Window Washing Raises Safety Concerns in USA

High-rise rescue in Boynton Beach: Boynton Beach Firefighters took part in a high-rise rescue Thursday afternoon. Two window washers fell from the top floor to the 8th floor at the Promenade Condo Building, 700 East Boynton Beach Boulevard. According to fire rescue, one window washer was pulled inside of a window, while the other needed to be rescued from a fire truck ladder. There were no serious injuries.

SALT LAKE CITY - A window washer harnessed on a downtown highrise building on 370 East South Temple lost control of his chair rigging and fell three stories. While he was lowering himself down, the rigging on his rope chair failed. The man was able to swing himself and break through a window to stop his fall. After crashing through the window, the man lowered himself to the ground. He suffered cuts to his head and is listed in critical condition. A woman near the broken glass received minor cuts from the flying glass.
Window washer crashes through window: A window washer suffered serious lacerations to his head when he broke through a third-floor window he was washing Thursday afternoon at 370 E. South Temple, said Salt Lake City police spokeswoman Lara Jones. Shards of glass also fell into the lobby of the building, where a woman suffered minor cuts. The washer managed to lower himself to the ground, Jones said. He was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive.

Ed Randol has washed windows for almost 36 years. Proper window-washing equipment won't come down, even if something goes wrong, said Randol, the owner of Clean Outlook. "You can't leave one thing unattended," he said. "Something got left unattended." News 8 put a window-washing device to the test with Randol on Thursday, in the wake of 21-year-old Tyler Cotter's accident. Cotter died at around 3 p.m. Wednesday after falling 45 feet from the Grand Rapids Art Museum. He was washing windows, working for Award Window Cleaning Services, Inc. Cotter, a Creston High graduate, had a girlfriend and a 1-month-old daughter. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or MIOSHA, is investigating whether Award Window Cleaning is at fault. You're not supposed to put a man on the side of a building without the proper safety equipment, Randol said. Visitation for Cotter will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday. Funeral services will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday. In addition, a memorial fund has been set up for Cotter's family.

His mother, Judy Cotter, remembered her son Thursday as "a good kid he was the best." Cotter said her son was scared every day he went to work "he did it for his girls." His girls were his five week old daughter, Peyton, and her mother, Samantha Goldner. Goldner held Peyton Thursday, and wondered aloud "I don't know what I'm going to do - I don't know how to tell her". Pictured: Tyler Cotter's 5 week old daughter Peyton. Please make checks out to Tyler Cotter Memorial Fund & send them to P.O. Box 3504 Grand Rapids MI 49501