This month's health and safety blunders include new and unusual approaches to working at height, plus, a salutary lesson from the history books.


roofing safety blunder
"You seem to like photos of people working at height, so here's another," writes Ian Macpherson from Guildford, with the world-weariness of a man who's seen it all so many times before.

Malta safety blunder
An alternative to using weighing scales, as spotted by Ken Trimmer in Bugibba, Malta, where, he says "re-pointing at great height is an art. I am certain the operative made detailed calculations to derive the three blocks, pot & bucket."

Cyprus safety blunder
"Not very good on edge protection," notes Graham Fowler of Hannah Reed, of this site in Cyprus. Or indeed many other basic health and safety requirements...

Hole in the ground safety blunder
Alan Crich from Nottingham noted this novel approach to covering up a big hole in the ground. Helpful warning sign, too ...

Victorian safety blunder
John Barker rooted around the archives for this picture, published by the Francis Firth Collection, demonstrating the lengths, and heights, that Victorian Londoners went to to have a jolly good knees-up for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The somewhat rickety ladders are in Park Lane and are being used to erect decorations.