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> From my experience visiting, there were lots of jobs that were "nice to have". Like the man making sure people don't fall in the hole, or the person standing

> From my experience visiting, there were lots of jobs that were "nice to have". Like the man making sure people don't fall in the hole, or the person standing by the carpark exit making sure the way is clear. You could probably do without them, but it's a nice thing to have. How would liability play out for the construction company in a Japanese court? It's already a low margin competitive industry so passing risk management costs onto customers (the cost of the people monitoring the holes) is likely more practical than risking all profits evaporating and years of litigation, especially if insurance has anything to say about it.

ehnto 5y ago
I don't know the answer to that sorry, you're right to point it out though. Perhaps there is actually some prior court case that defined a liability to make those individuals necessary to be compliant. In Australia we certainly don't have those people, construction companies just use a few signs, some cones and barricades and that's all that is required to be compliant. If someone falls in the hole they shouldn't have walked past the cones!
- toomanybeersies 5y ago
  > In Australia we certainly don't have those people Not the case in Victoria. Pretty normal to see a couple of workers standing near the site entrance making sure pedestrians don't get run over by a truck. Or standing in front of a closed footpath, directing pedestrians to cross the road. There's pretty strict rules around keeping the public out of construction sites and excavations. Putting a couple of cones around a hole is definitely not all that's required.
- nsonha 5y ago
  We definitely do, and I'm not against having extra people when it comes to safety. Simply putting on some signs is not enough, what about children?
  - franciscop 5y ago
    How many people? The more people you put (let's say fixing a pothole) the safer it is. Would you put 1 extra? 10? 100? 1000? At what point do you stop? There's absolutely a limit where adding another person only adds marginal safety. For instance, children who don't know they should not jump to jump a barrier and then go into a pothole should not be allowed alone on the streets. We are not talking about a random hole in the street, these things are already heavily warded in Japan with barriers and signs AND on top of it there's also workers AND on top of it the mentioned security guards. My argument is, many or all of these security guards are not needed.
    - nsonha 5y ago
      > children who don't know they should not jump to jump a barrier and then go into a pothole Here is the thing: there are adults who know all this and they fell into a potholes by accident, or momentary negligence

ehnto 5y ago

I don't know the answer to that sorry, you're right to point it out though. Perhaps there is actually some prior court case that defined a liability to make those individuals necessary to be compliant. In Australia we certainly don't have those people, construction companies just use a few signs, some cones and barricades and that's all that is required to be compliant. If someone falls in the hole they shouldn't have walked past the cones!

toomanybeersies 5y ago
> In Australia we certainly don't have those people Not the case in Victoria. Pretty normal to see a couple of workers standing near the site entrance making sure pedestrians don't get run over by a truck. Or standing in front of a closed footpath, directing pedestrians to cross the road. There's pretty strict rules around keeping the public out of construction sites and excavations. Putting a couple of cones around a hole is definitely not all that's required.
nsonha 5y ago
We definitely do, and I'm not against having extra people when it comes to safety. Simply putting on some signs is not enough, what about children?
- franciscop 5y ago
  How many people? The more people you put (let's say fixing a pothole) the safer it is. Would you put 1 extra? 10? 100? 1000? At what point do you stop? There's absolutely a limit where adding another person only adds marginal safety. For instance, children who don't know they should not jump to jump a barrier and then go into a pothole should not be allowed alone on the streets. We are not talking about a random hole in the street, these things are already heavily warded in Japan with barriers and signs AND on top of it there's also workers AND on top of it the mentioned security guards. My argument is, many or all of these security guards are not needed.
  - nsonha 5y ago
    > children who don't know they should not jump to jump a barrier and then go into a pothole Here is the thing: there are adults who know all this and they fell into a potholes by accident, or momentary negligence