One of my favorite segments on TV is when the sports analysts stand around and watch film of the previous week’s boneheaded plays. These are the “C’mon man” awards. See a guy fumbling or running the wrong way and these analysts are like, “Come on man, what are you thinking!” It’s a really funny segment.
As someone in the concrete lifting industry, it’s impossible not to miss obvious tripping hazards and the methods different municipalities and businesses use to address them. I have frustrated contractors talk to me regularly, letting me know about this job or that job where they didn’t get the sale and some other method was used (or NO method was used) to deal with the problem. So in honor of those methods, here are a few of my How NOT to Repair a Tripping Hazard “Come on Man!” Awards. Names of the perpetrators will be withheld cause I'm a nice guy.
1. Look at these before and after pictures...
A certain city had their tripping hazard painted with orange spray paint. Our slab lifting contractor offered to do this for free as a demo for the city. What did they do? They sent a crew of four guys out and an asphalt truck and slapped a makeshift asphalt ramp together to bridge the slabs. This is certainly not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant and it’s also ugly as hell. Most importantly - it will NOT last. COME ON MAN!
2. Look below how tripping hazards were addressed at a rest area...
These slab transitions were ground down to remove the tripping hazards. At least they didn’t just slap some asphalt on it. Grinding the concrete exposes the aggregates, and it leaves ugly patterns that will stay visible for years. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't address the underlying sinking problem, so a tripping hazard is likely to appear again. Last time I drove by there the rest area was closed. COME ON MAN! They should have had those slabs adjusted with polyurethane technology.
3. Some places just opt for the paint job...
Maybe if they paint this tripping hazard yellow, people will see it and not trip and fall down. How well does that work at night (or if someone is distracted while walking)? This was on a hotel property and there is certainly pedestrian traffic in the evenings along these walkways (not to mention millennials walking around staring at their phones). COME ON MAN! Do they realize that by painting the tripping hazard they are proving prior knowledge of an the issue they didn’t do anything about? Prior knowledge is a key component in tripping hazard lawsuits.
4. Then of course, there are property owners that don’t do anything at all...
COME ON MAN!!!!!
That’s it for this special edition awards blog. And remember, if you’re a property owner faced with a tripping hazard…COME ON MAN! Repair it correctly. Don’t be that guy!