Gone viral is this video of a brilliant (or brave and idiotic, according to some) ironworker scaling a column. Needing to scale a column to a height beyond the reach of the ladder, he’s devised this solution:
If it’s not clear, he’s got a pipe wrench attached to each foot. He’s exploited the nature of an I-section column by using the pipes’ jaws to wedge against the flanges, locking the wrenches in place as he puts weight on them.
As you can imagine, the video had safety trolls up in arms. At least one of their GIFs was funny:
To the worker’s credit, you can see that he is wearing an untethered safety line during the climb, and at the very end you can see him reaching for it, presumably to attach it to something near the height of his task.