Idiots at Work

DANGER - IDIOTS AT WORK: Heart-stopping snaps of workmen that will make the elf 'n' safety brigade blow a gasket 

• Idiotic snaps show brainless men at work putting their lives at serious risk
• Seen balancing on unsteady ladders and smoking while fixing gas leaks
• Maybe best to take a cautionary glance before doing any DIY this weekend 

We've all had reason to call in the professional, but even they can get it so, so wrong sometimes.

As these alarming photographs show, even those walked through the ever monotonous steps of health and safety training can so often turn a blind eye to the guidelines designed to make us safe at work.

From tree surgeons, to mechanics, welders and builders - there's always someone who is going to turn a blind eye to the rules.

And, as always, there's us amateurs too, who often fail to understand what we're trying to fix, let alone the safest way to go about fixing it.

So before you tend to that minor bit of DIY this weekend, cast your eye over these photos just to make sure you don't go nearly half as wrong...

Unlike the white-hot sparks showering these highly explosive gas cylinders, this worker isn’t very bright

Plimsolls and a tub on his head? That’s cutting it fine

Wheelie daft: Those bins could soon be on a roll

Weighing up the odds: A ledge is a silly spot to play see-saw

Hang on, where’s the scaffolding? If one of those planks moves, this workman will be the fall guy

When the trunk goes, the ladder goes, he goes and the chainsaw goes...

Working on a gas leak, why not have one last cigarette...

Height of stupidity: There’s an official way to fasten ladders, and we can safely say, this certainly isn’t it

What could go wrong? A wobbly chimney, a rickety ladder and a yawning gap

Ramping up the risk: This mechanic may get a closer inspection of his car than he bargained for