

What they say is (in effect) do what you have to do SAFELY and with due consideration for others...BUT be prepared to justify - in writing - why you decided to do it that way, and what lead you to that decision.

To get onto your stilts it would seem sensible not to take undue risks that would expose you to injury (or those with you) or put you into a dangerous situation. If you cannot stand on one stilt and step up onto the other, you need a seat of the correct height. QED. As I said if you are working on 2.4 ceilings you can step up from the ground - this very similar to 'mounting' the milk crate (but you only do it once).

Richard
 
seems fair enough and a common sense approach but theres been lads on here complaining that theyve not been allowed to use milk crates by the site agent or his hse representative and someone else has a story about being made to hardwall a 3m high room, 2.4m square using a mini ali tower complete with handrails!!!
Im nothing against stilts used in the right circumstances, big, clear rooms, no loose cables and a labourer to mix up and load a spot board is ideal and way better than hopping up and down..
I'd honestly love a pair but i dont think i could justify the cost due to the nature of my work..
newbuild is where i see them earning their keep but i think this new hse 'legislation' is worrying especially when its interpreted by the man in charge and whatever he says goes..
Ill probably end up buying a second hand pair before long anyway, if only so i can strut round the garden and impress the little un ;D
 
treat yourself to a pair chris, i love mine, imo you get a better finish if you can flatten and polish a ceiling walking the length of it as if you were on a full platform.
 
Chris W said:
seems fair enough and a common sense approach but theres been lads on here complaining that theyve not been allowed to use milk crates by the site agent or his hse representative ... mini ali tower complete with handrails!!!
;D
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The reason they don't like milk crates is that they are not designed for that use - who gets sued when it collapses?

The ali tower with handrails is widely touted by the ally tower makers as the answer to WAHR (Working at Height Regulations) but it is not suitable for large work areas. Like hop ups it promotes 'over reaching' and therefore cutting corners to get the job done. Also called podium towers.

The only 100% safe answer is to board out the whole room. But who pays?

Richard
 
exactly, i havent boarded out a room for yonks, and even when i did a spread put a foot wrong, dropped through the planks and ended up landing on the edge of the trowel - cut two tendons..
i hear what your saying about over reaching, my physio bollocked me last time for it, i do have a tendency to try and reach from edge to middle on a 4m room in one stroke, fine when laying on but hard on just about every muscle (shoulder, lower back etc) when trowelling up..

what about doing the walls then? i use the hop up even on a 2.4 (saves over reaching ;D) and run back to fill the bottoms in typewriter stylie what do you stilt boys do?

you should invent some sort of quick release version for us domestic lads richard, pretty sure thatd make life easier.. were the guys that lay on out the bucket, wash bucket, flatten off, mix up, lay on some more, wash bucket, roll sets etc etc..

only time i tried em myself i was on a 3m artex ceiling on my own, up and off em again like a yo-yo..
 
chris ive do walls of them a lot of times, throw a full room on do all the tops then do all the bottoms a lot quicker, also someone was on about adjustable hop ups i think it was spunky well dura stilt do some i saw them the other day and they have got to be the best bit of kit ive seen in a while, pricey but id say they would last.
 
spunky said:
were they over 200 quid flynny?
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We do a Kwik Bench - possibly the best adjustable trestle known to modern man (OK, so its hyperbole but it's Friday afternoon and I'm looking forward 3 hours to the weekend...)

See here;

http://www.carobyn.com/kb_product_list.asp?subGroupID=4

- a snip at £275 plus VAT.

Folds to only 3" thick, will support 400lbs (2 x trim plasterers), will not 'walk' if your drilling on it, and goes from 18" to 30".

Richard
 
a snip at £320?! we've got the refina fixed height ones. wouldn't use anything else and they're alot cheaper
 
f'k me!
4 bits of 30x60 box section for sale, angles cut on the bottom @ 20 degrees, little rubber feet and a hole so you can stick a bolt through.. fit luvverly round a wickes hop up.. only 30 quid ;D

you reading this bannatyne? ive got patent pending y'know ;)
 
I don't expect to be selling thousands - but there are more than few out there and we do a fair share of repeat business..

As for the price - remember not so long ago everyone thought German cars were ridiculously expensive, and now everyone has one (or wants one).

The Kwik Bench IS the Cadillac of benches - but you can't build them for peanuts.
 
anyone know the 'green van with yellow writing company' (mentioning no names ;D)?
got some great stuff.. like the telescopic scaffold plank... only 300 quid, pair of steps with a telescopic leg bolted to one corner for use on stair winders only 250 quid... plasterers light, big bulb in a perspex 'helmet' only 200 quid..
my personal favourite...
the 'door clamps'..
you drop a door in on edge and step on it and it holds it upright whilst you rout the hinges, plane it, chop the mortice etc... same sort of thing youd make out of a couple of bits of 4x2 and knock a wedge in, need 2 of em really..
only 110 quid.... each :eek:

thing is, if some of this stuff was at a reasonable price, stuff the lifetime guarantee, i'd probably buy it...

and the macc tools bloke always has stories of builders who have bought his gear and absolutely swear by it..
only thing is, ive NEVER actually come across anyone using their gear??

i'll pass on the quicky bench mate, looks a bit thin to be used as a hop up anyway..

youve almost got me looking for a pair of stilts though ill give you that ;)
 
the 'door clamps'..
you drop a door in on edge and step on it and it holds it upright whilst you rout the hinges, plane it, chop the mortice etc... same sort of thing youd make out of a couple of bits of 4x2 and knock a wedge in, need 2 of em really..
only 110 quid.... each :eek:


Seen these in Howdens (I think) for £30.00.

Macc do some nice stuff - but it seems as though they have designers taking every job you do and trying to manufacture a device to do it, even if you don't need it.......but wait - look in your kitchen cupboard and see the toastie mkaer, the smoothy blender, the electric can opener etc etc
 
noone will buy for 320 mate not when you can pick them up for 25 quid and 80% of the time you use them for 2.4 ceiling height
 
Seen these in Howdens (I think) for £30.00.
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nice one ill have a look next time, i get a fair few doors, fire doors etc, handy at that price, the 4x2+wedge does tend to get kicked about like a peice of scrap..

Macc do some nice stuff - but it seems as though they have designers taking every job you do and trying to manufacture a device to do it, even if you don't need it.......but wait - look in your kitchen cupboard and see the toastie mkaer, the smoothy blender, the electric can opener etc etc
Click to expand...

I almost bought the step ladders (offsetty ones with the sticky out leg etc) and the telescopic plank for stairwell ceilings and bulkheads etc... only 1 problem, THEYRE NOT TALL ENOUGH!!! only get you to top step height albeit halfway down the stairs but what use is that??
then he told me the price and i nearly choked!!

now, quick release stilts, adjust the fit once and easily snap on and offable... i'd buy some ;D

long as theyre not 2 grand a pair! ;D
 
Seen these in Howdens (I think) for £30.00.

magnet do em as well, gonna treat meself to a pair next week as it happens.
 
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