Jury Returns Verdict: Accidental Death For Window Cleaner

Atherton window cleaner died from fall in Eccles: A window cleaner died when he accidentally fell while doing his job, an inquest jury has ruled. Daniel Lobb, aged 43, of Everest Road, Hag Fold, Atherton, died while cleaning a first floor window at a house in Eccles on January 23, Bolton Coroner’s Court heard. Sarah Taylor, HM Inspector of Health and Safety, told an inquest jury that Mr Lobb may have been stood on the ledge or flat roof rather than the ladder when he fell. Mrs Taylor said: “The window cleaner often wants to be as quick as possible and clean as many windows as possible. “The difficulty is engaging self-employed people and getting them to have health and safety training.”

Bolton coroner, Jennifer Leeming, added: “When you do something every day, I am not sure you appreciate the magnitude of the risk you take.” Mr Lobb fell approximately 20 feet from a terraced house in Broadman Street, Eccles, between 11.40am and noon. The owners of the property dialled 999 when Mr Lobb was discovered lying at the bottom of the ladder in the front garden. Mr Lobb died at Salford Royal Hospital at 9.17pm that day.

The ladder was still standing when the window cleaner was found on the concrete slabs beneath the window and one of the paving stones was broken. Mrs Taylor said: “What it seems, based on what we know, is that he stepped onto the ledge or even the window sill which might have been slippy, or the roof. “It is most likely that he slipped down which is why he was found face down rather than if he fell backwards.” Pauline Gibbons, owner of the property where he fell, said Mr Lobb “had the shakes” on the morning of his death. Pathologist Dr Desai told the court Mr Lobb had died of multiple injuries, including a ruptured spleen and damaged kidney. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. Previous blog here.

Cat Survives 19-Story Fall: Fortunate feline lives through dramatic high-rise accident. Sugar, the cat, survived a 19-story fall from a downtown Boston high rise, according to Jennifer Wooliscroft, spokeswoman for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. The little white cat's amazing adventure may sound like an urban legend, but she's not the first pet to demonstrate the dangers of leaving the windows open. In 2009, Lucky, then a 3-year-old Bengal tabby, fell from a 26th floor balcony in New York City. His drop was captured on video by a window-washing crew across the street from his Liberty Drive apartment. Lucky landed without a scratch and was later able to make an appearance on Good Morning America.

Sugar's owner, Brittany Kirk, is sharing her story to help prevent accidents by reminding pet owners to stay vigilant about open windows, especially with the warm weather here.

Pets fall out unscreened windows so "regularly," Dr. Alett Mekler said, "the veterinary profession has named the problem 'High Rise Syndrome.'" Serious head and pelvis injuries often are the result.

"When pets fall from high places, they don't land squarely on their feet," Mekler said. "Instead, they land with their feet splayed apart." With cats, falling shorter distances can be more dangerous than the long drops because the animal doesn't have time to adjust its body for the optimal landing. High rise syndrome is preventable, Mekler said, if people will install secure window screens and exercise care about leaving pets home alone. Dogs that are fearful about thunder or fireworks should be "treated for their anxiety and securely housed when left alone," Mekler said. If an animal does fall out a window, the owner must find it right away and rush it to a veterinarian. "Don't assume that the animal has not survived the fall," Mekler said.

"I was always very careful about my windows," Kirk said. But that morning of March 21, a house guest was staying in the apartment. The guest opened the window about five inches and did not notice when Sugar fell out. Kirk was at work when Sugar landed in the street behind the apartment building. The impact bruised Sugar's lungs, but she was otherwise uninjured, Wooliscroft said, probably because on the way down Sugar splayed her feet like a flying squirrel and slowed down her body's momentum.

Also a factor, Kirk said, when Sugar fell, a neighbor happened to be standing by her window and saw something white fluttering down. The woman suspected someone had tossed litter out the window, and she called the concierge to complain. The concierge went out to check, found the cat and called for help, Kirk said. "Sugar was on the ground with her arms all spread out," Kirk said, according to the concierge's description. She happened to land on a small square of mulch, Kirk said. The area was otherwise surrounded by concrete; and if the cat had missed the soft landing by a foot or so, the outcome might not have been so lucky, she said.

Sugar did run away when the concierge approached her, but she didn't go far. "Sugar ran into the front lobby and hid under a couch," Kirk said. That's where the Animal Rescue League people found her. The story could have ended very differently, if Sugar had been lost after her fall, Kirk said. "My cat is deaf, and she's never even been outside," Kirk said, and she could have been killed in traffic. Sugar came home a "little dazed" and had to stay on antibiotics for a few days, Kirk said, but she has since made a complete recovery. "She's back to her old mischievous ways," Kirk said, but with one exception. She's not allowed anywhere near a window. "I'm not taking any chances ever again," Kirk said.

Inquest In To Window Cleaner Ladder Fall Continues

Window cleaner fell to his death: A window cleaner fell to his death while cleaning a first floor window, an inquest heard yesterday. Daniel Scott Alfred Lobb, aged 43 of Atherton, died while working up a ladder at a house in Eccles on January 23, Bolton Coroner’s Court heard. Mr Lobb’s long-term partner, Julie Grime, told an inquest jury that Mr Lobb had “the shakes” on the morning of his death, but he still went to work on his own as usual. Mr Lobb was cleaning the windows at the terraced house belonging to Pauline and Derek Gibbons in Boardman Street when he fell.

Mrs Gibbons said: “I was concerned that he shouldn’t be climbing the ladders. I said I knew it was cold but they were not normal shakes.” Mrs Gibbons’ next door neighbour, Fiona Hughes, also said Mr Lobb looked pale and shaky. Mrs Hughes, a nurse, was in her home when she heard a “thud” between 11.45am and noon. When she looked out of her front window she saw Mr Lobb lying face down at the bottom of the ladder in her neighbour’s front garden. Mrs Hughes and Mrs Gibbon called 999 but Mr Lobb died in Salford Royal Hospital later that day.

The court heard that it was possible Mr Lobb had propped the aluminium ladder against the plastic guttering of the property and put his foot on the window ledge to reach the corner of the window. The ladder was still standing when the window cleaner was found on the concrete slabs beneath the window, and one of the paving stones was broken Pathologist Dr Desai ruled out the influence of alcohol or drugs as the cause of death and said Mr Lobb had suffered with a ruptured spleen and damaged kidney on his left side. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances. The inquest continues.

Window Cleaners Inquest, Far East Delegation & Permits Revoked

Window cleaner died accidentally, inquest hears: A window cleaner who fell from a bay window roof while on his weekly round died accidentally, a jury has ruled. Bill Wilson, from Hucknall, was found on a patio with head injuries after he fell from the roof at a house in Ilkeston in July last year. Derby and South Derbyshire Coroners' Court heard how a neighbour raised the alarm after hearing the 58-year-old calling for help. Paramedics took the father-of-four to the Queen's Medical Centre where he later died while undergoing surgery.
Giving evidence, Sharon Caulfield said she returned to her home, in Audley Close, from Nottingham at around 2.30pm on the day of the incident, in July last year. She said: "At about 4.15pm I went outside to fix a gate. Through my fence I can see into the back garden of my next door neighbours. "I heard someone crying out so ran next door. Mr Wilson was lying on the ground, he was shouting 'help me'. "He was lying on his side with his arms stretched out and his legs bent." Mrs Caulfield went to a neighbour's house to ask them to dial 999 and saw Mark Huckerby, a detective sergeant with West Midlands police who was visiting friends in Ilkeston. He told the court how at first he thought Mr Wilson might have been assaulted. He said: "Mr Wilson was lying between the garden of the house and the garden wall. "My initial concern was that he had obviously suffered a head trauma."
Mr Wilson, of Bolingey Way, Hucknall, was taken to the Queens Medical Centre where doctors tried to operate on him, but he died later the same day. A post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered multiple injuries from the fall. Mr Wilson lived with his wife Terry and had four children – Ben 22, Ruth, 28, Vikki, 34, and 36-year-old Amanda. He had been a fitter working on the surface at Linby Colliery. When the colliery closed in 1991, he decided to go into window cleaning
Speaking at his inquest, Mrs Wilson said on the day of the accident she was at home and noticed her husband was late home from work. She said: "I was looking at the clock saying he should be home by now. "I got a call and went to the Queen's Medical Centre but as far as I knew all he had done was banged his head. "When I got there they told me they were going to have to undertake emergency surgery."
Edward Walker, an inspector with the Health and Safety Executive told the court it had carried out a full investigation into Mr Wilson's death and discovered a tile clip that was bent on the roof of the bay window. He said: "It is most likely this happened during the course of this accident."
Speaking at the time her husband died, Mrs Wilson said his window cleaning round was mainly concentrated in the Shipley View estate and he also had rounds in Eastwood, Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield. She said: "Bill was a lovely man who never had a bad word to say about anyone. "He loved his family, his DIY and he loved going walking."

A Delegation from the Far East has paid a flying visit to see the site of the multi-million pound China Gateway business park where construction work is due to start next year. The top exec's were taken for a tour of the isle by helicopter, piloted by Ken Wills, boss of Commercial Group Properties, the company behind the English side of the deal to bring Chinese firms to Thanet. The group, who arrived in Manston on Friday, included Lu Yuexing – vice governor of Pudong, a district of Shanghai that is home to many of the firms which may open factories in the new development. On Friday it was revealed that one in 10 jobs there will be filled by Chinese management, with the rest by a local workforce. Mr Wills said 1,000 people would be employed on the business park and some 2,000 other jobs, such as window cleaners, gardeners, building contractors and sign writers, would spring from it indirectly. Mr Brathwaite said: “Thanet and the China Gateway project has a big profile in China and we’re very, very close now to getting this project off the ground. We’ve obviously suffered a lot from the financial downturn, but funding is secured and it should begin by the first quarter of 2010.” Phase one, agreed by Thanet council subject to legal formalities, includes 21 warehouses, covering 138,000 square metres.

Door-to-door sellers have licenses revoked by Urbandale: The permits for five people selling a cleaner for Xtreme Chemical Company of Plano, Texas, were pulled after the Urbandale Police Department received a half-dozen complaints in two days. Some residents also accused those with the company of being involved in a string of recent burglaries in the city, although police said there is no evidence to that effect. "Some of these individuals were washing a window and then showing (residents) how clean the glass is. They thought it was suspicious," said Urbandale Police Sgt. Dave Disney. "There is no connection to any burglaries. There's nothing solid linking them to anything other than possible rude behavior." Though no crime had been committed by individuals from the company, Disney said the permits were revoked due to the number of complaints the city received. He said such a move is unusual since the company had valid permits and no crime is believed to have occurred. Typically, he said the city receives complaints of solicitors who do not have valid permits with the city.

A police report, which has since been withdrawn, was filed with the Urbandale Police Department on June 2. The report described an incident in which an Xtreme Chemical Company employee allegedly cursed and used racial epithets when asked by an Urbandale man to leave his property in the 3600 block of 150th Street. Police said no charges will be filed, but the incident led to rumors and speculation that the peddlers were involved in the burglaries. There were seven burglaries in a 30-day period that ended June 1, which is no more than usual, police said. "Folks were concerned about their property and neighborhood and by word of mouth it snowballed into a story that exaggerated the actual number of reported burglaries in the city and reported some facts that are incorrect," Disney said. "Two things got linked that were not connected and created panic that was not due."
Xtreme Chemical Company supervisor Dave O'Leary - who had his permit revoked - said there have been a total of seven complaints from Urbandale residents made to the company in two weeks. O'Leary said he was unaware of the June 2 incident and that the company does everything "by the book." All five employees had to pass criminal background checks to get the permits from the city. "As far as being rude, cursing and using racial slurs, that's not how we teach our people," said O'Leary, who has been selling products door-to-door in Urbandale for the past 10 years. The company sells a nontoxic, biodegradable all-purpose cleaner. "My understanding from Urbandale is there have been some burglaries going on and that raises residents' level of concern, but we are not thieves or people out trying to scam people," O'Leary said. "We are trying to make a living ... To think we're involved in burglaries is ludicrous."