It’s Fun with Construction time, kids! Can you spot the dangerous situation in the following photos?

In this picture, our Guatemalan construction worker is chiseling away that pesky extra concrete on the face of a wall, four stories up in the air. He has dutifully tied his ladder to the rebar at the top of the wall, and placed the bottom of the ladder on a pile of lumber carefully arranged to give him a little extra reach. A second rope is tied around his waist. Extra lumber is neatly stacked ten feet above his head, for easy access. Can you spot the OSHA violation? Click to enlarge, and look carefully. HE’S NOT WEARING SAFETY GLASSES!

In our second photo, we see a complex joint carefully crafted by an expert Guatemalan builder. Which of the following would get the instant attention of an American building inspector?

A) The joist is noncontinuous, falling an inch short of the ledger.

B) The joist bears on a ledger instead of directly on the post.

C) Each of the connections is held together with only two nails.

The correct answer, of course is D) None of the above. The building official wouldn’t have even set foot in this structure.

I hope you all enjoyed today’s quiz. You can be sure Guatemalan structures will feature prominently in my lectures if I go back to being an architecture professor once Peace Corps is done.