Job number 20 was working as a scaffolder which was a
brilliant one to mark me being a fifth of the way through my challenge already
(I'm actually pretty sad about that!).
As I have mentioned before I live in a pub, so you will
not be surprised to hear that I know a scaffolder or two! After returning from
my day of happiness spreading in my crazy outfit, I got talking with one of the
regulars and decided I would work with them for the day! I have to say this was
the only job that I have been scared about doing and it wasn't because of the
heights!
They really kindly had a T-shirt made for me (in
apprentice colours of course), and promised to take me to a scaffolders cafe - that
the was the bit I was scared about...being the only girl in a cafe full of men! I
needn't have worried, breakfast was actually a surprisingly civilised affair!
After being picked up at 5.45 - which was a lot later than I had anticipated we
grabbed the lorry and headed off to Dover and in search of somewhere for
brekkie. It was a really nice way to start the morning and to wake up properly
ready for some seriously heavy lifting!
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| Brekkie! |
We arrived at the job and had the task of erecting 3
scaffold towers. Luckily they didn't need to be as high as originally
anticipated - apparently I wouldn't have survived the day if that had been the
case! Phew a lucky escape on my part it seems...I was regularly reminded that
it was actually an easy day - although I have to say it certainly didn't feel
that way! The lifting although easy for them certainly wasn't for me - especially as according to my consultant I shouldn't exert myself...what does he know! It did make me feel rather dizzy and light headed, which isn't ideal but I carried on anyway!
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| The job! |
There were many things about my day working as a
scaffolder that I was in awe of, one was how well they could drive the huge
lorry! First off had to be manoeuvred into a spot on a road with cars parked
down one side! Then later on they parallel parked in a space I wouldn't have
got my little hatchback into! (Maybe that's only exciting for me as I'm
terrible at parking!)
We were all parked up at the job and ready to go when we
spotted something that could have potentially made our day pretty tricky...baby
seagulls! I have to say I thought they were winding me up at first (I was also
expecting to be sent to the shop to ask for a long wait at some point!), but
thinking about it if we had of been going on the roof, I don't think the mother
would have taken too kindly to us being there! Thank goodness we weren't going
up that high, crisis averted!
I was the labourer for the day which meant that I carried
the bits from the lorry and stacked them up for them to then put the
scaffolding up...I have to say I did really want a go with their action man
drills and tool belts but alas it's a super important job which can't be undertaken
by a mere apprentice! As you can imagine the health and safety is extensive! If
something goes wrong then they are likely to be held 100% accountable...hence
the huge price tag! Their biggest job they have ever done was £49,000 - but it
does cost them £15,000 to buy enough poles to fill a lorry so it's certainly
not a cheap business to start!
I have to say I was pretty impressed with myself for
being able to lift the big poles, although after the first few I was getting
laughed at for the ridiculous methods I was using to carry them trying
desperately not to use my shoulders! I was told that everyone has a fatty bit
on their shoulders...however I think mine are the exception and are all bone!
There were points where I was laying my neck to the side and resting them on
there but I have to say I don't think that was overly successful either! As I
am finding with every job that I go to, there is a technique to it - you have
to make sure your standing in the centre when carrying them, as otherwise
gravity tries to pull down on one end or the other making it harder! If you get
it right you can actually carry it with no hands...I didn't advance to that
stage! I really did have to use all my effort to lift the big poles, and even
then I was shaking trying to carry them. All of a sudden I picked one up with
great ease, I honestly thought it was a eureka moment where I had finally
mastered it...only to be asked by Ben why I was cheating carrying the alloy
poles! No one told me there were light and heavy ones - I would have cheated
the whole time! Unfortunately they are about 3 times the price and not as
strong so that was actually the only one that I found!
I took great delight in watching people's faces when they
notice my Fawkham Valley Scaffolding T-shirt and see little old me carrying
these big long poles! Each length pole, bracket, piece of wood etc had it's own
weird name and place on the lorry. I was actually pretty impressed with myself
that by the end, even with my terrible memory they were asking me to go and get
things and I knew not only what it was but where it was! When we finished Ben
(one of the owners) took some photos of me at the top of the scaffolding. I
don't know if you have read my blog about working as a theatre technician but when I climbed the ladder there it took me ages and I had to hold on
even when I got to the top as it made my head really bad - yet I whizzed up the
ladder here and felt fine. It highlighted to me just how much the environment
around me affects my condition, I am definitely better at working outdoors than
indoors now.
After we finished in Dover we made a pit stop at the
newsagents for a drink. I couldn't believe how thirsty it makes you...now I
understand why scaffolders are renowned for having a beer after work - see this
challenge is helping me understand all sorts of things about people!
Next up was Chislehurst. This was a bit different as we
were just putting another lift on an existing scaffold (see I know all the
lingo!), another level to you and me! We had a bit of story time on the way
there, which I found highly amusing! I asked the obvious question which was -
do you ever see things that you shouldn't do...with the answer being of course!
They told me a story of a job they did in London where there was a lady who had
a shower at the same time every morning, apparently when they arrived on site
they would be offered a cup of tea which they would politely refuse as they
wanted to get straight to work...I wonder why! I couldn't help but think that
it can't always be women that they catch in the shower!
There was another story where one of them had been very
polite and asked to use the bathroom facilities - nothing wrong with
that...except he didn't specify that he would be doing a number two so the lady
phoned and complained to his boss as it
made the house smell - when you've gotta go, you've gotta go! Weirdly I was
actually thinking that the fact you don't always have access to a toilet could
make it tricky for a lady scaffolder...they have never seen a female scaffolder
before apparently - maybe that's why, along with the fact it's never men in the
shower!
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| Shameless selfie! |
The funniest story
for me however was actually the next door neighbour of the house we were on our
way to. Apparently on their first visit she had been shouting at them saying
that they are ruining her life because she didn't want the extension, they
explained that they were only doing their job but apparently when they left she
was laying face down on the front lawn kicking and screaming like a small child
#awkward. I never knew scaffolding could ruin your life, but there you go - you
learn something new every day!
There were builders at the second job who actually
offered me the chance to do one of my jobs with them which is pretty cool! I
think they found it pretty hilarious watching me pass the massive poles to the
guys on the roof. The biggest one that I carried was 21ft, which I was told
when I got back weighs 5 stone...no wonder I struggled to carry it, it's not
that much lighter than me! (I must confess that I only held the biggest one long enough for a photo to be taken, even then it had to be put on my shoulders for me and removed pretty rapidly!!). I also have it on good authority that one of the
guys at the firm can carry 5 of those in one go! I can't confirm this as I
didn't see it, but that is pretty impressive stuff! I spoke earlier about being
in awe of them and had I seen that, it would have made it onto the list! but
when I was passing the bits up to them it absolutely amazed me that they could
grab it with one hand whilst up so high and lift it with such ease...amazing!
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| Pretending to lift the 21ft pole! |
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| Trying to play it cool holding a 21ft 5 stone pole! |
Once we were all finished we headed back to the yard to
load up for the next day. I was shown the painting room which is where they
paint all the equipment so that people don't take it. some people eh! Although I'm not sure just painting it green will deter them too much! There
were also some trainers and other items in their that had also been painted but
I don't think that was for identification purposes!
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| The green room! |
A few other phrases that I learnt on my day out was
instead of saying the number of people you need at a job Ben would say handed
so 3 people would be 3 handed - which I'm not sure if everyone is only allowed
to use one of their hands but there you go! Then there is striking which means
to take it down! A day taking down scaffolding is a good one as it frees up
equipment and means they don't have to fill the lorry but it does mean that
they have to do more jobs as they always have to do enough work to cover the
costs for that day (pretty sensible actually!) and the taking down only
accounts for 20% of the cost.
I was surprised to learn that when I asked if they were
afraid of heights they said most days their fine, but they do have days where
they look down and get the shivers!...they seemed pretty fearless to me!
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| Post scaffolding shoulder...ouch! |
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| Post scaffolding muscles! |
Overall I had a brilliant but very difficult day! My poor
little shoulders even had marks on them by the end of it and over a week later
still hurt! It's funny, it makes you realise how much you use your shoulders
when it hurts every time you move them! Obviously I had to make the day authentic by going to the pub with them afterwards!
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| The pub! |
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| Stitch having a shandy! |
1. How long have you worked in your job and how did you
get into it?
'23 years because I worked for my friends dad to start
with, then decided I wanted to start my own business'
2. What's the best thing about your job?
'Definitely has to be the money, we are able to charge a
lot - but it does cost a lot to run a scaffolding firm, plus the fact that it
can be dangerous at times.'
3. What's the worst thing about your job?
'The weather - coming home when it's dark is horrible,
scraping ice off the window at 5 in the morning isn't nice either. We even work
when it's snowing! The only time we don't work due to weather is when it's
thunder & lighting because that would be just silly!'
4. If money, time, education etc were no object what
would your dream job be?
'I would have loved to be a formula one driver.'
5. Why didn't you do that instead of scaffolding?
'Erm because it costs about 40 million pounds to do!'
If you have read this blog and realised that you are in
desperate need of some scaffolding, then these are the guys for you! Visit
their website on http://fawkhamvalleyscaffolding.co.uk/. They were kind enough to donate £50 to that challenge -
thanks so much for that! If you would like to donate too please visit http://www.100jobchallenge.co.uk/#!donate/c1n0m.
