Dangling Off A Skyscraper - An Expert's View

Marty Tuzman on the roof of Mellon Bank Center with Comcast Center in the background.

Dangling off a skyscraper: An expert's view on what happened at World Trade Center - As two window cleaners dangled from the 69th floor at 1 World Trade Center in New York last week, Marty Tuzman and his colleagues were watching the harrowing events unfold through the eyes of an expert.

Tuzman owns Jenkintown Building Services, which is the dominant window cleaning company in the Philadelphia area. His team has worked on most of the skyscrapers in Center City including Comcast Center, One and Two Liberty Place, Cira Centre and Centre Square as well as low-rise buildings throughout the suburbs and other commercial developments in the region.

The job of a highrise window cleaner involves risks but those risks are mitigated through a series of safety measures that helped to save the two workers in New York, such as a routine and oft repeated round of security checks.

Tuzman shared his thoughts on the New York episode, how accidents like that are handled and whether Philadelphia is prepared to execute its own rescue if a similar event would take place here. The Building Owners and Managers Association of Philadelphia and Tuzman engaged this past spring in a similar mock scenario as a training exercise. Those involved included fire, police and other emergency personnel, building engineers and managers, contractors and the mayor's office of communications. Those participating walked through every foreseeable aspect of a situation experienced last week in New York.

"It was enlightening," Tuzman said.

It wasn't long after the two New York window cleaners were lowered down the facade of 1 World Trade Center that something went wrong. The rig that was transporting them failed and it was hanging lopsided. At that point, it's important for the workers to stay level headed, Tuzman said.

"It's so hard under that pressure to remain calm and follow protocol and procedure but you have to," he said. "You have to make sure everyone is communicating properly...the building management, company management, fire and rescue."

While an event like this is unfolding high above, it's also imperative to ensure the streets and sidewalks below are completely barricaded so the public can be kept safe if "God forbid any further failure in equipment happens," Tuzman said.

Most rig equipment has technology that would allow the scaffolding and stage to level out in these situations, Tuzman said. An override would permit the window washers, who work in tandem to lower the rig, to reset and adjust the sophisticated, computerized equipment and balance a rig. Contact is made with the building engineer and even the manufacturer of the equipment to troubleshoot and resolve the situation if that override isn't working.

Equipment failure that couldn't be fixed appears to have caused the situation in New York. The head of Upgrade Service, the firm that employed the men working at 1 World Trade Center, told the New York Times the accident was apparently caused by "equipment failure of the traction hoist brake mechanism that supports one side of the rig."

The rig couldn't be balanced, and at that point a rescue initiated.

"Once you have exhausted those possibilities, then you go into rescue mode," he said.

All the while, there's constant contact with the men on rig, making sure they are calm and no other issues have cropped up to put them in further danger.

Different rescue approaches can be taken. In some cases, another rig can be lowered safely down from the roof and the workers can transfer onto it. However, many commercial building roof tops aren't designed to accommodate that. A flat roof can handle something like that but many peak and their angular design not conducive for such a rescue. Some towers have built in mechanical arms used for washing that can be tapped for a rescue but they are expensive and uncommon.

When a roof-top rescue isn't an option, then slicing a window and pulling the workers in is the best way to save them, Tuzman said. That is what happened in New York. Rescue personnel cut out a large hole in a window closest to the two stranded workers and they were pulled safely into the building.

Tuzman said Jenkintown's workers have had some precarious moments while window washing high in the sky. "We have had equipment issues but not as severe as that," he said.

The safety of high-rise window cleaners is getting attention after the frightening incident at One World Trade Center in New York City on November 12. Two window washers were rescued nearly 70 stories above the ground after the cable on their scaffolding gave way. Both workers suffered hypothermia, but are otherwise okay. The situation could have been much worse. WCVB TV Channel 5 did a report on the incident and spoke with Matt Pierce, Owner of Pierce Property Services of Woburn, MA.

Window Cleaners Gift "Giving Tuesday"

More than 2,000 recognized #GivingTuesday™ partners have come from all 50 states of the United States.

A Different Kind of Day, GIVING TUESDAY: We all recognize Black Friday and Cyber Monday as days to shop for bargains, and flood the malls and online shopping sites. Jenkintown Building Services is joining a new national initiative called "GivingTuesday", a day to give back to the community in varied and creative ways and develop giving opportunities.

Jenkintown will perform a window cleaning service today (Tuesday, Nov. 27th), for the Connelly House, rappelling the 8 story building and gifting free window cleaning.  Connelly House, a 79-unit residence, is the first LEED certified affordable housing facility in Philadelphia.  It is a partnership between Project H.O.M.E. and Bethesda Project and provides services and housing to formerly homeless men and women in Center City Philadelphia.

Ray Graber an employee of Jenkintown Window Cleaning works downtown in Philadelphia.

Marty Tuzman, CEO of Jenkintown, states, “I recently heard about #GivingTuesday and its call to service.  I immediately thought it was a perfect counter balance to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  GivingTuesday is the opposite of shopping.  It asks people and organizations to find a way they can give back. It is a reminder for us to pay attention during this holiday season to the meaningful and unique ways we can each uniquely help others and the world we live in.” Jenkintown Building Services is an 80 year old company that has provided varied building services over the years, including window cleaning, power washing, facade services and post construction cleaning.

A new tradition started on Tuesday to counter the spending frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s called “Giving Tuesday,” and businesses large and small were jumping onboard. It started with big charities like United Way and the Red Cross, but small businesses can also contribute charitably. The goal behind “Giving Tuesday” is to focus on charities, instead of retail. For many organizations, it’s a way to increase fund-raising in the race to the end of the year. “We will not write $100,000 checks, we won’t come close in digits,” says Marty Tuzman, owner of Jenkintown Building Services, a small window cleaning business, “but what we can do is give some of our time and give the talent that we have and be involved in the community in the unique ways that we as small businesses can.”

GivingTuesday is a new national initiative that has become increasingly popular since it was launched by the 92nd St Y, in New York, less than a year ago.  It encourages gifting, volunteering and other ways to give back to the community. Over 1600 partners have joined. Its supporters, also called "partners" are from all around the country and from all three sectors -- private industry, charitable sector and the government."

Jenkintown building services has a long-standing tradition of giving back to the community that has supported it for over six decades. They are the official window cleaner for all Habitat For Humanity homes in the Philadelphia area, and have cleaned over a dozen arts and cultural institutions through Hearts For The Arts program, which allowed deserving organizations with either limited or no budget for window cleaning to receive these services for free. In 2001, they asked customers to recommend organizations in need of window cleaning services, and through the Gift Of Service program, they are cleaning the windows of organizations that serve the public so well throughout the year.

Their goals are to put out a call to other area businesses to support deserving institutions with in-kind services, and to get the public to rally around area institutions. "I'd rather see these treasured organizations use their donations to buy what they need to help the community," says Jenkintown owner Marty Tuzman. "By offering a service donation in-kind, we're helping free up money for more important purposes." "We hope our free cleaning services will help these institutions shine outside as well as inside. I'd also like to see other businesses take our lead."

Today in History: Two window washers fell 47 stories from a Manhattan skyscraper when their scaffolding failed; Edgar Moreno was killed, but his brother, Alcides, miraculously survived.

Rays 10 Hot Drops - Feeling The Heat

Window washer Ray Graber works his way down 1234 Market St.

In the heat, it's all downhill for these window washers: Dropping off a 20-story building is all in a day's work for Ray Graber, an employee of Jenkintown Window Washing. In blistering heat Wednesday, he did it at least 10 times, down the south side of 1234 Market St., the home of SEPTA offices and the 13th Street station on the Market-Frankford subway line. Graber adjusted his system of ropes and pulleys on the roof and carefully lowered himself onto a small platform seat. Swinging in a 10-foot arc hundreds of feet above the parking lot, he worked his way down the side of the building. When he reached the ground, he grabbed his seat, rode the elevator back to the top, and started again.

Dropping off a 20-story building is all in a day's work for Ray Graber, an employee of Jenkintown Window Cleaning.

Ray Graber adjusts his ropes as he dangles 20 floors above the ground.

Trying to meet his boss's goal of 10 "drops" by 3 p.m., Ray Graber rapidly makes his way down the SEPTA building at 1234 Market St.

Suspended by two ropes secured to a small seat, window washer Ray Graber begins his descent of 1234 Market Street, home to SEPTA offices and the 13th Street SEPTA station.

Supported by only a few ropes tethered to the roof of the 20-story building, Ray Graber works from top to bottom at 1234 Market Street.

Extreme heat takes toll on outdoor workers: Despite today's high humidity, the National Weather Service predicts the worst of the heat wave is over, with high temperatures in the mid-80s for the next few days. Matt Banaszek, 58, of Baldwin was washing store windows on Butler Street in Lawrenceville Wednesday. He said other than drinking more fluids, he won't do anything differently because of the heat. The 10 to 12 jobs he does daily as owner of Professional Window Cleaning in Baldwin still have to get done. "I've got to watch because I've got leukemia, so this weather is no good for me," he said. "But it's not like I'm going to not work."