Ex-SAS Window Cleaner in Canada

'Healthy fear' useful 27 storeys up - Highrise window washers can't afford to take safety for granted: When lightning is in the forecast, it's not a good idea to be in one of the highest places in the city, but for Michael Le Boubon (pictured), risks like that come with the job. There is no hiding from the elements hanging off the side of Commerce Place, 27 storeys in the air, washing windows for the day. "I'm excited, nervous. It's nerve-racking," he said as he stepped over the edge for his first "jump."

Le Boubon, 27, is a member of the Servpro Cleaning crew that spends its days climbing up ladders, balancing on swinging platforms and hanging off harness hooks while cleaning many of downtown Edmonton's windows, stopping only when the wind gets too strong and the lightning too close. "I've paid my dues," Le Boubon said about his three weeks working on the ground crew. A former roofer, heights aren't too much of a challenge for him, although he admits he's never gone off the side of a building this tall.

Before Le Boubon and his more experienced co-worker Brendan Jones went over the side, they spent about an hour setting up their harnesses and ropes, double-checking that everything was secure and then checking it all again. "(We) double up on everything and then there's no accidents," Le Boubon said.

That's exactly how the crew has been trained by their boss, John Collins. Collins, a former British Special Forces member, has been in the window-washing business off and on for 30 years. He's jumped all over the world, including several places in Alberta, Los Angeles and a 110-storey building in Las Vegas. "It's just a boring, everyday part of life," he said about hanging in the air, more than 90 metres above the ground.

When he started working with Servpro in February, Collins hired on a whole new crew so that he could handle every step of their training to ensure that employees were learning proper and safe technique, including how to wear harnesses, tie knots and do self-rescue, should their lines get tangled. "The more we set standards, the more these people will stay alive," he said.

And that's exactly what Shiane Runcie, 21, needs to hear. It's his first day on the job, and he's not feeling too confident. "No one even told me I was going to be this high in the air," he said with his back to the building, six metres away from the edge where La Boubon was checking equipment. Runcie, a running back with the Edmonton Wildcats, said he would rather get tackled than go over the side of a building. "I don't think I'll ever get over my fear of heights," he said. "Never, ever."

But his friend Kwabeno Neale, 28, knows from experience that those fears can disappear. "On my first day I was just like him," said Neale. "(But) my second day up here I was good. It's a healthy fear. It keeps you in check." If Runcie can get past his fear, he'll be trained by more experienced crew members, with Collins supervising. Collins said this reinforces the learning for everyone. "That gives me a bit of pride," he said of watching Jones, his first hire, lead Le Boubon over the edge. "But don't tell them that. They'll think I'm going soft on them."