I wasn't sure if this is the right place for my question, but I hope I can still get some information.
There is some building work being done on the building that my apartment is in, problems with the roof, but I am not happy with the way they are working on it while I am living there. There is a skip in front of the building and the roofing materials is just being thrown into it from above. There is no slide of any sort and the material ends up everywhere. This means I cannot be outside as it is very dangerous. I have a picture here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jondixon/3631400151/

I am very surprised at this as I would have thought switzerland would have strict regulations. In the UK a slide has to be used in situations like this.
I have contacted the agency who look after the building, and they were not helpful at all, just replied back that the work had to be done and that is that.
I'm sure this cannot be correct.

Any advice please, I don't want my house showered with debris from this.

Thanks for your help

Call the police! Everybody seems to do that here when they're pis$ed off with their neighbours.

Can you get in touch with the building firm directly? Perhaps their number is on the side of their skip or ask one of the workers.

There is some insurance to cover any incidents but if they are just chucking stuff off the roof into the skip willy nilly, it sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

There was a thread not so long ago about an EF member who had actually been hit by debris from building work but I can't find it right now. Perhaps there was some outcome there.

I was walking past a demolition site not far from Sihl City in Zurich not so long ago and got peppered by tiny shards of masonry dislodged by the wrecking machine even though the area was cordoned off (I was walking well away from the cordon). It wasn't serious but I figured if I was within range of little bits of building I could well be within range of big hurty bits of building so quickened my pace and got out of there.

Or you could take your photo into your commune (department travaux) and share your concerns with them.

Thanks for the quick replies, as I've just got home for lunch to find this, and the skip is now full, I'll hope that it's the last of the lobbing things off the roof, and that they tidy it all too. If they start going at it again, I will try to speak with the person in charge and mention to them that I will contact the commune unless they can come up with a solution. It really can't be that hard to have a chute going into the skip!
Still I'm surprised at how cowboyish it all seems.

the photo should appear now too! sorry for that

I made the same observation at several construction sites and at a show / demo put on by the local volunteer fire department.

In many cases, there seems to be a general disregard for common sense / safety procedures, and I am not talking about overzealous OSHA regulations here.

Have a quick wander through the Seefeld area, if you dare. The combination of big holes, even bigger earth moving machines, stacked up pipes and timber, and the trams and buses in full service whilst pedestrians are channelled off the tatters of a pavement onto the road would make your hair stand on end.

Certainly makes you have your wits about you! I think the onus of commonsense is on the pedestrian rather than the workers.

Well maybe it was a bit of an overreaction on my part initially, as it seems it's not going to be there for more than a day or 2. I guess I'll just avoid walking in the area and hope flying roofing doesn't break any windows!
Still have to say I'm quite surprised by the standards.

Thanks again for the comments.

I don't think that it was an over reaction on your part at all. This was inexcusable even if only a 10 minute job.

From what I have seen, Health & Safety in Switzerland appears to be less heavily regulated than in UK/EEC. There appears to be more acceptance of common sense. That was clearly lacking with your builders.

I am sure that 'cowboy builders' are around in every country. The construction sites that I have seen in Switzerland have generally impressed me compared to those in the UK.