Impact 43: The Window Cleaning Training Consultancy

As promised more video from the Federation of window Cleaners show in Blackpool. Here is David Willis, the training manager for Impact43 training group, a working at height training consultancy.

Are you a window cleaner? If you are, you’ll probably agree with the following:

• There’s far more to window cleaning than most people realize
• It’s rated as one of the most dangerous ways of making a living
• It’s not just a ‘ladder and bucket’ job – it often involves using and understanding complex equipment

Sadly, few members of the public are aware of the fact that present-day window cleaning is a professional occupation – an occupation that merits respect. If you’re a window cleaner, you can help change that attitude by gaining an NVQ qualification. A qualification that is City and Guild recognised, that gives your customers and clients solid proof of your competency, and that gives you valuable training. Your NVQ will provide you with up to date, cutting-edge information covering all aspects of the window cleaning profession. It will be informative without being mind-numbing, and having gained your qualification you’ll be able to help employees and employers understand the legal implications of getting safety management wrong! The course is conducted during normal working hours, actually on your own customers’ sites – so there’s no disruption to your normal working day. And what’s more, it’s free! That’s right. It won’t cost you a penny.
In the current climate, when cost-cutting is a priority, the fact that you have a professional qualification will give your customers confidence, and ensure they stay with a reliable and professional window cleaner. So what are you waiting for? Why not be the first in your area to achieve an NVQ – and help enhance the reputation of your profession!

Find out more about Impact 43 training here & track employees & companies of the Clean Safe Partnership here.

One more reason to think about training......

PHILADELPHIA - A lift-platform operator has died after he fell 125 feet to a Philadelphia street. Three bystanders also suffered injuries in the collapse that happened at 21st and Walnut streets around 1:30 p.m. Monday. Slideshow: Images From Scene.
"It was like a boom and then it sounded like a lot of things just dropping and breaking. And then we heard a woman screaming," said Gayle Sproul, an attorney whose office is across the street. The 21-ton boom lift on a large truck was working on a church when it fell, hitting a building across the street on the way down. "I'm in disbelief. I couldn't believe it," said witness Bruce Hornung. "It hits the side of the building there, which in turn, the bricks hit the car, and then it just drops right on top of the sidewalk, five feet from the car." The platform fell to the ground with the 40-year-old operator, later identified as James Wilon, still in its basket. "He landed outside of that orange basket on top of that truck, between the arm of the mirror and the window, and he looked awful," Hornung said.
It appears one of the truck's tires fell into a compromised fiber-optic utility box beneath the sidewalk, causing the entire rig to tip. "The weight of the lift cracked the cover, and it shifted the lift. Once the lift shifted, it caused the boom, the entire arm, to also jerk and then to basically fall across the street because it's 120 feet long," L&I Commissioner Fran Burns said. Falling debris hurt three other people, including a woman who was standing on a sidewalk near the florist and two people inside the car that was struck by bricks and had its windshield shattered. All of the victims were rushed to Hahnemann University Hospital. The man died shortly after, while the other three were said to have minor injuries. "It's really lucky that it's Columbus Day because the traffic is really limited," Sproul said. "The angle of the way it came down it would have just flattened anything on the sidewalk."
Crews began attempting to remove the lift from the street around 6 p.m. The intersection was closed for the entire evening. The city's L&I department as well as inspectors from other agencies are investigating how the collapse happened. "We're most saddened, of course, by the loss of life," Mayor Michael Nutter said at the scene. "I'm really sorry to hear about this," said Neil Rawlerson, a co-worker of the man who died. "We rushed down here as soon as we heard about it." Rawlerson described Wilson as "a safety oriented guy, you know, always trying to be doing thtings the proper way and making sure all the safety procedures and what-not are followed, as far as I could tell."