National Window Safety Week

Window falls a common but preventable childhood hazard: Each year more than 5,200 children suffer falls from windows and at least one in four is injured badly enough to be hospitalized. So it's no accident that National Window Safety Week occurs in early Spring when the weather is mild enough to open the windows again. Safety experts take advantage of this week to remind parents and caregivers about the dangers of window falls. And there's evidence in at least one state that it's working. The Oregon Trauma Registry reports it is seeing a decrease in the number of falls.

Younger children are more likely to fall from windows, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics. The average age of children treated for injuries suffered in window falls in U.S. hospital emergency departments was five, while children four years old and younger were more likely to sustain head injuries, to be hospitalized, or die. Boys are slightly more likely to fall than girls. When it comes to keeping your kids safe, there is no substitute for adult supervision. Safety experts recommend the follow precautions for parents, grandparents and other caregivers.

• Keep cribs and other furniture away from windows to eliminate the possibility of a child reaching a window by climbing.
• Install safety devices such as window guards or window stops on all second-story windows or higher. Since about one-third of falls occur from first floor windows, consider installing them on those windows, too. (Window stops should prevent the window from opening more than four inches, while allowing an adult to open it fully in case of a fire or other emergency.)
• Remember that screens do not prevent a child from falling out of a window.
• Open windows from the top, whenever possible.
• Consider planting bushes or locating flower beds under windows to soften the landing surface, which may reduce the severity of injury in the event of a fall.
• Remember that fire escapes, roofs and balconies are not safe places for children to play.
• Once your children are old enough, discuss with them the dangers of climbing out of or jumping from windows.

At least one window manufacturer offers child-safety latch options for double-hung and casement windows. Overriding the device requires carrying out a two-step process that would be challenging for a small child. They may cost more but are worth considering if you have small children living in or visiting your home. If you're replacing your windows, look for those with the best safety features. To find the type of window that's best for your home, see our windows buying guide and the Ratings which tell you how they performed in our tests of wind and rain resistance, durability, convenience, and more, including six top picks in clad-wood, fiberglass, and vinyl.

National Window Safety Week seeks to prevent injuries (SALT LAKE CITY) — More than 5,000 children in the U.S. are injured in window-related accidents each year, and now during National Window Safety Week experts are sharing tips for keeping kids safe. National Window Safety Week is put on each year during the first full week of April by the National Safety Council. Kirk Thrift is the store manager at Ace Hardware, and he said parents have options when it comes to making windows more safe for children. “There’s different locking mechanisms that can easily be installed with a drill or a screwdriver for those screens, so they won’t open, and you pull out this little tiny pin allowing it to open and close, but you know spring cleaning not only cleaning the house but checking your doors and windows is a good idea each spring,” he said. The National Safety Council also offered tips regarding window safety:

• Keep windows closed and locked when children are around.
• When opening windows for ventilation, open windows that children cannot reach.
• Don’t rely on insect screens to prevent a fall, as they are designed to provide ventilation and not to prevent a child’s fall from a window.
• Keep furniture, or anything children can climb, away from windows.
• Determine your family’s emergency escape plan and practice it regularly.
• Make sure nothing is blocking or preventing a window from being opened in the case of an emergency.

As a window cleaner you should remember to return the window to the closed position. Look for hazards that a may be dangerous for a young child. Make sure children can't get access to your tools, especially those sharp blades. Keep the window safety child lock key on your person before returning it to the owner. Make sure stair gates are closed after passing through. Move furniture back to it's original position - these are usually placed so a child cannot reach a handle for opening a window. Offer some guidelines if you feel the owners child may be unsafe. If you feel the child is at danger while you're working ask the house owner to remove the child to safely be out of your way while you work.

Spidermen Everywhere & Las Vegas Company Fined

Merrill Hunt as Spider-man in action. Click to enlarge.

Nation in focus: Sao Doan, 5, right, watches as her mom, Tiffany Ringer, both of Kenneth City, snaps a photo of Merrill Hunt dressed as Spiderman as he washes her window at All Children's Hospital Thursday morning Jan. 10, 2013. Three window cleaners dressed as Spider-Man from High Rise Window Cleaning Company started cleaning windows on the outside of All ChildrenÍs Hospital Thursday morning.

Sick children's surprise: A window washer dressed as Spider-Man gives sick kids a treat at All-Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. This Spider-Man may not be able to everything a spider can, but he has a couple of big things going for him. He does windows, and he offers some much needed cheer to sick children. Jon Powers, with High Rise Window Cleaning in Tampa, surprised kids at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg Thursday morning when he went into full Spider-Man mode while cleaning exterior windows.The window washer says he likes to dress up as the comic book superhero to help cheer up the young patients.

Dozens of children got a big surprise when window washers dressed as Spider-Man descended on the outside of All Children's Hospital on Thursday. The workers from Clearwater's High Rise Window Cleaners made several trips from the top of the building to the ground, washing windows and waving at patients. Child life clinical coordinator Holly Ott relished the chance to bring in the super hero. "Today at All Children's we had a really exciting opportunity to meet any child's hero, Spider-Man, climbing up the sides of the building, surprising chidren and making their day," Ott said. The event offered kids a chance to experience something they aren't likely to encounter again. And for Ott, the best part of the appearance was the surprise. 

 

Vdara, window washing company face fines for accident: Two companies, including the Vdara Hotel, face fines from OSHA after four people were trapped on a window washing rig 35 floors up in July. Both the Vdara Hotel and the window washing company, Sentinel Maintenance, were fined thousands by Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which recommended citations for both companies. This report shows that emergency measures saved the men from falling. According to a safety narrative News 3 received from OSHA, the problem stemmed from lack of training.
Two window washers were operating this lift for two maintenance workers, who needed to fix a window. The maximum load for the scaffold is 750 pounds. The report says that's typically safe for two workers and their tools. According to OSHA, the weight limit was exceeded by the extra two people and the lift started slipping. The men were saved from falling further when the emergency brake kicked in. It took fire crews five hours to get them down safely.
OSHA found the employers didn't provide written work procedures for the safe use of the lift as part of worker training. According to the paperwork, the Vdara didn't ensure their employees went through the proper training until after the incident. Because of the lack of training and guides, OSHA fined the Vdara nearly $3,000 for a serious violation. It also fined Sentinel Maintenance nearly $4,500 for four violations.

Window Cleaning Super Heroes & The Story Behind Them

Jeff Henderson, dressed as Batman, and Tim Taggart, dressed as Spider-Man, rappel down the west face of the main tower of Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital on Monday. Click to enlarge.

Super heroes surprise hospital pediatric patients: Super heroes delighted children and staff members at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital by rappelling down the side of the building and greeting pediatric patients and their families Monday. Window washers Jeff Henderson, Tim Taggart and Patrick Wallin of Brite-Way Window Cleaning volunteered to dress in Batman, Spider-Man and Captain America costumes, respectively, and lower themselves down the side of the hospital’s tower to the children’s patio.

Lindsey Welch, a child life specialist at Ministry Saint Joseph's Children's Hospital, holds an iPad so Tim Taggart, from left, obscured, Patrick Wallin and Jeff Henderson can talk with Lakken Burzynski, 10, while visiting the hospital.

Hospital staff members approached Brite-Way about the idea after hospital facilities director Randy Wagner presented a video of super-hero clad window washers rappelling at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “We’ve worked with Brite-Way for a number of years,” said Julie Schafer, secretary for environmental services at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital. “We’re glad we’ve developed a relationship with them that we felt comfortable asking them to do something out of the ordinary.” “It’s toward Christmas, and there’s a lot of little ones in the hospital, and they aren’t going to have that great of a time,” said Taggart, who wore the Spider-Man costume he used for his grandson’s birthday party.

Jeff Henderson, dressed as Batman, waves to people as he rappels down the outside of the tower of Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital on Monday.

Schafer said patients and hospital staff members were excited to see the super heroes, and families called the hospital Monday morning to find out if Batman, Spider-Man and Captain America still planned to visit despite fog and light rain. Pediatric patient Logan Soderlund of Rhinelander watched the climbing ropes excitedly as he waited for the super heroes to appear on the children’s patio. “He was definitely surprised,” said Logan’s father, Sean Soderlund. “We watched ‘Avengers’ last night.”

The super heroes greeted and took pictures with patients and families at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Children’s Hospital before descending the hospital’s main tower. Wallin, who dressed as Captain America, said it was nice to do something for the community and brighten the children’s day. “I’m really happy to be part of this,” Wallin said. Taggart said he hopes to participate in super hero events yearly.

Brightway Window Service staff dressed as superheros for a days work outside of St. Joseph's Hospital's pediatrics unit.

Superheros save the day for hospitalized children:  It was a super experience for some children in Marshfield today, as they saw some superheros outside their hospital windows. Heidi Giese is St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Manager of Child Life Services. She says a routine building maintenance project was a lot of fun for about seventeen hospitalized children in their pediatric unit.  She says, "The guys cleaning the windows dressed up as Spiderman, Batman, and Captain America and they rappelled down the side of the building so that all of our pediatric patients in the building were able to see that.”

Giese says it was a special way to brighten the day for some kids who are not feeling well.  “A little two-year-old that was looking at the window and looking outside. When they jumped down onto the backyard patio, his eyes got huge.” St. Joseph’s Hospital had heard of another children’s hospital doing this with great success, and contacted Brightway Window Service to see if they would put on the costumes... which they gladly did for the kids.

ANS Memphis window washer Steve Oszeanic, as Captain America, high above the ground to raise spirits of sick kids at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.

The story behind the story. Why window cleaners dressing as Super-Heroes are becoming so popular. See the blog on this event here.

Super hero Randall 'Rico' Simmons and his mother Tina in his Helen DeVos Children's Hospital room.

Why Rico is a superhero (Grand Rapids, West Michigan): Super heroes were rappelling down the wall of glass windows on the 14-story Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, five daring window washers dressed as Hulk, Flash, Superman, Spider-Man and Captain America. Veteran MLive and Grand Rapids Press photographer Chris Clark stood below that day, snapping spectacular photos alongside other local media. Then instinct took over and told him one thing. "Get inside." What Chris wanted to find was what journalists at MLive always want to show you: What's happening on the inside. Where it matters most. The photos he captured show photojournalism at its finest. Another special moment in the life of West Michigan was captured, documented, shared.

Randall 'Rico' Simmons and his mother Tina in his Helen DeVos Children's Hospital room Wednesday, November 14, 2012. The Howard City teen is fighting bone cancer. "He's my super hero," said his mom.

There was one photo so poignant it stayed with me and became a part of me. It makes me happy and thankful each time I think of it, which is often. It shows a 13-year-old boy, Randall "Rico" Simmons, holding a simple message he printed on note paper and then pressed against the window for the superheroes to see. "Give me 5! " the message said. The same photo shows Rico's hand touching the glass inside, met by a superhero's gloved hand on the outside. The arm of another superhero reaches up for the next high five with Rico. I like to think of that quartet of hands as a bouquet,

I wanted to meet Rico, the young man whose simple sign touched me. So last week Chris Clark and I went back to DeVos Children's hospital to see Rico and his mom, Tina Simmons, to tell you and show you more about this boy and his family. Rico is a Tri County Middle School student who's been fighting cancer for much of the year, through multiple rounds of chemotherapy.  A tumor in his hip shattered his bone, so the doctors had to build Rico a new hip. After 18 hours of surgery on Sept. 6, Rico emerged with custom-made left hip, sized for him to grow into, and held together with 19 screws, 3 plates and 2 rods. His incision stretches from his back rib cage to his ankle.

The photo that the public loved. Super heroes fly outside DeVos Children's Hospital

The hospital became Rico's and Tina's second home for the past three months. Finally, on Nov. 15, Rico and Tina got to go home to Howard City, reuniting with Dad, Aaron, and with sister, Julia, 17. Rico is continuing with round three of chemotherapy to fight the cancer. He will be getting around with the help of a wheelchair and walker, and he is staying up on his school work with the help of an at-home teacher. School is important to Rico. He has his goal firmly fixed: college. "Yale or Harvard," Rico said of his top choices. His career interests: "Art, music, architectural engineering or video game engineering."

Randall 'Rico' Simmons tries on "super hero" glasses, a gift from child-life specialist Rhys VanDemark, in his Helen DeVos Children's Hospital room. Click to enlarge.

"He's my superhero," Tina said about her son last week as she sat on his hospital bed shortly before leaving for home. "If I could just have a pinch of his strength, I think I could conquer the world," she said, her pride and love beaming in her eyes. She said Rico has been a good mentor to other children fighting cancer at the hospital. Rico said it was surprising to learn the photo had touched so many people. "I didn't know how popular the photo was to be honest. It was crazy when I heard it was all over school, too." The photo gallery was popular on MLive, and thousands of you viewed, liked and shared these photos on Facebook and elsewhere. I wanted Rico to know how much he touched me and our readers. About how it's my favorite photo of the year. Because it shows us at our best. When we try to reach. Touch. Connect.

Randall, "Rico" Simmons, 13, of Howard City high fives Captain America and Spiderman from the 9th floor of DeVos Children's Hospital. The Flash, Spiderman, Captain America, The Hulk and Superman flew outside the hospital windows in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"I just remember idolizing superheroes when I was little," Rico said. That's why he reached out that day when the superheroes passed his window. "It gave me a flashback to when he was little," Tina said, remembering how he pumped his fist when the "Give me 5!" sign worked. "To see him so happy after he gave that fist pump; I had tears -- I couldn't help it." "That's my Randall," she said.