Four storeys up in Malta - almost as high as the list of safety errors he's committing

Alan Houghton sent us this photo taken in Malta (part of the EU, no complaints please), and provided his take on the situation.

Safety Blunder

Says Alan:

"The gentleman in the picture is repairing a parapet wall four storeys up in, presumably, a time-honoured way.

The two ropes from his plank pass over the parapet wall and roof and down the other side.

There they are attached to another plank upon which sits two large blocks of limestone.

There appears to be absolutely no mechanical fixing for this arrangement, and its seems to rely entirely upon the friction between the ropes and the wall for stability.

I have no idea how he gets onto the plank to start a day鈥檚 work, although it is fairly easy to get off 鈥� particularly if someone wants a spare block of limestone from the other side."

All fair points - although if he's that high up, we're most concerned by the obvious fact that he has no harness or safety rail of any kind. Just because it's been done that way for centuries, doesn't mean it can't be done better, and safer.

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