Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Oct 10, 2010 6:22 am How rude (or necessary?!) it is to ask your various tradies to take their shoes off on your new timber floors? (The house has been handed over.) Do we have the "right" to insist? Are there any OH&S rules which might overrule us? How do we go about it if they say "nah, I'll just be a second"? And what about dragging in various heavy tools or ladders ? We are expecting A/C installation, and have been advised by the A/C office person that they need to go into every room and check every single ceiling outlet. What kind of checking goes on?? Are ladders required? (but perhaps I should ask this in another forum ) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 2Oct 10, 2010 7:02 am I have found that if you are firm (but polite!) enough in your first request they will immediately oblige. All of mine took theirs off, even when I forgot to ask they would just do it anyway. the only time you may have to be a bit more understanding is if they have to get up into the roof space etc... might they need their shoes in there to protect their feet? or if they are carrying something heavy and need their steel caps on to protect their toey toes "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 3Oct 10, 2010 7:32 am Lex How rude (or necessary?!) it is to ask your various tradies to take their shoes off on your new timber floors? (The house has been handed over.) Do we have the "right" to insist? Are there any OH&S rules which might overrule us? How do we go about it if they say "nah, I'll just be a second"? And what about dragging in various heavy tools or ladders ? We are expecting A/C installation, and have been advised by the A/C office person that they need to go into every room and check every single ceiling outlet. What kind of checking goes on?? Are ladders required? (but perhaps I should ask this in another forum ) I refuse to remove my shoes, it took 2 yrs for my foot to heal $100's spent on orthotics plus time off work and at the doctor, all because someone didn't want me walking on their floor, did they care about me? did they pay my expenses? NO. There's a reason why tradies must wear safety foot wear. Would you climb a ladder without shoes? Are you prepared to pay medical expenses if there's an injury? The best approach is to simply ask the tradie to wipe his feet, really how much damage can shoes do to your floor? Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 4Oct 10, 2010 8:40 am Get some heavy fabric or ultra cheap mats and put them down where the tradie needs to walk if it is of concern. Status: sold our first house, moved in with parents, bought our second in Pakenham, still planning to build in a few years time. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 6Oct 10, 2010 8:53 am Rizzo What about those little plastic disposable bootie things?? You could just get them to pop them on over their boots (if they fit) They tear within minutes on floor boards and are slippery on carpet. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 7Oct 10, 2010 10:31 am Ive seen and done damage to floor boards in my time as a sparky back in the day. Little stones get caught in the boot grips and make nice little scratches where ever you walk. I used to carry 2 sets of boots one clean set for indoor use and one filthy pair used for everything else. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 8Oct 10, 2010 10:51 am SteveBuild Ive seen and done damage to floor boards in my time as a sparky back in the day. Little stones get caught in the boot grips and make nice little scratches where ever you walk. I used to carry 2 sets of boots one clean set for indoor use and one filthy pair used for everything else. See Lex, tradies do care. I don't carry a spare, but do pick out the stones and only enter a home with clean shoes and overalls. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 9Oct 10, 2010 11:00 am SteveBuild Ive seen and done damage to floor boards in my time as a sparky back in the day. Little stones get caught in the boot grips and make nice little scratches where ever you walk. I used to carry 2 sets of boots one clean set for indoor use and one filthy pair used for everything else. That's a good compromise, I do think the Tradies should wear their safety gear Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 10Oct 10, 2010 11:06 am Hmmm, I am not a tradie but I used to do community nursing and went into peoples homes - and I had to wear OHS approved enclosed shoes with non-slip soles - if I went into a house with, say, timber floors, I would not of taken off my shoes (not that anyone ever asked me to ) - what if I had slipped on the shiny floor and then tried to put in a WorkCover claim and been found to be not wearing my required foot wear?? Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 11Oct 10, 2010 11:17 am What's with the issues. Just get some lino from Bunnings and roll it out before they come over. Make it a big section so there is no slip problem. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 12Oct 10, 2010 11:37 am We have tradies and they would respect the owner's wishes... and at the same time take care. The home owners don't wear steel capped boots around their homes - and I bet the tradies don't wear them in their own homes. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 13Oct 10, 2010 11:46 am ed @ EcoClassic We have tradies and they would respect the owner's wishes... and at the same time take care. The home owners don't wear steel capped boots around their homes - and I bet the tradies don't wear them in their own homes. Ed Heh my husband does! But he is a gardener so never has a need to go into someone's home - just ours - Sigh! Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 14Oct 10, 2010 11:56 am I know tradies need to wear their safety shoes, and I don't have a problem with it, but it would upset me big time if they wore dirty horrible work boots on my new floorboards, especially seeing as we won't even be wearing shoes in the house at all. Hopefully the guys that come to your house are respectful like the ones on here Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 15Oct 10, 2010 12:03 pm ed @ EcoClassic We have tradies and they would respect the owner's wishes... and at the same time take care. The home owners don't wear steel capped boots around their homes - and I bet the tradies don't wear them in their own homes. Ed All tradies must have a Construction Induction Card (red card), to obtain the card you are held accountable to it's terms. When I'm at work I wear and use the required Safety Equipment, at home I wear and do whatever I like. If you expect your tradies to respect the owners wishes, you're risking your workers safety and that could be costly to you. http://www.ors.act.gov.au/workcover/Web ... n_card.htm Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 16Oct 10, 2010 12:14 pm TheOK ed @ EcoClassic We have tradies and they would respect the owner's wishes... and at the same time take care. The home owners don't wear steel capped boots around their homes - and I bet the tradies don't wear them in their own homes. Ed All tradies must have a Construction Induction Card (red card), to obtain the card you are held accountable to it's terms. When I'm at work I wear and use the required Safety Equipment, at home I wear and do whatever I like. If you expect your tradies to respect the owners wishes, you're risking your workers safety and that could be costly to you. http://www.ors.act.gov.au/workcover/Web ... n_card.htm Yes, I know all that, we all have a red card. A finished home is not a construction site... I visited a commercial site after handover that we completed recently - I was expected to take off my boots. It's a matter of courtesy and common sense. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 17Oct 10, 2010 1:05 pm ed @ EcoClassic Yes, I know all that, we all have a red card. A finished home is not a construction site... I visited a commercial site after handover that we completed recently - I was expected to take off my boots. It's a matter of courtesy and common sense. Ed I disagree with that statement, the majority of my work is on finished homes. If one of your tradies was to enter a 'finished home' and was asked to remove his/her shoes, would you expect him/her to have the 'common sense' and 'courtesy' to remove them? You've already answered that though. ed @ EcoClassic We have tradies and they would respect the owner's wishes... and at the same time take care. Ed Sorry, but that doesn't quite cut it in the year 2010. ...'to take care' is to wear safety equipment period, that's common sense. ..courtesy is the coffee the owner offers me. Re: Tradies, Shoes and Timber Floors 20Oct 10, 2010 2:17 pm TheOK Huggy_B as a sparky, what safety footwear do you have to wear? Steel caps. For what situation or task in a ostensibly completed domestic dwelling do you need to wear steel cap boots inside a house? Elvis has left the building... The site supervisor quit after 2 month on the project. I guess he was just instructed to bark at people, but didn't like when he was… 26 20901 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15907 2 4680 |