On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 17:06:49 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:
In article ,
Mike Mitchell wrote:
Just about anything is safer than a pit you mean (certainly in the DIY
sector), inspection pits have many hazards which is one reason why many
workshop designs go to great lengths to avoid the use of pits.
I'm sorry to be so brutally frank, but this is utter rubbish.#
It's not.
Yes, it is. See below.
For a start, they can be difficult to get in and out of without
risk of injury.
You climb down into them. What is difficult about that? Think of a
ladder up the side of the house. Now turn your head upside down.
That's what climbing down into a pit feels like.
They collect all sorts of rubbish on the bottom and aren't
that easy to clean out.
Tried a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner? The round ones with the face are
good. Also, shops sell brooms, dustpans, brushes, that sort of thing.
You can deal with grease - not that modern cars are all that greasy -
by strewing sawdust, then treading it in. Obviously, this means you
have to keep digging the pit a bit deeper...
So they may be slippery, etc.
Sawdust and industrial boots.
And if wet, can be
more of a hazard when using electrical tools, etc.
How/why would a pit inside a garage be wet? If it becomes wet by
leakage from the radiator, for example, then stop the leak, then dry
it out! If anyone is daft enough to use electricty in wet condtions -
drilling in a swimming pool comes to mind - then why am I not
surprised when he fries? By the way, a pit is rather like a baby
swimming pool, but drier.
They also collect some
inflammable fumes which are heavier than air.
That indeed is a possibility. But what about a fan, so long as it
isn't powered by electricity, of course, just in case a stray spark
could trigger the US Early Warning System? (Actually, having written
that I expect GCHQ is on my case right now.)
Then, of course, there's the
danger of falling in one when it's not covered up properly when not in use.
So cover it up properly when not in use! The pits I used had railway
sleepers over them. It's hard to see how they could be dangerous. Mind
you, if they're from Railtrack, anything is possible...
The one commercial garage I know which still uses them has a problem with
height, so can't have a conventional lift. They dug down an access
corridor at the back of both their pits so you get to them via normal
steps away from a vehicles using the pits, and of course made them much
easier to keep clean, etc.
Ah, now you're talking! We had this type of pit, too, at a garage
where I worked. But it's difficult to achieve such a length/height in
a domestic garage.
I did have a garage with a pit once. It was, of course, useful,
Serendipity!
but the
car never seemed to be in the right place for the bits you had to access.
You can leave the handbrake off and roll the car from underneath. We
did it all the time. No one died.
And getting the tools etc you'd forgotten was a pain too.
Yes, that *is* a pain. But so is forgetting one's tools when one is on
top of the roof or in the loft and has to go back down again.
Forgetting stuff has the habit of being irritating no matter what it
is. I'm always forgetting while out shopping as I am so absent minded.
I'm always forgetting while out shopping as I am so absent minded.
So unless they're very much larger than the average - ie longer than the
car so you get easy access to either end, and to get in and out, they
might just be more trouble than they're worth.
No. They cannot possibly be *more* trouble. The thing is, everything
in life is a risk - including me making glib reference to the US back
there - but as long as we take every care and are sensible there is
much to be done without fear of injury. Face it, many DIY-ers kill
themselves doing the most mundane things. How many wear eye
protection? Who wears thick, industrial boots when digging the garden,
and not wellies? Ever seen a spade partially sever someone's toes?
Life is hard, but don't make it too hard, else we might just as well
stay in bed and wait for the euthanasia wagon to come and collect the
body.
MM
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