Our Competition

An example in how a building owner can get anything done at a cheaper price,
especially if they hire contractors who do not care to protect either their
workers or the public.

These are photos of one of my competitors in NYC. I bid for work against them,
but find the field is not a level one. Last week I was walking past this job
not knowing who it was. They were paint stripping masonry on a storefront on
Broadway in upper Manhattan.

At first I was thinking to myself how if we were letting the water run across
the sidewalk that we would get a fine from the NYC Dept. of Environmental
Protection. The water, and paint stripper, was not confined to the taped off
area but was running across the sidewalk into the street drain. Paint stripper
was being brushed onto the masonry by a worker who was not wearing either
hand, face or body protection. Note the gloves drying on the saw horse. Having
applied paint stripper myself I know that the material burns skin, let alone
hands and eyes. No First Aid kit in site, not even a bucket of clean water.

Neither was I impressed with the ladder work. If the combination ladder
collapses the worker will not only go to the ER for bruises, but chemical
burns as well. When I saw the DANGER sign I really got ticked off as I have
been criticized in the past for not doing as "good" of a job of handing in
paper schedules as this particular contractor. I'm fed up with doing business
with building owners who condone such unsafe work on their buildings, and I'm
tired of bidding against sloppy contractors who work out of a truck. I'm
especially tired of being berated for higher prices.

Then to stand there and see innocent children walking through the paint
stripper and being exposed to immediate harm, as well as potentials for lead
poisoning or carcinogens in the chemicals... this is too much for me to deal
with. Paint stripper is slippery and it would be very easy for a child to
slip, fall, drop a hand or their butt in the paint stripper and to walk on.
The problem would be compounded as their adults, not aware of the dangers in
the environment, and trusting in the reputation of the building owners, may
not know the cause of their pain. If I saw these practices being allowed on
any of our projects I would have a royal bird. Unfortunately for me, the
overhead of service required to do work safely and without endangering either
employees the public or children costs more -- yet remains indistinguishable
to the owners as a value to insist on in competitive bids. We do not
compromise on safety.

][<en Follett