Window Cleaning - Safety First

Window cleaning - safety first.

Window cleaning - safety first: Window cleaning has long been associated with working from height along with all the risks that this involves. But since the advent of water-fed poles, how safe is window cleaning today? And what products are there on the market that can further improve window cleaners’ safety? Ann Laffeaty finds out.

Concern for personal safety is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s society.  Over the past 30 years we have seen a growing trend for items such as infant car seats, personal protective clothing, bicycle helmets and rubberised surfaces for children’s playgrounds. Safety in cleaning has also come under the spotlight and stricter regulations have come into effect to reduce the number of accidents and injuries in the industry.

Window cleaning is one of the riskiest cleaning tasks of all.  It is frequently cited in online polls and on insurance websites as being one of the most dangerous jobs in the world alongside occupations such as logging, mining, fire-fighting and road-working.

The advent of water-fed poles has helped to reduce the number of operatives working from ladders which comes with an obvious risk of falling. But recent events would suggest that the dangers of window cleaning are still very real.

In November 2014, two window cleaners in New York had to be rescued after the cables securing their work basket malfunctioned. This left them dangling precariously at a near 75-degree angle on a platform near the 69th floor of One World Trade Centre. In a dramatic rescue hundreds of feet above the ground, fire department workers had to saw through the windows and haul the two to safety.

In March 2014 a stranded window cleaner in Toronto had to be rescued by firefighters after her hair became caught in a descending rope line. Earlier the same year a window cleaner in the UK sustained serious injuries after falling from a ladder through a conservatory roof.

And in a horrific accident in December 2013, a window cleaner plummeted 47 storeys from the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper. Miraculously the operative sustained only minor injuries after having clung to the scaffolding platform as it fell.

Scores of window cleaning accidents and even deaths are reported every year, usually as a result of falling from height. The EU Work at Height Regulations 2005 alleviated the problem to some extent by stipulating that if a window cleaning task could reasonably be carried out from the ground, that is how it should be done. But this of course is impractical when cleaning skyscrapers and other high-rise buildings.

And in any case, water-fed poles come with their own safety issues. Operators can incur injuries to their arms, wrists or backs when handling unwieldy poles for instance. In some cases, pole sections may fall to the ground and injure passers-by. And cleaning with water-fed poles can lead to a great deal of water spillage which could cause slips and trips on the part of the window cleaner or members of the public, particularly in icy conditions.

Modular systems

Unger is one of those companies to have embraced the challenge of increasing the safety of water-fed pole systems according to product marketing coordinator Axel Droste. “For many years window cleaners have had the choice of two types of pole system: telescopic or modular,” he said.

“However, telescopic poles can tend to flex as they are extended and this brings a subsequent loss of control. They also have some weight issues; for example, a six-section telescopic pole will always have six sections since none of these cannot be removed – so even if you only need to use four sections to clean to the height required, you will still be carrying the weight of six.

“Modular systems, although better at extending without losing rigidity, simply become too heavy when they are extended. And these extensions also add width to the poles which makes them more difficult to handle.”

His says this situation has presented manufacturers with a challenge. “How do you create a water-fed pole system that will clean at heights of up to 65 feet, but that will also be both lightweight and easy to control?” said Droste. “Along with engineering and design techniques it is crucial to use the right materials and combine the best features of telescopic and modular poles. And an increasing number of options are emerging to provide specific solutions.”

Stronger and rigid

According to Droste, water-fed pole materials such as carbon fibre, fibre glass and aluminium have all offered choice and flexibility to the window cleaning sector. “These have helped to create equipment to suit each situation and building type,” he said. “Carbon fibre in particular offers an amazing balance between strength, weight and rigidity. In comparison to steel it is both stronger and more rigid yet weighs considerably less.”

He adds that today’s new lighter poles make the cleaning operative’s job easier, safer and more comfortable while putting less of a strain on their bodies and enabling them to clean more swiftly and efficiently.“The fact that these systems are lighter in weight also means that the operative is less likely to become tired so quickly, which means they can clean a larger surface area than when using a conventional system,” he said.

“However just because the poles are more lightweight it doesn’t mean that they deliver less in terms of rigidity. Even when extensions are added to increase the length and reach of the system, the poles do not bend or become unwieldy. On the contrary rigidity, and therefore control, is maintained which allows every corner and crevice to be cleaned thoroughly”.

Unger offers the nLite modular system which is basically a telescopic pole that can be extended by another telescopic pole, says Droste. The base unit has four sections and an extended length of 6.63 metres while the extension has two sections at a length of 3.41 metres.

“Depending on the material used you can add up to four extensions to reach a height of 20 metres,” he said. “The individual components can be selected and put together to create a system to suit personal requirements. There are six grades of materials in the nLite range to suit various cleaning challenges and budgets.”

He adds that taller buildings need regular, thorough and effective cleaning to ensure that they present a professional face to customers. “But how do you deliver the high standards that are expected while also making the lives of operatives safer and easier?” he said. “Professional 

window cleaners have adapted to these challenges by embracing new methods and equipment.”

According to Moerman director Marc Roels the main health and safety risks for window cleaners include falls from ladders, wrist injuries and falling poles. “Working at Height legislation is moving the window cleaning industry into new directions and spearheading innovative developments,” he said. “It is important that we continually work towards safer practices since there is always 

room to improve.”

Moerman’s latest innovation in terms of safe window cleaning is the Liquidator. This system is said to allow operatives to clean right up to the edges of the window frame, leaving little or no water residue. This is claimed to significantly reduce the amount of time spent on prepping with a cloth.

No stretching

“With our Liquidator there is no real need for detailing,” said Roels. “This means operatives do not need to stretch out with a detailing cloth which can heighten the risks of falling.  The Liquidator also ‘floats’ over the glass which means that less effort is required during cleaning - and this in turn reduces the tension on operatives’ muscles and wrists.”

He says the future of window cleaning will greatly depend on the type of buildings being built. “Skyscrapers, for example, will always need to be cleaned from height but there will continue to be evolutions that allow the task to be carried out more safely,” said Roels.

Unger’s Droste agrees that the building industry will be key in determining the future of window cleaner safety. “Whether we are talking about the Shard in London, the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt or the Torre de Cristal in Madrid, the fashion for high-rise, hi-tech designs featuring plenty of glass and metal does not look like slowing down any time soon,” he said.

“The majority of our most iconic buildings seem to prove the theory that size matters – at least in terms of height. If high-rise buildings continue to be built, window cleaner safety will continue to be a challenge. “

Recent Scaffold Collapses

Two workers have died following a scaffolding collapse at a construction site in Toronto's west end.

2 dead after scaffolding collapse (Toronto): Two men have died after a scaffolding collapse at a construction site in Toronto’s west end, police say. It happened just after 11 a.m. in the Bloor Street West and Keele Street area. One of the men who died was 51-years-old, according to a colleague and friend on the scene. He had a granddaughter born last week. Paramedics said another man in his 30s was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital without vital signs, where he later died. A metal and wooden platform collapsed from about six storeys high, one worker at the scene said. It is believed a hydraulic lift may have failed, sending the platform to the ground. The Ministry of Labour has been called to the scene to investigate.

Scaffolding collapse in downtown Raleigh. It could take three to six months for Labor Department investigators to determine what caused the collapse.

A vigil was held Friday at noon at Shaw University's Thomas J. Boyd Chapel to remember the three men who lost their lives in a tragic scaffolding accident in Raleigh on Monday. The scaffolding collapsed shortly before 11 a.m. Monday at the construction site of the Charter Square project on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. Anderson Almeida and Jose Erasmo Hernandez of Durham died in the accident, as well as Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez of Clinton.

Two of the men killed in the accident worked for Concord-based Juba Aluminum Products, which specializes in building exteriors, curtainwalls, storefronts and aluminum panels. The company has not said what role it played in the Charter Square project other than that the men worked on its Jannawall team. According to a U.S. Department of Labor database, Juba Aluminum has been cited for four separate "serious" violations since 1988. The North Carolina Department of Labor said the third man who was killed Monday worked for KEA Contracting, Inc. Elmer Guevara, who was injured in the incident, was employed by Associated Scaffolding Equipment.

Rescuers clear the rubble of a scaffolding that collapsed in the central province of Ha Tinh on March 25, killing 13 and injuring 28.

13 confirmed dead, 28 injured in Vietnam scaffolding collapse as rescue mission ends: Authorities in the central province of Ha Tinh have confirmed that 13 people died and 28 others were injured in a scaffolding collapse on Wednesday, as rescuers finished clearing the massive rubble of the worst construction accident since 2007. In a report to the government, the province’s labor department said the accident at the construction site of a steel plant-port complex invested by Taiwanese-owned Formosa Plastics Group could be caused by some problem in a hydraulic system.

It is still unclear how and by whom the system was operated in the scaffolding, which was part of the construction of a breakwater to protect the port. The province’s authorities are working with government agencies to further investigate the cause of the collapse. Contractor Samsung C&T, a subsidiary of the South Korea's Samsung, in a statement issued on Thursday pledged to take responsibility for the accident, provide support to the victims, and assist authorities during the investigation. 

Early signs ignored: Around 50 workers were working on the scaffolding which was 25 meters high, 40 meters long and 35 meters wide, when it tumbled down on Wednesday night. Some survivors told local media that about 30 minutes before the collapse, the scaffolding shook strongly. Many of them ran away, but a few minutes later their foreign supervisor ordered them to come back to continue working. The most recent catastrophe at this scale took place on September 26, 2007, when two spans of a bridge which was being built in the Mekong Delta collapsed, killing 55 workers and injured 80 others.

Work on Can Tho Bridge, which connects Can Tho City and Vinh Long Province, was completed in 2010. Formosa launched work on the complex in Vung Ang Economic Zone in July 2008 with the initial investment of nearly $10 billion. As of December last year, the project has recruited around 40,000 laborers, nearly 5,700 of whom are Chinese. Early this month the government inspectorate found that managers at the Vung Ang Economic Zone went beyond their authority and broke quite a few rules when offering too many incentives to Formosa. Among the violations, according to the inspectorate, the Formosa complex was illegally licensed for a 70-year period, even though Vietnam's investment law states that a foreign-invested project must not last more than 50 years. 

Worker advocate calls for tougher scaffolding regulations.

Worker advocate calls for tougher scaffolding regulations: As a state and federal investigation continues into the collapse of scaffolding at a downtown Raleigh high-rise Monday that killed three construction workers, crews on Thursday removed the rest of the scaffolding from the side of the building. Jose Erasmo Hernandez, 41, Anderson Almeida, 33, both of Durham, and Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez, 33, of Clinton, died in the accident at the 11-story Charter Square project on Fayetteville Street. Elmer Guevara, 53, was seriously injured and remains hospitalized at WakeMed.

The accident involved equipment known as a mast climber scaffold, which moves up and down a building's facade to take workers to different floors. Mike Hampton, chief operating officer for general contractor Choate Construction Co., has said subcontractor Associated Scaffolding was in the process of dismantling the scaffold when one of the tracks snapped off and fell into a twisted heap on the ground below.

Veteran scaffold builder Tom Hallman said he was on a job site in West Virginia six years ago where a co-worker died. "It's not good. They shut the job down. It's like the area around here. You just kind of feel it in the air. It's sad, it's very sad," said Hallman, who is now an online advocate for more than 10,000 people in his industry. He says the danger lies with antiquated federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules that apply the same safety guidelines to all types of scaffolding equally. "I hate to say it, but most OSHA rules, they say in business, are written in blood, and here we go. There's need for a change," he said.

Hallman said mast climbers call for higher safety measures, such as "lifelines" that tether workers to a building and not just the platforms on which they stand. "When you're tearing them down, when you demo them, when you get to that certain point that you have lifelines dropped (from the platform), if something fails, you've got that fail-safe," he said. Authorities said it could take months to determine the cause of the accident and determine whether any workplace safety violations occurred.

How do I find out about employer responsibilities and worker rights? Workers have a right to a safe workplace. The law requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. The OSHA law also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for exercising their rights under the law (including the right to raise a health and safety concern or report an injury). For more information see www.whistleblowers.gov or worker rights.

Spiders, Scissors and Booms

Conversely, those with speciality plant could be actively seeking cross-hire as a route to market. It meaWith the UK construction downturn likely to run well into 2010, rental companies still face long, difficult months with plant and equipment idling in the yard. Predictions for the aerial work platform (AWP) market, however, offer some encouragement. While platform sales may be declining during the recession, rental uptake will hold firm and possibly increase. With the outlook still gloomy and investment on hold, companies are opting to rent rather than buy.
There’s other encouragement for UK hirers, too. According to figures just published in IPAF’s European Powered Access Rental Report 2008, the average fleet age in Europe for AWPs in 2008 was a relatively young 3.8 years. Of course, newer, state-of-the-art platforms make a more attractive rental proposition.
The crunch question for rental companies is, new or not so new, do you have the type of platforms that will sustain you through the downturn? Possibly not. During the construction boom, hirers have focused a substantial part of their investment on high volume, lower margin platforms - the booms and scissors which are the staple of the construction site. The lower volume, higher margin specialist platforms have been overlooked to a greater extent. But with use for the bread and butter platforms down, the more specialised machines – insulated booms, the new-generation narrow scissors, spiderlifts – are still doing well. And niche platforms are in demand in many more areas than their tag suggests. Construction itself is demanding more sophistication, hungry for platforms that give an edge in productivity, accessibility or versatility, particularly for fit-out when interiors need equipment with a more delicate touch. It could be a narrow chassis, low floor loadings, greater levelling ability or bigger outreach to machine weight ratio - features which get you to places other platforms can’t reach.
These capabilities are in demand in closely allied sectors that remain buoyant – building maintenance and refurbishment – and under-exploited markets for powered access, such as industry, infrastructure and utilities. There are also markets showing distinct growth, like facilities maintenance (FM). A legacy of the latest retail and commercial property boom, with its emphasis on statement architecture, is the access conundrums created by exposed structural steel, decorative glazing, high atriums, suspended walkways, galleried floors and so on.
Window cleaners, painters and decorators, electricians, H&V engineers, security installers, audio visual specialists, sign-writers, and many others serving the FM market are reliant on specialist platforms to overcome access issues. In addition, major developers and construction players are picking up FM contracts as part of the new era of PFI awards in health and education. With the work at height regulations filtering into working practices across all sectors, including the smaller trades, use of powered platforms for FM will only increase.
The current high cost of finance may make it difficult for hirers to diversify their plant offering to tap into these outlying sectors of business. But while they may not be able to revamp their fleet with the latest innovation, they do have the infrastructure and know-how to shift focus and pick up business in new sectors. They should be casting their net into new areas of business and exploring ways of matching solutions to customer needs, even if they don’t come from their own yard but are cross-hired from someone else’s. Rental companies could be developing new and more profitable revenue streams from cross-hired equipment, rather than cutting margins in chasing scant construction rental for their traditional fleet.
Conversely, those with speciality plant could be actively seeking cross-hire as a route to market. It means they haven’t had to do the legwork to get the business, and exposes machines to new customers to help increase awareness and drive demand universally. At IPAF’s recent summit in Dublin, speakers were urging rental companies to wake up to the emerging earning power of the specialist platform. Consolidation in the European AWP rental industry has seen the small-medium, more specialised rental companies swallowed up by the volume rental giants – squeezing the specialism out of AWP rental supply to some extent. So cross-hire may currently be the best way of tapping into the earning power of specialist machines as the recession continues to bite.
Andy Bray is managing director of The Spiderlift Company.

This building is being maintained by 1 crane type BMU which has a max outreach of 11 m. The machine runs on a set of anchored tracks. The system was designed and built by OTTE Aufzugsstechnik GmbH, Germany. It was installed and is routinely maintained by MACE BMU.
The building is located in city Al-Khobar on east coast of Saudi Arabia.

30 St Mary Axe, also known as the Gherkin and the Swiss Re Building, is a skyscraper in London's main financial district, the City of London, completed in December 2003 and opened on 28 April 2004. It is 180 metres (591 ft) tall, with 40 floors. Its construction symbolised the start of a new high-rise construction boom in London. The primary occupant of the building is Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company, who had the building commissioned as the head office for their UK operation. Maintained by MACE. More videos can be found at the MACE You-Tube channel.