The Small Business Route Out Of Poverty

Raheim Watson grew up in Harlem, New York, surrounded by drugs and violence but decided he wanted a different life when his son was born. He moved to Richmond in 2014, where he has purchased a home, the first one in his family to do so, and, with help from UnBoundRVA, started his own business. His window-washing business is focused on the residential and small-commercial market.

The Small Business Route out of Poverty (by James A. Bacon) - UnBoundRVA is my kind of anti-poverty initiative! The organization identifies people in low-income neighborhoods who have the potential to succeed as small business owners, and then provides them a year of training, advice and networking support as they develop a business plan.

Once the business models are in place, each hopeful business owner makes a pitch for startup capital from a collective pool of $100,000 in low-interest loans. UnBoundRVA then connects the businesses with partners who provide pro bono services in areas such as legal, accounting, marketing and banking.

UnBoundRVA made it into the news recently when the Richmond Times-Dispatch highlighted a $20,000 donation to the group by Pat Hull, the entrepreneur behind logistics apps Getloaded.com and Scoopmonkey.com. “Your dream may not be the next Google. But who cares, if you are supporting your family and creating jobs?”

The not-for-profit enterprise was founded by Sarah Mullens and Richard Luck, who met while teaching in the inner city as part of the Teach for America program. They saw a large number of talented individuals who weren’t pursuing a college track for reasons that had nothing to do with ability or work ethic. “We believe that potential is restricted by the forces of the poverty cycle, and that the human capital of these individuals is our nation’s greatest underutilized asset,” states the UnBoundRVA website.

High-potential individuals in the current class, which will finish in June, are pursuing businesses in the following areas: clean-up services for construction projects, a mobile auto detailing service, a professional house organizing and redesign service, vegan cookies, and a mobile virtual reality gaming experience.

Bacon’s bottom line: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for his life. In contrast to so many leftist-inspired “social justice” programs that don’t even feed a man for a day — they teach him to march and protest until someone gives him a fish. UnBoundRVA teaches people to fish. It may not provide a systemic cure for poverty, a goal that has eluded this nation despite the expenditure of trillions of dollars in public and philanthropic anti-poverty programs over the years, but it can make a tremendous difference to the people whose lives it touches.

If you want to address the “root causes” of poverty, you have to change the lives of people one individual at a time. UnBoundRVA does that.

That said, it’s not clear from the website if UnBoundRVA is a cost-effective way to address poverty. The program has an annual budget of $268,000, supporting a staff of four full-time employees and one part-time. How many people does it help with that annual investment? According to the website, UnBoundRVA collects the names of individuals interested in starting their own business, enrolls twelve candidates in a six-week workshop and selects the five most promising for a one-year program of business support. The website does not say how many times it runs through this cycle each year. If only once, not so good. If eight or nine times, helping 40 or more people, that’s more defensible. One thing I do believe: It’s a model worth trying.

About Raheim: I was born in Harlem, New York and raised by my hardworking mother and stepfather. The neighborhood I lived in was filled with drugs and violence, so I figured that was the thing to do. In 2008 when I had my son, I knew I had to rearrange my life. I didn’t want my son to grow up in a neighborhood like the one I did. I wanted to show him that anything is possible, that he can do anything he sets his mind to and that the world is filled with beautiful, great people. So I set two goals: own a home and start my own small business. I moved to Richmond and in 2014 I became the first person in my entire family to close on a home. I then reached my second goal, my own business: Watson’s Windows & Exteriors.

Raheim’s Business: Watson’s Windows & Exteriors is a window washing and power washing business. Watson’s Windows & Exteriors looks to build its competitive advantage by introducing a new technology to the small commercial and residential window-washing sector. Mr. Watson plans to use a system that purifies water that is then sent up a telescopic pole allowing him to clean up to three stories from the ground. This system does not require chemicals or ladders making it the greener, cleaner and safer alternative to conventional window washing. This technology is being used with larger commercial projects, but has not taken off yet in the small commercial and residential sectors. Watson’s Windows & Exteriors will change that.

UK To Get Smaller Windows & Less Ladder Regulation

Those for the chop include rules on windows that have a ‘dirty window factor’ imposed.

PM's attack on red tape to help house-builders: Coalition to make it easier for homes with smaller windows and rooms to be built

• Red tape to be cut as government seeks to build 100,000 new homes
• Coalition is set to abolish 3,000 separate regulations, with 800 already axed
• Regulations for bigger windows and larger room sizes to be scrapped also

David Cameron will today signal plans to slash building regulations in order to make it easier to build new homes with smaller rooms and windows. The Prime Minister will spell out how the volumes of red tape affecting housebuilders will be cut from 100 to ten as the Government seeks to build 100,000 new homes a year. But that means regulations imposed by some councils insisting on bigger windows and larger minimum room sizes will also be scrapped.

Mr Cameron will use a speech to the Federation of Small Businesses to reveal that the Coalition will be the first government in modern history to leave office with fewer domestic regulations than when it entered – saving businesses more than £850million a year. In total, the coalition is set to abolish 3,000 separate regulations by the time of the election next year, with 800 already axed.

Mr Cameron will say: ‘Supporting business is a crucial part of our long-term economic plan, creating jobs and security for all. 'That is why I have insisted on slashing needless regulation. We will also help house builders by cutting down 100 overlapping and confusing standards applied to new homes to less than ten.’

Minimum standards spelt out in building regulations, which deal with safety, energy efficiency and the minimum legal size of rooms, will remain in force. But the Department for Communities and Local Government is to tear up a long list of unofficial regulations drawn up by individual councils. Some will be standardised and others abolished altogether.

Those for the chop include rules on windows that have a ‘dirty window factor’ imposed – bigger sizes to allow for dirt to accumulate rather than assuming people will have the common sense to clean them to let more light in. It also includes rules requiring rainwater harvesting in places that do not suffer from water shortages, demands for solar and wind energy sources that cannot physically fit on to the roofs of apartment buildings, and stipulations for multiple phone lines in home offices.

But critics of the Government’s attempts to liberalise the planning regime are likely to view the move as another move towards a planning free-for-all. Figures from the Royal Institution Of Chartered Surveyors show the average British home has shrunk by 40 per cent in 80 years.

In his speech, Mr Cameron will also detail how the Government is taking an axe to health and safety rules. He will say: ‘We will scrap overzealous rules which dictate how to use a ladder at work or what no-smoking signs must look like. ‘We’ve changed the law so that businesses are no longer automatically liable for an accident that isn’t their fault.

‘Employees used to be able to sue their employer if they were insulted by a customer. We’ve changed the Equality Act to stop that. Shopkeepers used to need a poison licence to sell oven cleaner – we’re scrapping that. ‘And as of earlier this month we have scrapped the ridiculous rule that childminders who give food to children have to register as a food business as well as a childminder.’

And he will point out that by March 2015 the Department for Environment will have slashed 80,000 pages of environmental guidance, saving businesses around £100million per year.  Mike Cherry, national policy chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘The current situation is too complex for most to understand.’

Prime Minister David Cameron, chats with workers during a visit to a small building site in Buckshaw Village in Chorley, Lancashire. He will promise to scrap “needless” health and safety regulations dictating how to use ladders.

Mr Cameron will tell the Federation of Small Business that his will be the first Government in modern history to leave office with fewer regulations than when it entered, saving firms £850m a year. He will promise to scrap “needless” health and safety regulations dictating how to use ladders and what non-smoking signs should look like. The forthcoming Deregulation Bill will make one million self-employed people exempt from health and safety altogether. the Prime Minister will say. “This will make it easier for you to grow, to create jobs and to help give this country the long-term security we are working towards. More than 1.3m new jobs have been created since I came to office – many of them by small businesses. And I know many of you want to grow further – or may be thinking of employing your first person - but have been put off or held back by red tape.” He will also announce 80,000 pages of so-called “green tape” environmental regulations will be ditched by March 2015, saving firms £100m a year.

Labour Ministry Victimised Window Cleaner

David Lazowski says the Ministry of Labour is flexing its muscles and treating him like a criminal after he initially refused to pay an ex-employee $200 in what the ministry determined was outstanding vacation pay.

Labour ministry puts squeeze on small business wronged by fired worker: Small-business man David Lazowski says the Ontario Labour Ministry continues to make him feel like “a criminal” in a case that involves a former employee who, without permission, took a company truck home on a July 2011 weekend and collided with another car in an LCBO parking lot the next day. The trouble with the ministry started after Pierre Charron, who was fired over the truck incident, filed a claim for $1565.29 in unpaid wages and vacation. The ministry determined that he was only owed $191. Lazowski says his accountant’s records show he doesn’t owe Charron anything. In fact, says Lazowski, the records show Charron actually received more money than he deserved when he was fired, and he received five paid vacation days during his 10 weeks as an employee.

Charron, who could not be reached for comment, tried to cover up his role in the crash by switching licence plates with another truck belonging to Window Butler, Lazowski’s window-washing firm. Lazowski says police determined the switch after they matched the trucks’ vehicle identification numbers to the plates. Police also had video evidence from LCBO cameras. Charron was charged and convicted of failing to remain at the scene of an accident and sentenced to 45 days in jail. What has Lazowski fuming is the ministry’s recent decision to audit the company’s payroll books, under the Employment Standards Act, to determine whether Lazowski’s 10 employees are being compensated according to their contracts.

Though Lazowski begrudgingly paid the $191, plus a $100 administration fee, after the payroll audit began this month, he can’t believe the ministry is flexing it muscles with a small businessman who has done nothing wrong. He says he is proud of his company and the way he treats the employees. He says he gives them eight to 12 weeks of paid vacation time in the winter so they don’t have to rely on employment insurance when they can’t work due to the weather. Lazowski says he suspects the ministry is auditing his payroll as punishment for disputing the vacation pay issue. But labour ministry spokesman Matt Blajer says such audits are automatically triggered if an investigation into a claim determines money is owed. That seems a bit harsh as the ministry determined that Window Butler only owed a small fraction of what Charron claimed.

Charron, dismissed on Aug. 6, 2011, complained to Window Butler last September that the company still owed him the unpaid wages and vacation. The company’s accountant determined it didn’t. So Charron filed a complaint with the labour ministry, claiming Window Butler owed him $1,289.60 in wages and another $275.69 in vacation pay. Lazowski had the paperwork to prove the wages claim was baloney. But documents for the vacation money were not conclusive, leading the ministry to decide last June that Lazowski owed the $191. He says there was never any mention of an audit until he was advised by the ministry in a letter dated Aug. 29.

Lazowski says ministry investigator Gaye Cotter clearly implied at their first meeting on Sept. 11 that the lingering dispute over the money prompted the ministry to launch the probe. He says when he told her it was unfair of the government to be going after him considering what Charron had done, she responded: “‘We don’t care about what’s fair.’” He says she explained the ministry wants closure when decisions are made so that staff can move on to other matters. Lazowski says he responded: “The woman working on my case made it sound like the next person up the line (in the ministry) had big teeth and breathed fire.” To which, says Lazowski, Cotter replied: “‘That’s her job, to make sure there is no escalation.’”

He says when he told her the ministry “made me feel as though I’d rather not be in business, she slammed her metal clipboard on the table, yelling: “‘That’s enough.’” He complained about Cotter’s behaviour to Sandra Lawson, the ministry’s Ottawa director. Lawson confirmed the ministry was looking into the complaint, and on Sept. 14, when the audit resumed, John Hutton, a district manager, accompanied Cotter. Hutton was conciliatory, says Lazowski, but he did not apologize for his colleague’s behaviour on Sept. 11. Cotter did not return my phone call.

Lazowski promised to send the money but then reneged, because, he says, Charron had taken advantage of him by taking the truck without permission and then not owning up. Here was the bad guy, who ended up in jail, says Lazowski, and then turned to the government to see if he could squeeze more out of him. Lazowski says he was warned he would face additional penalties if he didn’t pay up. He could have appealed, but would still have had to give the vacation money to the ministry, which would have been held in trust.

Though Lazowski says Charron “worked well through the first 10 days of his employment” and even received some bonus money, his performance “slipped rapidly from there.” Lazowski says his dealings with the ministry had him peeved from the start. When he was notified last March about Charron’s claims, he says he was given three choices: Pay the entire claim, try to get Charron to agree to a lesser amount, or dispute it. It was the latter option that upset him most. The ministry’s letter said if he was going to dispute the claim, he had to “provide compelling evidence” that Charron was wrong. Charron, meanwhile, only had to say on his claim what he believed he was owed. Says Lazowski: “As an employer, you are assumed to be the criminal unless you can prove otherwise.”

Paypal Target Small Businesses With Card Reader

PayPal launches "Here" smartphone card reader: The profusion of apps for smartphones certainly seems to know no bounds, and while NFC based payment seems set to become the dominant form of cashless transaction, smartphone peripherals that allow users to swipe credit and debit cards still have a role to play. The most notable of these devices is Jack Dorsey's Square system and now, online payment giant Paypal has flexed its appreciable muscle and entered the fray with its new, triangular "Here" card reader, due initially for a limited release.

 

Paypal, which made a name for itself by pioneering the secure cashless transfer of money over the Web, wants to expand by bringing its simple, efficient system to real world, face-to-face payments, as well. To help pull it off, they approached San Francisco design house, fuseproject, and the result is a system that will, literally, give Square a run for the money. Like its four-sided competitor, Here will also be free, but each transaction will incur a 2.7% transaction fee. iOS 4.0 iPhone and (eventually) Google Android owners in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Hong Kong will get first crack at it, with other regions to follow thereafter.

 

When attached to the top of a smartphone's audio jack port, the front of the two-layer arrow-shaped reader swings down to keep the device from pivoting on its circular connector while reading cards. The app that drives it will produce a distinctive audio tone that signals both successful connection of the device to the phone and completion of each transaction - a feature designed to help put both customers and businesses new to mobile payments at ease.

 

Merchants and restaurants joining the system will sport the blue Here logo and their info will appear in the PayPal mobile app directory. Business owners will have the ability to send electronic invoices with the system which also comes with PayPal's security and fraud protection. For more on the system's capabilities, check out the PayPal Here faq page. The following PayPal video shows Here in action:

Homage To The Entrepreneur Window Cleaners.

Be very conscientious about doing an excellent job. Your dedication will help you better acquire business customers on a regular basis.

 Never have Entrepreneurs been so sexy. Young people everywhere who have tried working for someone else, realize the freedom & energy from being your own boss empowers your destiny. Put as much in as you get out! Window cleaners in general look for internet resources on a daily basis for peer reviews on products, trends & applications to take their businesses to the next level. Window cleaning hasn't stood still since the advent of the water-fed pole & other cleaning related work. Homage to the window cleaning forums & a special "hat tip" to Window Cleaning Resource in the USA, having just surpassed a six thousand (6000) membership, congratulations.

You need self-employed people around you or to converse with, for several very good reasons. First, employed people will struggle to understand you. If you have a bad day, you need someone to say “Yep, I know what you mean, that happpens to me too. It’ll be OK” rather than “Don’t worry, you can always go out and get a job”. I don’t have anything against employed people, by the way. It’s just that it’s a different way of thinking and you need at least a few people around you that think like you do.

Second, your perception of ‘normal’ comes from the people around you. If you’re the only self employed person you know, you’ll feel like a risk-taker who has recklessly leapt off the career ladder into a working wilderness. If you have a circle of self-employed people to interact with, you’ll (OK maybe eventually) feel like it’s an alternative career choice that has loads more possibilities for interesting and rewarding work. After all, it’s working out for them so why shouldn’t it work for you? If you have been in business for over five years, well done...

The U.S. Small Business Administration has seen lots of small businesses come and, unfortunately, go. According to the SBA, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years. The following are reasons for small business failure:

1. Lack of experience
2. Insufficient capital (money)
3. Poor location

4. Poor inventory management

5. Over-investment in fixed assets
6. Poor credit arrangements
7. Personal use of business funds
8. Unexpected growth
 

Gustav Berle adds two more reasons in The Do It Yourself Business Book:
 

9. Competition
10. Low sales

In his inauguration speech, President Obama paid homage to entrepreneurs. The path to greatness, he rhapsodized, has been paved by "the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things--some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."

Almost three years later, it's clear he was spot on. Entrepreneurship has been one of the precious few bright spots in a terribly gloomy economy, and this new generation of entrepreneurs, both intentional and accidental, has taken it upon themselves to keep things chugging along. At the same time, starting a business gained serious cool cred.

Consider American Express' slick ad campaign featuring Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard; foursquare's founders as models in glossy Gap mag ads; and the cults of celebrity surrounding "the Zuck" and the late Steve Jobs. Even A-list stars like Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga added headlines to their clip files from startup-centric blogs like TechCrunch and Mashable.

"Entrepreneurship has become sexy in a lot of ways," says Clay Newbill, executive producer of ABC's Shark Tank, which features people pitching their dreams to a panel of deep-pocketed investors, including Mark Cuban.

Entrepreneurship has never been more practical, either. According to the Kauffman Foundation, 565,000 new businesses were created in 2010--the most in 15 years--as many new 'treps were forced into it by the downturn. "Young people know that there's a high likelihood they'll have to make it on their own," says Thomas Knapp, associate director at the University of Southern California's Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. USC has seen a 13.2 percent year-over-year increase in students taking entrepreneurship courses at the school.

Selling Window Cleaning To Store Front

5 Things You Must Do To Sell To a Small Business Owner.

5 Things You Must Do To Sell To a Small Business Owner: Small business owners are an odd lot. I can say this without judgment because I am one: Cracking the small business code is something that routinely perplexes large organizations. I see it every day, and I’ve been asked numerous times to consult on that very puzzle. The thing is, however, a lot of small businesses want to sell to other small businesses too. Many times I find that they miss the subtleties of attracting small business even though they need look no further than their own buying habits for keys to the sale. So, today I’m going to share how I, one long-time small business owner, think and make purchases in an effort to create what might become your cheat sheet for how to think about selling to small business. I suspect there are Fortune 500 consultants that would charge tens of thousands of dollars for what I’m about to reveal below, but you get it for free!

1) Realize I don’t plan that far out: Small business owners would love to have a three-year and five-year plan, but the reality is we often have a one-week plan and it’s a rough draft. I’m not saying it’s perfect, I’m just saying it’s the reality of the time and resource sparse business. We don’t respond well to future ROI messages or value received over time because mostly we’re usually looking to fix something right now. Talk to me about the pain I have today, fix the problem that will get me immediate relief and then we can talk about the future.

2) Help me buy value over price: I actually don’t want to buy on price, but I will. If you don’t give me a way to see how your solution makes better sense to me right now , I’ll choose the lower price. But if you can demonstrate that you’re going to be here whenever and however I need you, that switching to your solution isn’t going to be painful and that this time it’s going to be different, I’ll pay a premium.

The problem is, I don’t believe your brochure. In fact, the greater problem is I don’t fully trust myself to implement what you’ve suggested either. So, demonstrate by building a relationship, don’t sell, educate. Prove to me that you really understand my business by using my language – if you use the terms synergy or value proposition it will hard for me to hear anything else you say.

3) Make the service as sexy as the sale: Good marketing makes you hungry for how your world is about to change for the better. Good marketing paints a picture of your new shiny world once you’ve bought the product or engaged the service. That’s the job of marketing – to build know, like and trust. The problem is that once I say I want to buy, good marketing seems to come to a crashing end. Good marketing also understands that I need to be oriented to what I just bought, I need to know what to do next, I need to know who to contact with questions, I need to know how I pay, how I get more, how I add features and I need to know it all as part of your sales and service process. In fact, good marketing doesn’t ever end. It also wants to measure the results I got and it wants to make sure I’m thrilled.

4) Know that I am loyal to a fault: Okay, I’m playing with fire sharing this one, but you need to know that I value loyalty as much as anything. So, that’s a great thing to know, but it’s a two-way street. I will be loyal to companies that are loyal to me. If you fix my problem, you do it in a way that is simple, effective and affordable and if I come to trust your words and actions – I’ll buy anything else you present to me in the same way. I’ll go out of my way to keep buying from you because what I know about you is more comforting than what I don’t know about someone else’s pitch. Take advantage of this by making it easy for me to share you with my friends, neighbors and colleagues. Make me feel like a champion for your business and I’ll willingly become an unpaid member of your sales team.

5) Continue to educate and I’ll buy more: Don’t change once I become a customer. If you want me to buy more, don’t just toss me into the up sell and cross sell sales funnel that consists of little more than canned sales messages. Continue to educate me, share things that real people share with each other, talk to me like someone you want to have a deeper relationship with – do that and you’ll earn the right to come to me with the unabashed intention of selling me something else.

Three Window Cleaning Reports

Program Helps Carlsbad Small Businesses Grow: While many small businesses are facing tough times, a set of programs at the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce is offering help. The Small Business Success Program is helping businesses like Fish Window Cleaning. Kolan Hairston and his wife Lupe own the franchise and said the economy began to take its toll in late 2008. "We saw ourselves go backwards probably 30 percent over the course of the year," said Kolan Hairston. Now, the Hairstons say things are better. They've hired two more people, bringing the number of their employees to seven. So, more people are getting their windows cleaned.

They said the programs at the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce as well as meeting with other business owners have helped. "We're held to what we do or what we won't do," said Lupe Hairston. "If we didn't do something somebody else will say, "Hey, why didn't you do that? Follow up with your marketing or follow up with your people." The programs offer advice on marketing, business plans, financing and more.

There is advice on marketing, business plans, financing, and more. "[The programs help] find different ways to grow your business, different ways to promote your business, that kind of thing," said Kolan Hairston. Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce CEO Ted Owen said about 80 percent of the chamber's 1,700 member businesses take part in the programs. "The number one step is owning up to the fact that you don't know what you're doing, and it's difficult for people to say that," said Owen. Owen said it's important for business owners to get together and share experiences. "Like-minded people who have the same goals... can get together and teach each other everything they know," he said.

Don't be a fall guy - Hire a window washer by Angie Hicks: Washing your home's windows can seem like a simple enough task — until you precariously perch yourself on a ladder, stretch to reach high areas, and fight through the bugs, bees and trees. Clean windows can enhance your home's appearance, but actually getting them streak-free can be challenging, and for homeowners with hard-to-reach windows, it can be downright dangerous.

"I always ask, 'How long would it take you and how much is your safety worth?' " said Tiffany Maron, owner of Squeegee Squad in Riverview. "It's a hard job. It's time consuming. It's dirty, and even when they're done, it still may not look as good, even if they spent twice the amount of time as we would have." Maron and Tom Cruickshank of The Window Cleaning Experts Inc. in Tarpon Springs recommend a home's windows be cleaned by a professional at least once a year. "Once a year, you've got to get the pollen off," Maron said. "We've got saltwater, especially waterfront homes, and the debris on the glass can etch into it. It takes the top layer off it and makes it look foggy after a while. If you don't get it off consistently, it'll wreck the glass."

Professionals should do more than just clean the glass. The frame, seals and tracks should be cleaned as well. "We do a thorough cleaning of the glass and frames around the glass, which involves opening windows, cleaning out the track area as well as the seals," Cruikshank said. "We go up on ladders to get hard-to-reach windows. Most people that aren't used to that wouldn't be able to do it. Once we do it, it's done right and you don't have to worry about it."

Cruikshank and Maron both prefer a squeegee and dish soap and water to paper towels and window cleaner. "We don't use any harsh chemicals," Cruikshank said. "We use squeegees to (clean) the glass and a dry cloth to buff out the glass so it shines."

Window cleaners typically charge by the number of windows, the time estimated to do the job and the complexity of the job. You can save money by cleaning the lower-level windows yourself and leaving the hard-to-reach windows to a professional. If you clean your windows yourself, do it during a cool, cloudier time of day. The hot sun dries windows faster, which can lead to streaking.

"We're pretty creative with getting up to those hard-to-reach places," Maron said. "We can get to a place that in certain homes you could never get to. Florida has a lot of tricky windows between pool cages, tall houses, and waterfronts."

If you hire a professional, first research the company's history. Ask for references, proof of liability insurance and worker's compensation. "There are a lot of uninsured people doing work out there that maybe can do it for less money, but if they get hurt or break something, the homeowner is ultimately responsible for it," Maron said.

Angie Hicks is the founder of Angie's List.

Four elements of an effective fall protection program: Earlier this year, the Ontario Ministry of Labour completed a 90-day provincial compliance and enforcement campaign to ensure employers and workers were complying with the regulations laid out in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The goal of the campaign, part of the Safe at Work Ontario strategy to strengthen workplace safety, was to promote long-term compliance and decrease injury and fatality rates. The focus of the campaign was fall-related hazards at provincially-regulated construction sites, diving operations and window cleaning activities. Ministry inspectors visited sites to assess whether workplace parties were complying with regulations, adequate measures and procedures for the safe use of equipment were in place, and workers using fall protection systems were adequately trained.

The results of the blitz underscore the need for more awareness and training surrounding fall protection in the construction industry. Of the 7,313 total field visits conducted, 3,912 were at construction sites where fall hazards were identified. Inspectors visited 2,821 different construction projects during the campaign. A total of 784 stop-work orders, 3,421 orders and 121 summonses were issued for fall-related hazards. More than half of the orders issued were for violations related to missing or improper use or maintenance of guardrails, non-suspended scaffolds and fall protection systems. All sectors of the construction industry were issued orders during the campaign, including industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI); building construction; single-family housing; and apartment and multi-family housing.

In the preliminary report issued in May, the ministry concluded that the results of the campaign indicate several issues. First, the fact that 80 percent of the summonses were issued to supervisors indicates that there is a lack of adequate supervision on construction projects. Second, the type of violations observed indicates that work measures and procedures needed to keep workers safe were not in place. Third, a comprehensive look at the data suggests that workers and supervisors are not aware or adequately trained in fall-related hazards and general safe work measures and procedures.

Each of these issues can be remedied with a comprehensive fall protection program. The program is a combination of a written plan that defines the company’s policy, assigns responsibilities and lays out how fall hazards will be addressed, and the company’s implementation of the plan, including ongoing employee education and training.

Analysis. A key step in the development of the plan is a fall hazard analysis. This survey analyzes each fall hazard that will be encountered on a job site, how the hazard will be controlled, and the type of fall protection and rescue equipment to be used when an employee is exposed to the hazard.

Fall hazards can be controlled in a number of ways, with preference given to engineering out the hazard or changing work procedures so that employees are not exposed to the hazard. In the construction industry, these methods are usually not possible, so the next step is to implement passive fall protection systems such as guardrails and covers. Where this is not possible, a fall restraint system should be considered. A fall restraint system prevents a worker’s center of gravity from reaching the fall hazard. A fall arrest system should be implemented if none of the above methods are suitable. A fall arrest system is designed to stop a fall in progress.

Rescue Plan. For every fall hazard that is controlled, a rescue plan must be in place. This will address the procedure and equipment to be used to rescue a fallen worker, and must be specific to each hazard identified in the fall hazard analysis.

The fall protection plan should account for and delegate responsibilities for equipment inspection, record keeping, maintenance, equipment replacement, incident reporting, enforcement, accident investigation and training.

Training. The OHSA requires workers to be adequately trained in the proper use of fall protection equipment. To maximize comprehension, training should be conducted through a combination of classroom and hands-on work.

Employees should be taught how to recognize and control fall hazards and how to use written fall protection procedures. They should have an understanding of federal and provincial fall protection regulations, employee roles and responsibilities under these regulations and the company’s program, and post-fall rescue procedures. Practical instruction should include how to select, inspect, use, store and maintain fall protection and rescue equipment.

Worker training must be documented, and these records must be kept and made available to Ministry of Labour inspectors upon request.

Training should not be the last time employees are reminded of the importance of fall protection equipment. Constant reminders during toolbox talks as well as regular refresher training are keys to maintaining a high degree of safety consciousness among employees. Refresher training should be conducted at least every two years, but should be done more frequently if work procedures change or new fall protection or rescue equipment is implemented.

Non-compliance policy. If compliance continues to be a problem, consider implementing a policy that punishes non-compliance. This policy could range from no-tolerance to a tiered policy with varying consequences after each offense. Consequences from non-compliance could include dismissal from the job, sending the employee home without pay, asking the employee to pay a fine, or something a bit more creative. Make sure any policy is well-defined, consistently enforced and in line with provincial labour laws.

Developing a fall protection program and ensuring that workers are appropriately trained are the first steps in combating compliance problems in the construction industry. Ontario is also implementing several measures to improve safety on construction sites. These measures include strict enforcement targeting repeat offenders and shutting down construction projects when workers’ lives are in danger, increased focus on training and supervision during inspections, a public campaign to increase awareness of safety in different languages, and a telephone line for workers and the general public to report suspected unsafe work practices.

Minister of Labour Peter Fonseca states: “We cannot and will not stand by as worker safety is compromised. This is a shared responsibility, so I challenge employers, labour groups and workers to make sure that everyone returns home safe and sound after work.” Fonseca is right. There’s no better incentive to stay safe than the privilege of returning home to your family at the end of the day.

Important Window Cleaning News

Europe:

Northwest business leaders urge Darling to ease taxes: In the run up to Wednesday's pre-Budget report, northwest business leaders have called on Alistair Darling to help ease the tax burden on small businesses. The Cheshire-based Forum of Private Business (FPB) said the government should focus on creating "a tax and regulatory environment" that can better help small businesses to create jobs.

FPB's policy representative Matt Goodman said reducing the VAT for labour-intensive services, delaying the planned 2011 National Insurance contribution rise for small companies, and temporarily cutting contributions for micro businesses would help ease the cost of employing new people. "It would be a real boost to employment and business growth at a time it will be needed most," said Mr Goodman. The FPB said reducing the VAT rate to five per cent for certain services would improve trade by making products and services more affordable.

In spring, the European Commission approved a plan to offer reduced VAT rates to certain industries including home renovation, hairdressing, and window cleaning, a move it is hoped will help stimulate employment.

USA:

OSHA Proposes Sweeping Fall Protection/PPE Rule Revisions: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced in a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the May 24 Federal Register its plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping, and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces. "This proposal addresses workplace hazards that are a leading cause of work related injuries and deaths," said OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels.

The NPRM describes revisions to the Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment standards to help prevent an estimated annual 20 workplace fatalities and more than 3,500 injuries serious enough to cause people to miss work. For example, in July 2009, a worker at a chocolate processing plant was killed after falling from an unguarded work platform. "This is a clear and grave example of the human cost incurred when fall protection safeguards are absent, ignored, or inadequate," said Michaels. "The loss of a worker's life might have been prevented if the protective measures in these revised standards had been in place and in use."

The current walking-working surfaces regulations allow employers to provide outdated and dangerous fall protection equipment such as lanyards and body belts that can result in workers suffering greater injury from falls. Construction and maritime workers already receive safer, more effective fall protection devices such as self-retracting lanyards and ladder safety and rope descent systems, which these proposed revisions would also require for general industry workers. Current standards also do not allow OSHA to fine employers who let workers climb certain ladders without fall protection. Under the revised standards, this restriction would be lifted in virtually all industries, allowing OSHA inspectors to fine employers who jeopardize their workers’ safety and lives by climbing these ladders without proper fall protection. OSHA notes that most of its existing standards for walking-working surfaces are more than 30 years old and inconsistent with both national consensus standards and more-recently promulgated OSHA standards addressing fall protection.

Among the areas covered in the sweeping proposal are significant revisions to the existing general industry scaffold standards; requirements for guardrail, safety net, and personal fall protection systems (including fall arrest, and positioning, and travel restraint systems); key-term definition amendments; rules for load limits; requirements for portable and fixed ladders; rules for ladders in elevator shafts; requirements for building anchorages and tie-offs; rules for the design, capacity, and use of step bolts and manhole steps; stairway design and installation criteria; requirements for riser heights and stairway landing platform widths; specific rules to limit the use of spiral stairs, ship stairs, or alternating tread-type stairs to "special limited usage" and "secondary access" situations when the employer demonstrates that it is not practical to provide a standard stairway; requirements for dockboards (bridge plates); rules to prohibit the use of rope-descent systems at heights greater than 300 feet; the establishment of 11 requirements employers must meet when rope-descent systems are used; requirements for employees in hoist areas of walking-working surfaces that are 4 feet or more above lower levels; specific requirements for the outdoor advertising and window cleaning industries; criteria that employees must meet to be considered qualified climbers; criteria for grab handle use; requirements for employee training and retraining; and more.

The wide-ranging proposal addresses not only falls and other hazards associated with walking-working surfaces but also hazards leading to combustible dust explosions and other accidents. Part of OSHA's current rules require that all places of employment, passageways, storerooms, and service rooms be kept clean and orderly, and in a sanitary condition. A paragraph in the new proposal requires that floors of workrooms be maintained in a clean and, so far as possible, dry condition. It also requires that, where wet processes are used, drainage be maintained, and false floors, platforms, mats, or other dry-standing places be provided when practicable. The agency said it does not expect all surfaces to be maintained in a pristine manner; however, surfaces must be maintained in a condition that will prevent slips, trips, falls, and other hazards.

Historically, OSHA interpreted these provisions as applying to combustible-dust accumulations associated with fire and explosion hazards. Regarding this interpretation, one court stated that "the housekeeping standard is not limited to tripping and falling hazards, but may be applied to [a] significant accumulation of combustible dust" [Con Agra Inc. v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Com'n, 672 F.2d 699, 702 (8th Cir. 1982), citing Bunge Corp. v. Secretary of Labor, 638 F.2d 831, 834 (5th Cir. 1981), which reached the same conclusion]. OSHA says the cases show that Sec. 1910.22(a) serves as one of the agency's most important enforcement tools for preventing combustible-dust accumulations and it continues to be an important element of OSHA's enforcement strategy for this hazard. Therefore, the agency seeks comment on whether it should include an explicit reference to combustible dust or other hazardous material in the regulatory language of the final rule. The agency says the language would merely clarify OSHA's long-held interpretation that Sec. 1910.22(a) is not limited to the hazards of slips, trips, and falls, but also addresses any hazard that can be created when floors and work areas are not maintained in an orderly, clean, dry, and sanitary condition.