Five years ago I was a foreman on a school job. For some reason the school safety people decreed that I would inspect and mark with colored tape every cord used on the job by all trades. The safety person also made it crystal clear that if they found an unmarked cord or a marked cord that was unsafe they would shut the job down.
I must have cut a couple dozen cords in half.
Got a lot of mean looks and even a few threats but the bottom line was the safety people really would shut the job down if they found an unsafe cord. So when it came down to it all the foreman in the other trades understood my position.
Have not worked on a job like that since and hope I never have to. It was different because the school district had "self insurance" for workers comp and they had thier own rules and safety people.
Another rule, one contractor could not use a ladder belonging to another contractor. We could only use ladders supplied by our own company. Same with man lifts and scaffolds. One time the safety people caught the brick masons using the plasterers scaffold and shut them down. There was nothing wrong with the scaffold, just that it was not thiers.
