# Working Alone Safety Systems



## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

In talking to another PT member (who shall remain nameless) recently it came up that they were working alone in a house located in a fairly remote location.

Got me to wondering about those of us that have found ourselves in a similar situation but we just continue on without thinking about it too much and about the possible safety issues that could come up. And, if you are like me, you intentionally force yourself NOT to think about things like that if possible.

There have been many times where I am working alone but within the confines of a neighborhood where some sort of help isn't too far away. But still, within the actual home I am alone and would be in a tight spot were something to happen where I was rendered unconscious or unable to seek assistance.

Checking online reveals quite a few potential solutions to this in the form of work alone apps or other programs which connect you to a hub where alerts can be sent out on your behalf should something come up as being amiss. Of course, many of these rely on cell phone coverage to function, something that would be an issue in many parts of our state where isolated cabins up in the mountains are often well out of cell range (though some are able to utilize satellite coverage). They seem to be plans where you pay a monthly fee to belong, likely having tiered programs offering different levels of protection.

Anyone else ever looked into some form of protection ("Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!") or just pretty much crossed your fingers hoping that nothing serious happens?


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

Now that you mention it, I guess I just don't think much about it in direct terms. But it may be that I'm rather cautious by nature. My dad always told me I was born a 40 year old man - by that he largely meant never reckless. (It was often in the context of motorcycles. He was a motocross racer as young man, late-60s / early-70s. And very good at it. He always said I didn't have the "temperament" for it - meaning I was always to cautious to just go all-out). With painting I guess I just have a good feel for what could go wrong - and make sure that it can't. Or I don't do it. 

But that doesn't go for everything. I still won't operate a chainsaw if there's no one else around...


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

This is an important subject. thanks for bringing it up.

Our protocol at work is to check in with someone if we are going to a remote area by ourselves. We report where we're going and what time we will be returning. It's especially important for the older folks in the workforce. Honking a vehicle horn can attract attention if cell phones don't work. If you know morose code, that's even better.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

I think this goes with everything in life. Anything can happen at anytime. This is why insurance companies are so rich. Like CA say, just try to check in with someone with you plans for the day. I've been known to go surf in remote locations, requiring alot of driving and sometimes hiking into a spot with no cel reception. If I so much as sprained my ankle, I could freeze to death before someone found me. In these more extreme situations, I'll let more than one person know my whereabouts.
True story. 2 years ago, I broke my kneecap surfing down the bottem of a 100ft embankment. Thankfully I was with 2 friends who had to carry me up the cliff..


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## Holland (Feb 18, 2011)

The older I get the less I enjoy doing the "scary work". Seems like every "perfect job" comes with at least one difficult area. I'm preaching to myself here. Need to remind myself every. single. time.

If you have to do the work, wait until you are fresh and alert.
if you are sick, tired, or if your balance is compromised - skip it!
Give yourself an easy job after you complete the difficult task.
Don't hurry. charge hazard pay if necessary, and then take your time and do it right- get the job done in one piece.
Focus on the job at hand - eliminate distractions. If you are distracted - skip it.

"Falling is the leading cause of unintentional home injury deaths"

This is not trade secret, everybody should know the following. 

When working alone: 
-Remember "3 points of contact" on a ladder at all times. 

-Start at the bottom and work your way up. 
Is the ladder secure? 
Will the ladder shift when I put my weight on it? 

-Consider using a gutter clamp or gutter guard to secure your ladder. 


Once you step on a roof, make sure you don't fall off.

-Invest in a 100' length of good rope (fall rated), and use it. Tie it to a chimney, throw it over a house and tie it to a tree, or install a roof anchor. 

-Invest in fall protection. Do your homework. Buy a harness if there is a risk of falling or injury. Learn how to use a fall arrest device.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

I end up doing this quite a bit being an oms. Always text wife the address I'm working at. Check in with her when I arrive and during the day, and when I leave for home. Always consider what you're doing and when you should be doing it. Keep a supply of dry foods in the van just in case you get snowed in (winter, obv). Always keep a snow shovel in the van (winter, obv). Portable cel phone charger, just in case you lose power. Bring extra winter clothing for the same reason.

Several years ago, I was working at a big cottage in the winter. No plowed road access, so I had to hike in every morning bringing any materials I would need for that day. It was awful. Even a single gallon of paint was a problem. Walking through the woods in the dark every morning wasn't fun. Like Kevin said, if you fall and break an ankle you're in big trouble. Get to the house and drop your key in the snow makes things interesting pretty quickly.

Place I'm working at right now has a single lane curvy gravel road with decent size ditches on either side. It's plowed out regularly, but it's iced up at this point. I don't even try and get there in the morning before first light.

Sometimes these jobs are a blessing though during winter when the phone isn't ringing off the hook. Especially right now when we're in a lockdown. I may be alone for the entire day, but with Covid that's not a terrible thing. At least I've got work.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

You'd like to think a firearm is not necessary in remote locations, but I suppose it depends.

I've shared the time I was working at a utility station up in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. It was an industrial setting in late Winter that involved painting epoxy and polyurethane on pipes and equipment, including staining the exterior of a brand new operations building.

I was completely by myself for a week and was provided a camping trailer to live out of. Since this was big bear country, I was pretty nervous about an encounter. No cell phone. So, I went Cave Man and constructed a large spear out of metal tubing that had a road flare attached to the end of it. Fortunately, I never had to use it.


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

The place I was working at where I had to hike in did have some 'larger' footie prints every now and again, but nothing bear like. The only wildlife I saw was a dead raccoon lying right near the cottage. Nothing was touching him, not even the crows. I figured he must have been really sick or something. He was there for quite a while, so I named him Rocky. Every morning I greeted him as I was arriving and said "See ya tomorrow Rocky" when I left. Even the most minor incident of humour makes you laugh when you now you're not going to interact with anyone for the entire day.

Then, one day Rocky was gone. I was alone again with my thoughts. I guess somebody got hungry enough.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

You're right! Something about being alone has you talking to ghosts, animals and trees. And they all have a great sense of humor!


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## Masterwork (Sep 13, 2020)

Having an hourly call in is a good idea. Any excuse to bug my wife


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

Masterwork said:


> Having an hourly call in is a good idea. Any excuse to bug my wife


My wife always seems to think it's a good time to check in with me right when I get to the top of an extension ladder. Or when I'm at the opposite end of the building from where I've left my cel phone. Or when I've just started rolling out a big wall and can't stop.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

The commercial apps I saw during my search seemed to be primarily aimed at the employees of bigger companies (maybe by having them the companies could qualify for cheaper insurance rates) rather than OMS. Some are quite sophisticated and even have fall sensors. I also got the impression that they could be quite expensive - when a slick and comprehensive web site doesn’t give you the prices and instead directs you to contact them for more info, images of huge dollar signs appear in front of me.

Nowadays, with cell phones, having a simple check-in set up with a spouse or friend seems like the best idea for the OMSs - assuming there is cell coverage. An ideal set up for a OMS might be one where you pay as you use one of the commercial plans - but I doubt they offer that as an option. And even if they did, it would probably be more than most of us would want to mess with and still pay for. At the end of the day, we want to feel that our own tried and true safety procedures will get us through the day unscathed. And fortunately, we are usually right.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Wildbill7145 said:


> My wife always seems to think it's a good time to check in with me right when I get to the top of an extension ladder. Or when I'm at the opposite end of the building from where I've left my cel phone. Or when I've just started rolling out a big wall and can't stop.


LOL... love knows no bounds, or has any concept of inconvenience.


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

Wildbill7145 said:


> My wife always seems to think it's a good time to check in with me right when I get to the top of an extension ladder. Or when I'm at the opposite end of the building from where I've left my cel phone. Or when I've just started rolling out a big wall and can't stop.


My wife and my brother *both *do that to me. It's an uncanny knack that they share.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

CApainter said:


> You're right! Something about being alone has you talking to ghosts, animals and trees. And they all have a great sense of humor!


It’s when they start talking back that you know you’ve been working alone too long.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

CApainter said:


> You'd like to think a firearm is not necessary in remote locations, but I suppose it depends.
> 
> I've shared the time I was working at a utility station up in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. It was an industrial setting in late Winter that involved painting epoxy and polyurethane on pipes and equipment, including staining the exterior of a brand new operations building.
> 
> I was completely by myself for a week and was provided a camping trailer to live out of. Since this was big bear country, I was pretty nervous about an encounter. No cell phone. So, I went Cave Man and constructed a large spear out of metal tubing that had a road flare attached to the end of it. Fortunately, I never had to use it.


I think a side arm located nearby would have been a good idea - and not necessarily only for protection against four footed intruders.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

In order to have a firearm at a work site, I would have had to go through some vetting process for sure. Otherwise, I would have risked discipline, or termination given the firearm restrictions at places of work- outside of law enforcement, gun dealers, hunting organizations and shooting ranges of course.

And as you alluded to, the biggest threat to man is the bipedal meat pod with its built in sensors programed into a gelatinous biomass- that through an apparently lengthy evolution- became encased in an exoskeletal helmet protruding atop the creatures... form? For lack of a better term.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

CApainter said:


> In order to have a firearm at a work site, I would have had to go through some vetting process for sure. Otherwise, I would have risked discipline, or termination given the firearm restrictions at places of work- outside of law enforcement, gun dealers, hunting organizations and shooting ranges of course.
> 
> And as you alluded to, the biggest threat to man is the bipedal meat pod with its built in sensors programed into a gelatinous biomass- that through an apparently lengthy evolution- became encased in an exoskeletal helmet protruding atop the creatures... form? For lack of a better term.


Yeah, as an employee out on a job, that is pretty understandable. Still, a risk assessment and the necessary training would not seem extreme to me if it meant more security for an employee.
And don’t even get me started on arming teachers. Too political for here.


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

I used to perch on a 60ft lift, working on mountainside homes alone.

Now, there's a least two of us in the basket with a ground man.

I got in some squirrelly situations in my younger years...when I had a daughter, I completely changed my ways. Nothing worth painting is worth dying for (excepting maybe fine art...Mona Lisa and what not; certainly not any architectural coatings).

My fear is not necessarily dying, but getting crippled up and becoming a burden to my family...although, I'm not keen to die either.


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

It's better to just not work alone. Always have someone around who can call 911, just in case. Even if they don't know the number for 911. If they don't know the number for 911, you can always program it into their phone. And if you have to stand on their head, at least make sure they have a helmet. And you.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

LOL... Awhile back we had a series of these types of pics showing up here. I suspect many of them were from other countries - but not all.
And what is the third guy in the photo doing? Steadying the guy in the blue shirt?


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## Joe67 (Aug 12, 2016)

RH said:


> LOL... Awhile back we had a series of these types of pics showing up here. I suspect many of them were from other countries - but not all.
> And what is the third guy in the photo doing? Steadying the guy in the blue shirt?


Looks to me like maybe that third person is getting 911 queued up on the phone...


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## ParamountPaint (Aug 25, 2016)

Joe67 said:


> Looks to me like maybe that third person is getting 911 queued up on the phone...


 If he's anything like most of the younger workforce, he's probably scrolling through facebook or tiktok.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

That's what I call team work!


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## fromthenorthwest (May 2, 2012)

My favorite part is that there's a ladder visible in the photo


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