Hardy Breed

[chiz]

I'm not over-fussed about cabins myself as long as the van isn't too crammed and it's a pain in the backside to get them on site, but most toilet hire companies only do two-week minimum hire these days which makes it less likely that we can get one. If anyone knows of a national company or little local ones that actually do one week hire, let me know!

We get cabins by the day, you can get a towable groundhog unit delivered down farm tracks and across fields if its not too boggy: heater, lights, microwave, hot water and sink, drinking water, toilet, drying space in the genny room etc etc. Two weeks for a toilet? I don't know where you are, but we regularly have a portaloo on weekly hire. The main issue is that they only pick up when they are in that area, but its never been a problem. If you can't get a groundhog unit, then you can hire welfare vans that are self-contained and you can drive them around big sites. All this will be covered in next DF newsletter.

CDM regs say the client must provide welfare on CDM sites, the HSE guidelines do accept that it may be difficult on some sites, but anything beyond a couple of days needs welfare inmy opinion, especially this time of year. If you can't get a cabin, or share one that's already there, does your company have water butts, washing up bowls and soap etc etc and a means of heating water? You might not be bothered about cabins, but some of us like being able to dry our kit, or have space to stretch our legs or do paperwork. Or even to just store tools so it doesn't take 5 minutes to get the stuff out of the back of the van each shift.

[angi]

You might not be bothered about cabins, but some of us like being able to dry our kit, or have space to stretch our legs or do paperwork. Or even to just store tools so it doesn't take 5 minutes to get the stuff out of the back of the van each shift.

Woah there soldier! I am just stating my own personal needs! I would like it if you could let me know which company it is you use for single week toilet hire so that I can ask which areas they cover as one week minimum isn't common in my area where the large companies have bought out the smaller companies and now impose fortnightly minimums.

[Digger]

I am always surprised when people hark back to the 80's when conditions on-sites are mentioned. Surely it is time for you to move on? Even the space shuttle has been retired now and that was the bees-knees in the 80's.

I worked on a site (acually in this century) were the conditions were raised for the archaeologist by, wait for it, the Union. Yes, that's right, the Union. Surprisingly it was the construction workers union as they would not let any workers on site with less conditions than other site staff as this could set a dangerous precedent affecting their own terms and conditions.

Cheer up though, give it another 10 to 15 and hearing anyone refer to how brilliant-we didn't care about the money- did it for love-you have it so much better than we had in the 80's crap, outside of a nursing home (if there livers hold out). :face-smart:

[angi]

That is so true! If I hear the "we all had to take turns emptying the bucket" story once more, I will not be held responsible for my actions!

[Dirty Boy]

telling stories of their glory days when they dug with tea trays and spoons and sheltered in a paper bag. Or whatever.

A paper bag?! Luxury!

In my day our site accomodation was in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the tank, go to site for 18 hours a day and when we got back, out Project Manager would thrash us to sleep wi' his belt.


It is shocking how some firms still won't provide. You usually don't mind if its for a day or three and there's only two of you in a van, but anything more than that is just not on. When I worked for an awful unit a few years ago and toilets were not forthcoming we used to drive in the works van to the closest loos we could find. Usually about half an hour away we thought was reasonable, in the works truck and on their petrol.

[Marcus Brody]

I am always surprised when people hark back to the 80's when conditions on-sites are mentioned. Surely it is time for you to move on? Even the space shuttle has been retired now and that was the bees-knees in the 80's.

I've deliberately tried to avoid this sort of comparison, as it's not really relevant or helpful. I'd go back to one of my previous points about sharing facilities with the main contractor - if the unit says that they can't hire toilets or huts by the week, but the main contractor's got them, why not offer some form of payment for use of these during the period when the archaeologists are on site? Seems to me everyone's a winner - main contractor gets an effective discount on hire costs, unit probably pays less than they would for hiring facilities themselves, and the Poor Bloody Infantry get somewhere warm and dry to each their sandwiches.

Like Dirty, I've also worked on sites where no toilets were provided, necessitating a trip to the nearest supermarket on company time. The amount of time that was spent driving back and forth probably cost more in terms of lost productivity and petrol than hiring a toilet would have done.

[Jack]

A paper bag?! Luxury!

In my day our site accomodation was in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the tank, go to site for 18 hours a day and when we got back, out Project Manager would thrash us to sleep wi' his belt.


It is shocking how some firms still won't provide. You usually don't mind if its for a day or three and there's only two of you in a van, but anything more than that is just not on. When I worked for an awful unit a few years ago and toilets were not forthcoming we used to drive in the works van to the closest loos we could find. Usually about half an hour away we thought was reasonable, in the works truck and on their petrol.

'Septic tank?.............Luxury, we were evicted from our septic tank. Had t' live in hole in t' middle of road.'

Heartily agree that site huts/ground hogs, heating, clean water are a necessity not a luxury. Am with the Dirty one.

[kevin wooldridge]

Just for comparison does anyone have any ballpark figures of how much huts, portaloos, groundhogs cost these days?

[Dinosaur]

One has to remember that back in the days of yore and flat caps it was always sunny and digging was a genteel way of filling the day till the cream-cakes arrived with afternoon tea and we admired the site artist's handiwork while the paint dried

[Ken Denham]

As I'm from the North-East Dinosaur, I've always considered a flat cap to be an essential part of ones work-wear.