Window Cleaning & Other Dangerous Jobs - Managing Risk

People employed by Heart of America Window Cleaning of Kansas City, enjoy beautiful views at work but have to pay close attention to weather conditions.

Danger? These people don’t mind it at work: In the information age, the greatest risk for many employees could be a paper cut. But other workers routinely face raging fires or deadly snakes, or risk crashing to Earth at great speed or from great heights. And they love it.

The Top 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Jobs: 
1. Fishermen
2. Loggers
3. Pilots and flight engineers
4. Farmers and ranchers
5. Roofers
6. Iron and steel workers
7. Trash and recycling workers
8. Industrial machinery workers
9. Drivers
10. Construction workers
(Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010)

Bird’s-eye view:

It’s hard for pedestrians and office workers to take their eyes off a window washer on the side of a tall building. But it’s all in a day’s work for Greg Crainshaw, director of customer relations for Heart of America Window Cleaning in Kansas City, Kansas. “People like to watch you do your job,” he said. “It really is a great view up there.” Crainshaw’s grandfather started the business more than 60 years ago. The company cleans windows on buildings as tall as 40 stories. “It can be dangerous when dealing with the weather,” he said. “You must keep a close eye on the weather all day. The wind once pulled one guy off a building and around the side of it.”

There are other risks as well. “There are times when things fall out of the bucket,” Crainshaw said. “A worker once had someone cut their ropes at the bottom. But we have never had an accident from faulty rigging. Mistakes come when you get in a hurry. I have seen quite a few accidents over the years from workers getting too comfortable in their jobs.” Crainshaw’s responsibility is to set up crews and make sure they are working safely.

“All of our crew are OSHA-certified and have ongoing safety training,” he said. “They are attached not only to the main line but also a safety line and rigging system that ties back to another tie-off point. They always are connected by at least three points.” Heart of America doesn’t charge a premium for taller buildings unless extra setup time is required. “After about five or six stories, the danger is about the same,” Crainshaw said. And when the weather is as clear as a newly washed window, the view can be spectacular. “I love being outdoors,” he said. “You see things most people don’t get the chance to see.”

Serpentine fascination:

People who think they have difficult co-workers or clients need to visit the offices of Midwest Tongs in Greenwood. Owner Dana Savorelli has a collection of more than 20 deadly snakes, including cobras; three Taipans, considered the world’s deadliest; and a black mamba, whose bite was 100 percent fatal before antivenom was developed. “My secretary occasionally will clean the cages and say, ‘A cobra is coming across your desk,’ ” he said. “I get out the tongs and put it back. They aren’t interested in coming after us if we don’t bother them.” Midwest Tongs is the world’s largest manufacturer of snake-handling tongs, which are sold to individuals and zoos as far away as Australia and Saudi Arabia.

The idea for the company came about from a lifelong fascination with snakes. “When I was a kid, I had a number of learning disabilities,” Savorelli said. “The teacher told my mom I wouldn’t read anything except snake books. I must have read some of them 20 or 30 times.” He began collecting snakes, eventually adding copperheads and rattlesnakes. He sold several to other collectors in the area, including future serial killer Bob Berdella. “He used to pick me up and take me to the house where he killed those people,” Savorelli said. “He was really into snakes, and I never had a problem with him.”

Savorelli went on to work several dangerous jobs, including skydiving instructor, international bounty hunter and experimental airplane pilot. “As soon as we are born, death starts heading our way,” Savorelli said. “It’s all about managing risk.” In the 1980s he began to brainstorm safer ways to handle venomous snakes, which led to the formation of Midwest Tongs. Throughout his long career he never has been bitten by a venomous snake. “It’s not dangerous if you use the proper tools, commonsense and the right protocols,” he said. “My life and risk management go hand in hand.”

Where there’s smoke..:

The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, gave many Americans a new respect for firefighters. Members of the New York Fire Department ran into the Twin Towers as others fled, and many never came back out. “It’s a very dangerous profession, although we’re working extensively to lessen the number of firefighter deaths and injuries each year,” said Kansas City Fire Chief Smokey Dyer. Dyer has been battling local blazes since 1965, except for three years in the state fire marshal’s office. He has seen many colleagues lose their lives in that time. “There is no one component that makes it so dangerous,” he said. “It really is the overall nature of the occupation. “Where we have made the greatest strides in safety is protecting against smoke and poisonous gases. When you go into a building, there always is the potential for a burning mass to become dislodged.”

The leading cause of death on the job is not burns or smoke inhalation but cardiac arrest. “A firefighter may be sitting at a desk doing paperwork when the bell rings,” Dyer said. “That person must go from being at full rest to being on an apparatus with sirens and air horns in less than one minute. That type of activity is very stressful on the cardiac system.” The profession has made significant strides in improving equipment and training. “We now have better protection of our personnel, an increase in fixed fire protection in buildings, better training methods, better procedures to follow and a cultural shift to worry more about our own lives,” he said. “The amount of risk management on every incident is helping make the job safer.”

However, those gains have been offset by the changing nature of the profession. “Most fire departments have become full-service response organizations and do more than just fighting structural fires,” he said. “They must respond to emergency medical situations and sometimes criminal situations. There is always a risk of being struck by a vehicle when responding to an accident on a highway. “As the years have gone on and we have taken on additional missions, the number of responses has increased tremendously. The number of deaths and incidents has not decreased, but they may have if we had stayed with putting out fires.” Despite the inherent risks, however, Dyer still loves being a firefighter. “There are numerous rewards, but the ability to serve the public and make a difference … is one of the biggest,” he said. “One thing about our profession is that you can see the results immediately.”

Playing with fire:

Rod Sipe of Independence has never required the services of a fire department. That’s saying a lot, because he earns his living eating fire under the stage name Dr. Dumpe. “When I was a kid, my folks sold concessions at fairs in the summertime,” he said. “That was a time when there were still sideshows, and I was heavily influenced by them. I wasn’t into comics or cartoons, but the sideshow performers were my heroes. I would rather see them than ride the rides.” Sipe started off as a magician and learned by observing. “Magicians are very tight-lipped, because it’s their bread and butter,” he said. “I learned by hanging out. The most important thing I learned was that making proper equipment is essential, and by hook and crook I learned that.” He finally worked up the nerve to swallow his first flame. “If you eat one torch, you’re a fire eater,” he said. “You may have a short career, but you’re a fire eater.”

Sipe has performed at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival for 35 years, as well as other fairs and shows across the nation. He learned early that no sleight of hand can remove the risk. “It’s very dangerous,” he said. “I like to say sometimes that being a fire eater is like being a NASCAR driver. You know you will hit the wall — it’s just a matter of when and how hard. But you have to show confidence and not look scared.” Sipe has had many minor burns, but his biggest injury occurred at Mardi Gras in New Orleans a quarter century ago. “I was hired to go from hotel to hotel performing,” he said. “My contract didn’t allow gratuities, but people did give me drinks. I had about four drinks over a four-hour period, which was enough to throw off my timing. I spilled lighter fluid on my hand and got badly burned.” But the show must go on. “I have a real love for old-school sideshow performances,” he said. “As I tell kids at my shows, don’t try this at home — go over to Grandma’s house.”

Flying slow and low:

Although working only five to 10 feet off the ground, Sam Styron also faces risk continually. “I’ve walked away from three airplane crashes,’ said Styron, owner of 1 Low Flyer, an aerial application service in Harrisonville. Aerial application, formerly referred to as crop dusting, historically has been a high-risk profession, he said. “Our national organization tracks fatalities, and now there are about 10 a year across the country,” he said. “I’ve clipped power lines and trees, and I’ve taken the top wire off fences. It’s dangerous.” Styron started his business in 1992 to combine his love of flying and engineering. He flies a 750-horsepower Air Tractor 402 from the airport in Harrisonville. Because spray drift has become a major concern, he flies only when the wind speed is less than 10 mph.

Technology has posed new threats in the field. “The biggest hazards anymore are cellphone towers or meteorological towers less than 200 feet tall, which are not required to be lighted or marked,” he said. “This means there are 2-inch-diameter galvanized poles that are 198 feet tall that you can’t see. Someone already has been killed by one this year.” That’s why he circles fields once or twice before spraying to look for hidden obstacles. He also must focus on the job at hand. “You have to be cognizant of the surroundings and keep your mind clear,” he said. “Keep you mind on what you are doing.” Even with the risks, however, flying slow and low can be exhilarating. “This type of flying is like no other,” he said. “There is nothing like flying 150 miles per hour at 10 feet, pulling up at the end and then doing it again.”

Jumping to conclusions:

Chris Hall flies much higher on his job as drop zone operator for Skydive Kansas City, of Butler, Mo. His risk comes not so much from flying high as from then jumping out of the airplane. “In 2010 there were 21 skydiving fatalities in the United States,” he said. “This is out of 5 million jumps made, so the statistics are pretty good. The equipment is much more user-friendly and reliable than it used to be, and the industry has made incredible advances to maintain that track record.” Hall’s father began skydiving after returning from the Vietnam War in 1973, and he got hooked as soon as he made his first jump at age 18. He started his business in 1998 to teach both novices and advanced jumpers. Safety is a major emphasis. “There is an old theory that people fall to their deaths, but things are different today,” he said. “Out of those 21 fatalities last year, 16 people jumped out of the plane with perfectly operating chutes and then made a mistake. There was only one equipment failure last year. Fatalities almost always are caused by operator error.”

Tandem jumps with the instructor are even safer. “There were 2.5 million tandem jumps last year, with zero fatalities,” Hall said. Hall has witnessed a bit of everything in his years around the sport. “I have seen the worst, from fatal accidents to major accidents that required victims to be helicoptered out. You will see it all if you are around the sport long enough.” Nevertheless, he says that statistically skydiving is far safer than driving to the airport. “Skydiving is such an amazing thing for me,” he said. “Falling through two miles of space, a peaceful feeling that is hard to describe. I have made more than 5,000 jumps, and it always feels new.”