Rope Access Window Cleaning News

Understanding the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 With its 351 pages of legal jargon, it is not difficult to see why many people are still in the dark when it comes to understanding the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 and their duties and obligations.

Safety Officers Crack Down on Height Safety Systems (Australia) - Following a number of ‘near miss accidents’ in recent years, Workplace Health and Safety Officers from the Gold Coast region have spearheaded the creation of the Height Safety industry Working Group. The group, which convened for the first time in March, includes stakeholders from industry sectors including rope access, high rise window cleaning, height safety system installation and height safety equipment manufacturing. The officers identified window cleaning companies being at the greatest risk. 

These companies abseil down the building while attached to anchor point systems on the roof. In its meeting, the group identified the need to raise awareness of best practice principles in three main areas: Correct design, installation and certification of height safety systems; Raising the standard of safety of rope access companies; and Understanding of the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 by Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBUs). Design, Installation and Certification No amount of training or safe procedures can save a worker from a poorly designed and installed system.

An adequate design will address four separate points: Building layout: What sections of the building will need to be accessed? Building Structure: Is the building structure capable of sustaining the potential force of a fall? Anchor Design: The position, type and number of anchors that will be required? Rescue: In the event of an incident, does the design allow for a safe rescue? Installation is equally important. In order to protect yourself as a PCBU, it is important to ensure the installation company holds a QBCC license to install height safety systems, is an authorised installer for the manufacturer of the system in question, has adequate levels of experience in installing height safety systems and holds the required insurance. 

It is also important to clarify what certification and documents you will receive once the system is installed. Raising Standards Another goal of the working group is to raise the level of professionalism and safety within the rope access industry. Through better general education and awareness, they expect consumers will demand a higher standard of safety from rope access companies, and that rather simply awarding work according to the lowest quote, PCBUs will increasingly question areas such as qualifications, competency and experience. The follow on effect will be a more professional and safety conscious industry. 

Understanding the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 With its 351 pages of legal jargon, it is not difficult to see why many people are still in the dark when it comes to understanding the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 and their duties and obligations. It is a legal requirement that a PCBU has a duty to ‘eliminate risks to health and safety’ and ‘if it is not practicable to eliminate risks…to minimise those risks.’ Yet many building owners, corporate bodies and building managers do not fully understand this non-transferable obligation. Heavy penalties apply for failing to comply with the legislation, including large fines and potential jail sentences. 

The Act goes further to state that this duty cannot be transferred to another person and that more than one person can hold the same duty at the same time (part 2, division 1, subdivision 1, section 14 & 16.) How do you ensure compliance? So as a PCBU, how do you ensure you are getting the right advice and complying with your duty? You could read all 351 pages of the Work Health & Safety Act 2011 as well as the 735 pages of the Work Health & Safety Regulation 2011. Not to mention the Standards AS1891.4 and AS4488, or you could just follow these three simple rules: Properly research which companies you will choose to obtain a quote from. Ask the experience and compliance questions at the start of this article. Choose a company which is experienced, compliant, licenced and authorised, and is also willing to help educate you about your duties and obligations. 

Hopefully, the new working group will help drive industry change and raise standards. If it helps to prompt PCBUs to ask not only if they are complying with their obligations under the Act but also whether or not they have done everything possible to help keep people safe, it will succeed in this goal.

Stefan Bright - Acceptance of Triangle Award Speech: If you do not know anything about the professional window cleaning industry, here are a few tips to get you started; Number one,we prefer the term professional window cleaner over window washer. Homeowners are window washers, professional window cleaners require up to 6 months to become skilled enough to be able to perfectly clean over a hundred windows a day. Furthermore, it takes nearly a year to become equally proficient in the safe and correct use of the equipment needed to reach the windows.

Number two, we are not daredevils, cowboys nor are we crazy because we like working at heights. We are highly skilled tradespeople who enjoy the serenity of working above the general population using our artistic abilities to create a clear view of the world for those of you who get to look at it through our canvas.

Number three, we do have standards, guidelines, regulations and training programs to follow which help to ensure our health and safety as well as the safety of the general public as they walk by and look up at us plying our trade. The reason I am standing before you today is because it was not always this way. When I started cleaning windows myself in the late 1970’ s, there were no regulations, standards, guidelines or trade associations. I was only able to learn the trade from somebody who learned it from somebody else and realizing that a lot of it was based on trial and error.

Ten years later, I traveled from central Pennsylvania to the remote western town of Lubbock, Texas where the first ever gathering of professional window cleaners from across North America took place. At this event, over 60 window cleaners simultaneously discovered that we weren’t all alone in this occupation and that sharing our trials and errors would only help us all learn more about our occupation and safety. The International Window Cleaning Association, better known as the IWCA was born and the year was 1989.

The following year, Federal OSHA held a public hearing to begin the renovation of the General Industry Walking and Working Surface regulations which includes equipment and techniques used regularly by professional window cleaners. I testified at that hearing and a few months later, the President of the IWCA asked me to join the board of directors and head up the Safety and Training Standards Committee. That committee consisted of about a dozen professional window cleaners from across the country and together we agreed that our occupation needed a consistent set of safety guidelines. I had done some research and found that on average about 7 - 9 fatalities occurred each year in the window cleaning industry.

It took over a year for us to put together and publish the Safety Guidelines for Window Cleaning. Because nothing like this had ever existed before, several thousand copies were sold. This became the catalyst for many good things to come. Shortly afterwards , I spent over a year researching two decades worth of window cleaning accident case studies in order to pinpoint causes, hazards and methods of abatement. As a result, I was able to assemble a window cleaner safety training program to educate workers with identifying the hazards of our occupation and how to avoid them. That program was first delivered in 1993 and has been given several times a year ever since. In fact, I just came home this past Sunday (5/3/2014) from delivering it in Los Angeles, California.

The IWCA has estimated that over 6,500 professional window cleaners have attended and taken part in this training. I know that these professionals have taught others in the trade so the real outreach has been significantly greater. All this knowledge, experience and education helped with the development of an American National Standard for Window Cleaning Safety in 2001 which has helped OSHA, architects, engineers, designers and builders better understand the requirements for safe building maintenance. It was our way of introducing prevention through design to the window cleaning industry.

The safety training program and industry safety standard were the core documents which contributed to the creation of the Window Cleaner Safety Certification program. This is an IWCA program that is a study course which requires taking three online tests and a proctored final exam. All these accomplishments have made a difference. Professional window cleaning is the number one trade that takes place on commercial and residential mid to high rise buildings more than any other. There are upwards of twenty thousand workers exposed to serious fall hazards every day in North America and  no longer do professional window cleaners have to guess, or practice their trade by trial and error which can have fatal consequences.

Today, there are readily available sources of knowledge, experience and safety training. The Alliance between OSHA and the IWCA has helped to expand the educational outreach. This past February, the IWCA celebrated its 25th anniversary. I was asked to compile and deliver the list of safety related milestones the organization had achieved in that time. The most significant achievement was the statistic showing a 30 percent reduction in the number of fatalities in the window cleaning industry over the last 10 year. After reading these milestones to the audience , I think several people in attendance there may have thought to nominate me for this award. I thank them for that.

The greatest reward for doing what I do is when a window cleaner shakes my hand and thanks me for helping them to learn how to think more safely about their occupation which in turn, helps them to work safer. Over the years many have even told me I’ve saved their lives or that of a co-worker. Receiving this award from the American Society of Safety Engineers is extremely gratifying. I have benefited by being a member of the ASSE since 1997 and having such an esteemed organization that is outside of the window cleaning industry recognize and distinguish my efforts is most honorable and greatly appreciated. And in saving the best for last, I could not have done any of what I have without the extreme sacrifice and support of my best friend , who happens to be my wife of over 30 years, Michele. Thank you for your patience, tolerance and acceptance of what I do, which helped me make a difference. Thankyou.

The caped crusader window washers were back on the job for a second year at an Oregon children's hospital - not fighting crime, but fighting grime. Super heroes descend the nine stories of Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel for the second year.

Superheroes lift kids' spirits at Portland hospital: Superheroes took to the skies at Randall Children’s Hospital Monday fighting not crime but grime. “Holy squeegy Batman – it’s time to get to work,” shouted a window washer decked out as the Boy Wonder. A half dozen members of the regular window washing crew donned tights and capes to delight young patients. “This is the second year for this and I’m looking forward to all the smiles and high fives,” said Batman as he was suiting up.

This year’s event included a super twist for the kids. “We’re here with free costumes for all the patients,” said Alison Hicks who runs Chelsea’s Closet in memory of her daughter. “Dress-up was her favorite thing when she was in the hospital, it gave her a reason to get up in the morning,” Hicks said, of her daughter.

Before the superheroes arrived, costumes were delivered to rooms and out-patients selected outfits from a hallway rack. “It’s so nice to have him come here for something other than chemotherapy,” said the mother of a three-year-old patient. For the dangling half dozen doing the dirty work, there was a big pay off. “It so nice to come and brighten the day of these kids who are going through tough times, and they end up brightening our day as well,” concluded Spiderman. 

Union Files Complaint In Death Of Window-Washing Custodian At UC Berkeley - A union representing service workers at the University of California, Berkeley has filed a complaint with state authorities over the death of a custodian. Forty-five-year-old Damon Frick died after falling from a lift on April 7 while washing window sills at a campus auditorium 20 feet above the ground. The complaint against the university says Frick never received proper safety training, and his supervisor assigned him the job even though those duties weren’t part of his typical work. It was filed Wednesday with the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Frick’s family separately is pursuing a wrongful death claim against UC Berkeley. A call to the university on Friday was not immediately returned.