to have shouted at a builder

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whose scaffolding I walked under (ds in his buggy) when a shower of plaster chunks came down on us?

It wasn't just plaster dust which I guess you expect when walking under scaffolding, but chunks. A piece the size of a £2 coin bounced off ds's buggy.

Anyway, it started off fairly politely. I called up to the man on the platform & said something like -don't know if you know, but there is plaster coming down onto the pavement- He then YELLED at me "There's a bloody sign up... if people can't be bothered to cross the road that's their lookout.." yep, cos when I'm with my baby, I'm too lazy to look out for his welfare.

To be fair, there was a 'Danger, men working' sign, but it was small (about A3?) and it was attached to the scaffolding about 3m above the ground, so nowhere near eye level. I shouted back at him a bit less politely that it obviously wasn't visible. And we ranted at eachother for a little bit before I stomped off.

Do most people avoid walking under scaffolding because chunks of falling building is a common hazard? I'd kind of assumed that if it isn't cordoned off, it is still reasonably safe, especially if it isn't signed properly? But maybe I am just scaffolding-naive?

oops - meant to add to that last post -
the thing, on reflection, that really bothered me about this, to the extent that I posted about it, wan't the one man and the one incident, but that it made me question the assumptions I have about what is safe and what isn't.

One of my friends always laughs at me because I wait at a pedestrian crossing until all the cars have stopped, even if the green man is happily flashing away. I was once in a car with someone who failed to notice a red light at a pedestrian crossing and sailed through it. Luckily the people waiting to cross saw he wasn't slowing down, and no one was hurt. But I'll never saunter across a road just because green man says I can.

I suppose everyone will tell me that of course nothing is ever 100% safe . It is kind of tiring though, to think, blimey, what shouldn't I be looking out for?

i never assume (as far as possible) that anyone else is responsible for my safety. tradesmen dont always ahdere to the practices they are supposed to so i wouldnt have taken the risk. i am quite paranoid about most things though!

if it makes you feel any better, not so far back i walked into a stockroom and banged my head quite hard on something i hadn't seen. puzzled, i looked up to see what it was. it was sign. a red sign, quite an obvious sign...with the words "mind your head" written on it, sticking down from a beam .

get the name of the company and report them to the health and safety executive.

it sould have been safely and securely netted.

I don't walk under scaffolding since I once worked at a place where a contractor fell 20ft through the scaffolding - he broke both his legs and was hospitalised. His mates built the wheelchair ramp to his house . It later transpired the scaffolding had been tampered with - but someone could have been underneath it and would undoubtedbly have come off a lot worse. I had to type the reports to the H & S Exec.

Having said that, I agree if it wasn't sheeted off then it's not unreasonable to assume that it's safe use the path though. Sometimes it's not always safe or possible to cross to avoid building works /

Last week I walked past a parade of shops only to see workmen knocking out windows on the first floor. Broken glass all over the pavement - no sheeting or netting. Was horrified.

No you are most certainly NOT being unreasonable and he is totally wrong under various health and safety laws.

Was it a big building site or just a small job on a private dwelling? If it's the former they have obligations under CDM to carry out a full risk assessment, which includes amongst many other the potential for injury to the public. It is his duty to look out for your welfare, not you for his.

If it was a big site, did it have any signage saying "Considerate Constructors"? If so you can report them, see www.considerateconstructorsscheme.org.uk. Was there any signage saying who the main contractor was? You could phone their head office number and report the incident. They will be in big trouble for not logging that in the incident book and could involve the Health and Safety Executive. If there is no signage to say who the contractor is (not the scaffold contractor - it wasn't a problem with the scaffold), ring your local council and ask for their building control department to find out who the contractor is.

His attitude was illegal, let alone the plasterwork actually being allowed to (1) fall in the first place and (2) on a member of the public. Clearly minimal safeguards were there to prevent you inadvertently entering the site, just a sign is not good enough.

If you want any more advice about this drop me an email. I wouldn't let this drop if I were you - I'd be causing a major stink if anything like that happened while I was out with my baby, whether the plaster actually touched her or not. Good luck!

edam, these guys were in breech of the highways act. They MUST erect a hoarding or site fencing around the area (and they need a liscence to do this), leaving sufficient space for pedestrians, if not, they have to contact the highways department to arrange safe passage to the other side of the road. If a pedestrian is injured crossing the road because a contractor hasnt provided suitable access or alternative then the contractor is liable. (I think!) This is fresh in my mind because DP has just done a job on a shop front and i had to sort the paperwork out.

having just read annethesurveyors post, she sums up the OPs situation quite well. Some builders (as in any profession)

annthesurveyor - thank you, that really helps. I was going to let it go.. but having read your post and a few of the others this morning, I think I'll do something about reporting this.

It was work just on a private dwelling. I need to walk past it (on the other side of the road!) today so I'll have another look.

Who do I contact to log my concerns? I'm not bothered about being apologised to or anything like that, just that they secure the site - it is such a busy walkway.