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| Marty Tuzman on the roof of Mellon Bank Center with Comcast Center in the background. |
Dangling off a skyscraper: An expert's view on what happened at World Trade Center - As two window cleaners dangled from the 69th floor at 1 World Trade Center in New York last week, Marty Tuzman and his colleagues were watching the harrowing events unfold through the eyes of an expert.
Tuzman owns Jenkintown Building Services, which is the dominant window cleaning company in the Philadelphia area. His team has worked on most of the skyscrapers in Center City including Comcast Center, One and Two Liberty Place, Cira Centre and Centre Square as well as low-rise buildings throughout the suburbs and other commercial developments in the region.
The job of a highrise window cleaner involves risks but those risks are mitigated through a series of safety measures that helped to save the two workers in New York, such as a routine and oft repeated round of security checks.
Tuzman shared his thoughts on the New York episode, how accidents like that are handled and whether Philadelphia is prepared to execute its own rescue if a similar event would take place here. The Building Owners and Managers Association of Philadelphia and Tuzman engaged this past spring in a similar mock scenario as a training exercise. Those involved included fire, police and other emergency personnel, building engineers and managers, contractors and the mayor's office of communications. Those participating walked through every foreseeable aspect of a situation experienced last week in New York.
"It was enlightening," Tuzman said.
It wasn't long after the two New York window cleaners were lowered down the facade of 1 World Trade Center that something went wrong. The rig that was transporting them failed and it was hanging lopsided. At that point, it's important for the workers to stay level headed, Tuzman said.
Tuzman owns Jenkintown Building Services, which is the dominant window cleaning company in the Philadelphia area. His team has worked on most of the skyscrapers in Center City including Comcast Center, One and Two Liberty Place, Cira Centre and Centre Square as well as low-rise buildings throughout the suburbs and other commercial developments in the region.
The job of a highrise window cleaner involves risks but those risks are mitigated through a series of safety measures that helped to save the two workers in New York, such as a routine and oft repeated round of security checks.
Tuzman shared his thoughts on the New York episode, how accidents like that are handled and whether Philadelphia is prepared to execute its own rescue if a similar event would take place here. The Building Owners and Managers Association of Philadelphia and Tuzman engaged this past spring in a similar mock scenario as a training exercise. Those involved included fire, police and other emergency personnel, building engineers and managers, contractors and the mayor's office of communications. Those participating walked through every foreseeable aspect of a situation experienced last week in New York.
"It was enlightening," Tuzman said.
It wasn't long after the two New York window cleaners were lowered down the facade of 1 World Trade Center that something went wrong. The rig that was transporting them failed and it was hanging lopsided. At that point, it's important for the workers to stay level headed, Tuzman said.
"It's so hard under that pressure to remain calm and follow protocol and procedure but you have to," he said. "You have to make sure everyone is communicating properly...the building management, company management, fire and rescue."
While an event like this is unfolding high above, it's also imperative to ensure the streets and sidewalks below are completely barricaded so the public can be kept safe if "God forbid any further failure in equipment happens," Tuzman said.
Most rig equipment has technology that would allow the scaffolding and stage to level out in these situations, Tuzman said. An override would permit the window washers, who work in tandem to lower the rig, to reset and adjust the sophisticated, computerized equipment and balance a rig. Contact is made with the building engineer and even the manufacturer of the equipment to troubleshoot and resolve the situation if that override isn't working.
Equipment failure that couldn't be fixed appears to have caused the situation in New York. The head of Upgrade Service, the firm that employed the men working at 1 World Trade Center, told the New York Times the accident was apparently caused by "equipment failure of the traction hoist brake mechanism that supports one side of the rig."
The rig couldn't be balanced, and at that point a rescue initiated.
"Once you have exhausted those possibilities, then you go into rescue mode," he said.
All the while, there's constant contact with the men on rig, making sure they are calm and no other issues have cropped up to put them in further danger.
Different rescue approaches can be taken. In some cases, another rig can be lowered safely down from the roof and the workers can transfer onto it. However, many commercial building roof tops aren't designed to accommodate that. A flat roof can handle something like that but many peak and their angular design not conducive for such a rescue. Some towers have built in mechanical arms used for washing that can be tapped for a rescue but they are expensive and uncommon.
While an event like this is unfolding high above, it's also imperative to ensure the streets and sidewalks below are completely barricaded so the public can be kept safe if "God forbid any further failure in equipment happens," Tuzman said.
Most rig equipment has technology that would allow the scaffolding and stage to level out in these situations, Tuzman said. An override would permit the window washers, who work in tandem to lower the rig, to reset and adjust the sophisticated, computerized equipment and balance a rig. Contact is made with the building engineer and even the manufacturer of the equipment to troubleshoot and resolve the situation if that override isn't working.
Equipment failure that couldn't be fixed appears to have caused the situation in New York. The head of Upgrade Service, the firm that employed the men working at 1 World Trade Center, told the New York Times the accident was apparently caused by "equipment failure of the traction hoist brake mechanism that supports one side of the rig."
The rig couldn't be balanced, and at that point a rescue initiated.
"Once you have exhausted those possibilities, then you go into rescue mode," he said.
All the while, there's constant contact with the men on rig, making sure they are calm and no other issues have cropped up to put them in further danger.
Different rescue approaches can be taken. In some cases, another rig can be lowered safely down from the roof and the workers can transfer onto it. However, many commercial building roof tops aren't designed to accommodate that. A flat roof can handle something like that but many peak and their angular design not conducive for such a rescue. Some towers have built in mechanical arms used for washing that can be tapped for a rescue but they are expensive and uncommon.
When a roof-top rescue isn't an option, then slicing a window and pulling the workers in is the best way to save them, Tuzman said. That is what happened in New York. Rescue personnel cut out a large hole in a window closest to the two stranded workers and they were pulled safely into the building.
Tuzman said Jenkintown's workers have had some precarious moments while window washing high in the sky. "We have had equipment issues but not as severe as that," he said.
The safety of high-rise window cleaners is getting attention after the
frightening incident at One World Trade Center in New York City on
November 12. Two window washers were rescued nearly 70 stories above the
ground after the cable on their scaffolding gave way. Both workers
suffered hypothermia, but are otherwise okay. The situation could have
been much worse. WCVB TV Channel 5 did a report on the incident and spoke with Matt
Pierce, Owner of Pierce Property Services of Woburn, MA.
Tuzman said Jenkintown's workers have had some precarious moments while window washing high in the sky. "We have had equipment issues but not as severe as that," he said.
