This Was the Scariest Day of His Life 😳
During a Dirty Jobs episode on the Meno Bridge, the host agreed to walk across a suspension cable 600 feet in the air to change light bulbs. While performing the task, he made a critical safety error by unclipping from his safety rig without re-clipping, leaving himself connected by only one clip attached to the wrong anchor point.
Summary
The speaker recounts a harrowing moment from a Dirty Jobs episode filmed on the Meno Bridge, a 5-mile-long structure. What started as a joking suggestion to walk across a girder and suspension cable to change light bulbs 600 feet above the water became a genuine and dangerous task. The speaker was properly equipped with a full safety rig featuring two clips—the standard safety protocol for working at that height, where boats below appear as tiny toy battleships. While suspended in the air changing a light bulb, the speaker had to unclip and re-clip past a rail. However, a critical mistake occurred: while holding a light bulb in his teeth, leaned over and focused on screwing in the new bulb, he unclipped from his safety rig but failed to clip back in. Instead, one clip remained unclipped and just hung at his side, while the other clip was inadvertently attached to the wrong anchor point. This left him in an extremely precarious and dangerous position high above the water with compromised safety equipment.
Key Insights
- The speaker was supposed to maintain two safety clips while working 600 feet above water, as being tied off two ways is the standard safety requirement for that height
- While changing a light bulb on the suspension cable, the speaker unclipped from his safety rig but forgot to re-clip, leaving him temporarily connected by only one clip
- The one remaining clip was attached to the wrong anchor point, meaning both his primary and backup safety systems failed simultaneously
- The speaker was multitasking with dangerous consequences—holding a light bulb in his teeth, leaned over, and focused on screwing it in when the safety error occurred
- The speaker describes the moment as so frightening that audio evidence of his fear can reportedly be heard on the internet clip of the incident
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] There was this moment in Dirty Jobs, an episode on the Meno Bridge. It's like 5 miles long. As a joke on camera, I'm talking to the guy I've been working with all day. I'd love to walk across that girder and get on that suspension cable and change a few light bulbs along the way. Guy says, "Okay." I get over there. I got a bag full of light bulbs and I got my safety rig on. I got two clips. You want to be tied off two ways. You're 600 ft in the air. You look down from this thing, Sean. Freighers look like the little toy boats and battleship. I get up toward the top and…
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