# I don't want this guy's job **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594 "2012-03-12T22:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/21 "2012-03-18T09:53:49Z")
The people who built the tower don’t seem to have made much accommodation for the people who would someday have to climb up there. There are ladders, but only for some of the climb, and at those points there are no closed-loop points to clip the safety line to. The voice-over says that reattaching the safety line every few feet is tiring. The problem is in the design. They could build a guideway for the safety line, with ratchets along the way. You could pull the line up as you climb, but if you fell it would catch on the ratchet and stop you in a few feet. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/22 "2012-03-18T12:37:45Z")
I don’t understand at all why there is no permanent safety line going the full height that allows the worker to clip on and remain clipped on? I’m on a jobsite right now with a 30 meter tall stair tower, and climbing that is freak’n exhausting! I couldn’t imagine doing just 30 meters of _ladder_! We follow the rule where you are always tied off when working at height, no matter what. That means wearing a full harness with two hooks, so that one of the hooks is always attached to a safety line or handrail. That video was just nuts! ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/23 "2012-03-18T13:44:08Z")
I’m not afraid of heights-- in fact, I kinda like high places. But _ **that** _ is ridiculous! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/24 "2012-03-18T13:53:51Z")
Thing is, even if the dude was clipped on and had a nasty fall, how the hell would anyone rescue him? If he was at the very top I could see a helicopter winching him up like a haggis, but further down the tower - they could send people up, but if he were knocked out or struck by lightning or something, how would they get him off the ladder? ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/25 "2012-03-18T14:29:26Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Thing is, even if the dude was clipped on and had a nasty fall, how the hell would anyone rescue him? If he was at the very top I could see a helicopter winching him up like a haggis, but further down the tower - they could send people up, but if he were knocked out or struck by lightning or something, how would they get him off the ladder? My thoughts exactly. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/26 "2012-03-18T16:41:47Z")
Why no parachute? Not ideal, but better than sure death. Don’t say it hasn’t been done. The A in BASE jump stands for antenna. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/27 "2012-03-18T17:11:30Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Why no parachute? Not ideal, but better than sure death. Don’t say it hasn’t been done. The A in BASE jump stands for antenna. No room in ladder alley, more load, more fatigue, more likely to fall. That said, I would do it for decent money and a heck of a life insurance plan paid for by the company. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/28 "2012-03-18T17:16:16Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > My thoughts exactly. High angle rescue 😃 taken a few classes but never had to actually do it for real. in a nushell you climb up, with a bunch of rope and some pulleys. Tie yourself off, find a way to rig a pulley, hook rope into climbers harness, and lower him down to a level where they can pull him into the elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/29 "2012-03-18T17:31:15Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > High angle rescue 😃 taken a few classes but never had to actually do it for real. > > in a nushell you climb up, with a bunch of rope and some pulleys. > > Tie yourself off, find a way to rig a pulley, hook rope into climbers harness, and lower him down to a level where they can pull him into the elevator. Cutting his safety line with a knife would be soooo much faster. Um, he _might_ live! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/30 "2012-03-18T17:52:10Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Why no parachute? Not ideal, but better than sure death. Don’t say it hasn’t been done. The A in BASE jump stands for antenna. > [@drachillix](#): > > No room in ladder alley, more load, more fatigue, more likely to fall. There’s also the problem of getting caught in the guy wires or hitting the tower on the way down. I’m sure BASE jumpers push off the tower in the correct position to miss them, and so that the wind won’t carry them back into the wires. If someone just fell at random, there’s lots of things that can go wrong even with a parachute. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/31 "2012-03-18T18:16:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s also the problem of getting caught in the guy wires or hitting the tower on the way down. I’m sure BASE jumpers push off the tower in the correct position to miss them, and so that the wind won’t carry them back into the wires. If someone just fell at random, there’s lots of things that can go wrong even with a parachute. Certainly. But the alternative is even less appealing. ---
**Author:** ![lipsdiablo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@lipsdiablo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lipsdiablo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/32 "2012-03-18T18:48:32Z")
Anyone else looking at the second guy at the end thinking “I bet he’s really annoyed at his mate forgetting the bulb…” ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/33 "2012-03-18T20:48:20Z")
> [@lipsdiablo](#): > > Anyone else looking at the second guy at the end thinking “I bet he’s really annoyed at his mate forgetting the bulb…” Even worse… You get the new bulb screwed in and then find out that it’s a defective bulb, and you only carried up one! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/34 "2012-03-18T21:11:33Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > I couldn’t imagine doing just 30 meters of _ladder_! Firefighters do that all the time even if only in drill, fire ladders are much sturdier than the pegs those guys climb and the side rails on the ladder offer some additional safety/place to grab if you slip. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594/35 "2012-03-18T22:03:58Z")
Not even for sex with Eddie Vedder would I do that job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-want-this-guys-job/615594.md?page=1)