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| Daredevils: Workers clean the windows of a skyscraper on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The salaries paid to window cleaners do not match their courage: Some claim they are paid as little as Rp 1 million (US$113) a month and are covered only by the state’s Jamsostek insurance program. |
Salary not as big as their guts: Being trapped in a gondola cleaning high-rise windows is scary for those working as window cleaners. Projecting fear onto other activities is the only way they are able to face the moment. “[When being trapped] I just chatted with my colleague so that we did not panic,” said window cleaner, Kosim, recalling an incident in 2009 when he was trapped in a gondola at about the 10th floor while cleaning a skyscraper in Kuningan business district, South Jakarta. The gondola was stuck up there for about an hour because a technical problem halted the lift system, triggering an automatic shutdown of the entire system. “I was very nervous, even after I contacted the building technical engineer through my walkie-talkie. Anything could happen in that situation,” he said.
The man, who had been working as a window cleaner for four years, said he was aware of the risks when he took the job. “As a teenager, I loved to climb, so I was excited to take the job. Of course the risks are there, but I still wanted to do it,” he said, adding that the scariest moments were when the wind was strong. With excessive pollution, many tall buildings in Jakarta count on brave people such as Kosim to maintain its luster. A window cleaner’s salary, however, is apparently not as great as his courage. Ahmad Yani, another window cleaner, said that he was paid Rp 1 million (US$113) a month and was protected by state workers’ insurance Jamsostek. “It is small compared to the risks. Many of my relatives pushed me to find a safer job with a better salary. Sometimes I think about finding another job just to find a new environment, but not because I worry about my safety,” he said.
“I enjoy the scenery from up above, plus the breeze sometimes makes me sleepy,” Ahmad added. Darwoto, a supervisor at a building maintenance company, PT Virya Surya Jana, said that a gondola worker should obtain an operational license, called an SIO (Surat Ijin Operasi). “It is like a drivers license. [Window cleaners] have to join a three-day training program before they receive their license,” he said. The license, issued by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and valid for five years, is given after the three-day training program, which includes instruction on knowledge of safety procedures and operating the gondola.
Safety procedures include wearing a helmet, full body harness and belt. This, however, does not guarantee one’s safety. A gondola with three workers inside broke away last Wednesday and fell upon the 29th floor of the Batavia Tower building in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, killing one worker. Maman Hermansyah, chairman of the association of experts on safety working at high-rise buildings (Asosiasi Ahli Keselamatan Kerja di Bangunan Tinggi ), said that Indonesia was the second after China with the highest rate of work accidents at tall buildings. “In 2006, five people fell and died while working at heights every day in Indonesia. In 2007, the figure rose to seven people every day,” he told the The Jakarta Post recently.
Maman, who is also the president of the Southeast Asia Climbing Federation, stressed the importance of regulating safety standards for working at height. “Currently, the safety law only mentions one method in working at height, using rope that is, while there are many other methods, including using gondola,” he said. Maman said that all workers working at heights, which include electricity engineers and window cleaners, should be trained and obtain a license. According to Maman the association had issued certificates for about 600 workers working after they had been trained by institutions affiliated with the association, mostly those who work in the telecommunications industry.
Professionals out to clean your spaces: Armed with the right equipment and expertise, housekeeping professionals are in demand this Diwali. From providing specific services such as floor cleaning, window cleaning, glass cleaning, carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, rug cleaning, appliances cleaning, chandelier cleaning and so on, the experts also offer deep cleaning that includes overall cleaning of the house.
Gambhir Mundinkeri, who has been running Clean Fix Housekeeping for the past nine years, said in the past two-three years, people have opened up to the concept of hiring professionals for housekeeping. “Earlier, we used to serve only corporate and individual offices during festivals but now 70 per cent of our clientele are households,” said Mundinkeri, who serves over 150 clients during the festive season. He added that more than bungalows, they get maximum number of orders from flat owners.
Mundinkeri has got a team of around 15 persons. They are further divided into three groups. Each team that works on one site includes four workers and one supervisor. To work on a house of 1,500 sq ft, it takes the team around 10 hours. The firm starts getting orders a month prior to Diwali. Executive vice president and company secretary of HDFC Bank, Sanjay Dongre finds the concept of hiring professional cleaners convenient and economical. “They are well-equipped and we don't have to worry about supplying cleaning material to them,” said Dongre.
For Samarth Services, the period of Dussehra and Diwali is the busiest of the year. On an average, the firm’s team finishes working on four-five houses in one day, which sometimes differs depending on the availability of manpower. “In the past three years, I have observed a lot of changes in this field. The outlook of people has changed tremendously and they are looking for professional services for each and every requirement. Thus I see a lot of growth potential for this market in the coming years,” said Santosh Vishwakarma, Samarth Services.
Spic N Span Services is a two-and-a-half year-old firm that specialises in residential cleaning. “On an average, we finish cleaning three apartments in a day. We work in three teams; each team comprises four persons, including a team leader. The concept of Diwali cleaning has undergone a change and people prefer getting it done through professionals than their maids,” said Mayur Shah, proprietor, Spic N Span.
Agreeing with Shah is Vishwakarma, who says that earlier the whole idea about cleaning was limited to using phenyl and acid. “Now they know there is a different chemical for different purposes and one cannot replace the other. We train our team members thoroughly on the mechanism, equipment and products to be used while cleaning glasses, carpets, toilets, sofas, floors and so on,” he added. The charges for professional Diwali cleaning depend on various factors such as area, type of cleaning, condition of the flat and so on. On an average, for deep cleaning of a 2BHK furnished flat spread over an area of around 1,000 sq ft, the cost will be between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 (around $50).
Gambhir Mundinkeri, who has been running Clean Fix Housekeeping for the past nine years, said in the past two-three years, people have opened up to the concept of hiring professionals for housekeeping. “Earlier, we used to serve only corporate and individual offices during festivals but now 70 per cent of our clientele are households,” said Mundinkeri, who serves over 150 clients during the festive season. He added that more than bungalows, they get maximum number of orders from flat owners.
Mundinkeri has got a team of around 15 persons. They are further divided into three groups. Each team that works on one site includes four workers and one supervisor. To work on a house of 1,500 sq ft, it takes the team around 10 hours. The firm starts getting orders a month prior to Diwali. Executive vice president and company secretary of HDFC Bank, Sanjay Dongre finds the concept of hiring professional cleaners convenient and economical. “They are well-equipped and we don't have to worry about supplying cleaning material to them,” said Dongre.
For Samarth Services, the period of Dussehra and Diwali is the busiest of the year. On an average, the firm’s team finishes working on four-five houses in one day, which sometimes differs depending on the availability of manpower. “In the past three years, I have observed a lot of changes in this field. The outlook of people has changed tremendously and they are looking for professional services for each and every requirement. Thus I see a lot of growth potential for this market in the coming years,” said Santosh Vishwakarma, Samarth Services.
Spic N Span Services is a two-and-a-half year-old firm that specialises in residential cleaning. “On an average, we finish cleaning three apartments in a day. We work in three teams; each team comprises four persons, including a team leader. The concept of Diwali cleaning has undergone a change and people prefer getting it done through professionals than their maids,” said Mayur Shah, proprietor, Spic N Span.
Agreeing with Shah is Vishwakarma, who says that earlier the whole idea about cleaning was limited to using phenyl and acid. “Now they know there is a different chemical for different purposes and one cannot replace the other. We train our team members thoroughly on the mechanism, equipment and products to be used while cleaning glasses, carpets, toilets, sofas, floors and so on,” he added. The charges for professional Diwali cleaning depend on various factors such as area, type of cleaning, condition of the flat and so on. On an average, for deep cleaning of a 2BHK furnished flat spread over an area of around 1,000 sq ft, the cost will be between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 (around $50).
After yesterdays blog: Shanghai Window Washers Killed In Accidental Fall, here are a couple of news stories that have appeared arising from the fatal falls..
'For work they risk their lives' - Oblivious to the heavy rain, a man in a leather jacket stood just beyond the police cordon, gazing intently. Before him lay the bodies of two window cleaners who fell to their deaths yesterday in Changning District. Occasionally, he spoke quietly to onlookers who were speculating about what had happened. "For their work they risked their lives," sighed the man, surnamed Zhao, who should know as he has worked in the same dangerous trade. Zhao, a passer-by, said he had been a high-rise window cleaner for six years but quit. "There are two things you need for that job; one is a license and the other is guts."
More than 1,000 window cleaners - a trade known as a SpiderMan - work on high-rises across the city, risking their lives on a daily basis, separated from death only by their securing ropes. And increasingly, they are threatened by a lack of supervision on equipment checks and poor safety awareness, warned a local exterior wall cleaning industry committee. An official, surnamed Wu, said many cleaning service companies don't check equipment regularly, meaning a SpiderMan may have to rely on aged or damaged ropes and tools.
For though the industry committee requires companies to check equipment, the absence of a supervising facility means regulations are often ignored, said Wu. "The life of a cleaner depends on the rope that holds him," said Wu, "But there are no laws forcing companies to ensure equipment is safe." Moreover, some workers do not even hold operation licenses, which need to be renewed annually after exams. Zhao said the job is usually taken by migrant workers who shift jobs frequently, some working for several companies at one time. "To save money, some companies only get one or two licenses but hire many workers," he explained.
To make matters worse, fierce competition among small cleaning companies is driving them to cut costs as much as possible, impacting on equipment checks and training, said Wu. And when accidents happen, some cleaners are not covered by insurance, as their employers haven't bought any, he added. Zhao, from Jiangsu Province, said in his time as a window cleaner he saw several injuries among colleagues who fell but were saved by safety locks.
And despite the dangers they face, high-rise window cleaners are poorly rewarded. "Often, I didn't know where my next meal was coming from," said Zhao, who said workers receive about 150 yuan to 200 yuan for a day's work. "However, sometimes we waited for one month between jobs." Zhao said many men from his hometown come to Shanghai to work in the trade. Taking a final look at the bodies, covered by white sheets, Zhao walked away from the crowd as the rain got heavier. "Too bad for them," he said as he left.
Two window cleaners in fatal fall linked to each other by safety harness? The two window cleaners who plunged to their deaths from the 22nd storey of the the Pacific Business Center on Yan'an Road yesterday could have been linked to each other by a safety harness. Zha Minjie of Shanghai Daily reports:
According to witnesses, one worker began to fall after his support rope snapped, taking with him a colleague he was linked to by a safety rope. "If it's true, then it was against all the rules, as workers should not be linked together," said a former window cleaner, surnamed Zhao, who worked in the business for six years.
Zhao said each two-man team should be equipped with three ropes, with both workers hooking onto the middle one by a device called a latching lock, in addition to having their own safety ropes. "The lock will hold the workers even if one rope breaks," said Zhao. "They would just hang in the air instead of crashing to the ground."
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