Window Cleaner Rescue Update - San Francisco

Two window washers dangled by their safety harnesses, above, before they were both rescued and hospitalized with minor to serious injuries. Raul Aguilar suffered cuts on the forehead and Benito Aguilar injured his arm and leg.

A defective steel support pole that gave way atop a Mission Bay condominium tower left two window washers dangling high above the ground Thursday, with only their safety harnesses keeping them from plunging to their deaths, authorities said. Raul Aguilar and his nephew, Benito Aguilar, were pulled to safety after their scaffolding outside the top floor of the 16-story Arterra condominium complex at 300 Berry St. collapsed about 8:30 a.m.

The scaffolding was suspended from two davits, steel arms attached to the building's roof. One of the davits gave way and plummeted to the courtyard below, leaving the scaffolding in a vertical position, said Mindy Talmadge, a Fire Department spokeswoman. The men are alive because they were wearing safety harnesses, which were attached both to the remaining davit and the scaffolding. One of the workers was pulled up to the roof and the other was pulled in through an open window on the 14th floor, Talmadge said. Both were treated at San Francisco General Hospital for unspecified injuries that were described as moderate to serious. No one on the ground was hurt when the davit fell.

Rick Dickerson, head of the building's management company, said the steel arm had collapsed when a weld gave way. Cal/OSHA is investigating the cause of the accident, and will look at both the company that employs the window washers and the building's management, agency spokeswoman Erika Monterroza said. Such investigations are usually completed within four months. The men have worked as window washers for 15 to 20 years, the last five at Capital Building Maintenance Group LLC, said company owner Eric Huber. He said the davits are part of the building and that it was the building management's responsibility to maintain them.

Dickerson, president of Maynard Rich Management, said the davits and other equipment had passed inspection within a month before window washing began on the building. Under Huber's ownership, Capital Building Maintenance Group has been cited once by Cal/OSHA, for a 2009 violation involving the way the company attached a boatswain chair, a device that allows workers to pull themselves up while sitting, to a building's safety lines. The fine totaled $200. Maynard Rich Management has not received any citations within the past seven years. Huber and Dickerson both said they believed this to be a freak accident. "It was a one-in-a-million-type situation when equipment like that would fail," Huber said. "These are big steel pieces. They should last for a long, long time." Huber, who visited the two men at the hospital, said both were doing well. "They're a bit shaken, but they wore their safety harnesses and ultimately that's what saved their lives," he said. "They have minor scrapes and bruises, but are in good spirits."

Window Cleaners: How Much Do They Earn? ​"Equipment Failure" Nearly Killed Two Window Washers - Despite Recent Inspection: In the pre-Internet days, randy young men fantasized about the joys of being a window cleaner -- where all you do is spy on nubile young women all the live long day. That and nearly fall to your death, as a pair of San Francisco window washers employed by Capital Building Maintenance did yesterday.

Just how much are window cleaners paid to undertake a vertigo-inducing job where minor mishaps can translate into a nightmarish death? Less than you'd think! Jason Trobaugh, the owner of Clear View Window Cleaning, says most non-union San Francisco window washers are earning $15 to $17 an hour. Eric Huber, the owner of Capital Building Maintenance, says his union employees take home more than $20 an hour. Huber called yesterday's incident at 300 Berry Street in SOMA an "equipment failure." The building-mounted arms that hold the washers' scaffold and lower it are called "davits," and the left davit's weld to the structure apparently failed yesterday. The davit crashed 17 stories to the courtyard below; secured by only one rope, the washers' scaffold went vertical. Had they not been wearing safety harnesses, they would have fallen along with the davit.

Prior to the washers taking the weeks-long job, a third party -- hired by building management -- was required to inspect the facilities and present the window washing company with a certificate, Huber says. "I am sure that inspector will be in hot water," he continues. SF Weekly's calls to McGuire Real Estate, which owns the building in question, have not yet been returned. Veteran window washers Raul Aguilar and his nephew, Benito Aguilar, were hospitalized. Huber visited them and predicted both would be up and about within days.

Surely there must be some sort of state certification involved before one dangles off a highrise, saved only by his safety harness -- right? Actually, no. Unlike, say, a truck driver, window cleaners are not regulated by the state. "You need to be trained by an experienced and competent window cleaner -- a very detail-oriented person," says Trobaugh. You need to follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and American National Standards Institute requirements. But you don't need to take a course with an OSHA or ANSI instructor.

Union washers, meanwhile, typically serve as apprentices for nine months before becoming journeymen.  In his 18 years rappelling down buildings, Trobaugh can't recall any fellow cleaners dying on the job here in San Francisco. The statistics back him up: "building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations" die at a rate of 5.8 for every 100,000 workers. This is a fairly low fatal injury rate for a job with such an obvious safety element. Finally, in his time dangling off skyscrapers, Troubaugh hasn't seen any naked ladies, either. "No, no, no," he says with a laugh. "My guys have seen a couple of naked guys, though. Just sipping coffee, standing there, butt naked."