Denver Firefighters Kept Busy Saving Window Cleaners

The collapsed suspended platform. In the first incident two window cleaners were working from a suspended platform when one of the cables gave way, dropping one end of the platform.

Denver fire fighters busy with work at height:  Denver firefighters were kept busy last week, rescuing two men from a collapsed suspended platform and then a man from a boom lift that touched overhead power lines. In the first incident two window washers were working from a suspended platform aka swing stage at a height or around 30 metres, when one of the hoists/cables gave way, dropping one end of the platform.

The fire department just managed to reach the stranded men - both of whom were wearing harnesses – with their 105ft ladder platform. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the incident.

A closer look.

Then on Friday a man using a Genie S-85 rented from Sunstate Equipment managed to come into contact with some overhead power lines. The lift’s boom was fully retracted, but elevated to around 45 degrees or so. One report claims that the contact caused a fire on the machine, although the man was unhurt. He was wearing a full harness and lanyard and was carrying a fair bit of material including four large planks. Once again the Denver fire service came to the rescue, along with a crew from Xcel Energy. there were no injuries in either incident.

Rescued unharmed after contacting power lines.

Window Cleaning News

Window Cleaning Father and daughter killed in waterfall named: A father and this three-year-old daughter killed when they fell 50 feetdown a steep embankment and into a river were found in each other’s arms. James Gallacher and his little girl Sorraya were yesterday named as the pair who died in the tragic accident near Nantcol waterfall in Llanbedr, Harlech. Mr Gallacher, aged 35, and Sorraya, from Partington in Manchester, were on a camping holiday with his girlfriend, his sister Ellen and her boyfriend Jon Finch and their four-year-old son, at Shell Island, Mochras. Yesterday Mr Finch’s devastated sister Zena described what happened. She said: “They had all had a great day playing on the beach and were on their way to the shop to get some beers for when they got back to the camp site. “They saw the sign for the nature trail and thought they would have a look. They were following the path. Sorraya was picked up by her dad when he just slipped. “One minute he was there and the next he was gone.”
Ms Finch said her brother scrambled down the slope to the river but could not find the pair as the water was too deep. Two helicopters were scrambled and divers searched the river before the bodies were found under a rockshelf in a pool at the bottom of the waterfall around two hours later. Ms Finch said: “It was all really sudden. He banged his head and went under a rock. And when the rescuers found them, she was still in his arms.” She angrily dismissed speculation that window-cleaner Mr Gallacher had been larking around on the path above the river moments before the tragedy. “He would never have put his daughter in danger,” she said. “He was a strong swimmer and he was familiar with the outdoors. He had two children with him and he was not messing about. He would never have done that.” Yesterday a message of sympathy for the family came from Margaret Woodhouse, director of education and early years services at Trafford Council, Manchester. She said: “We have been notified of the tragic deaths of Soraya and her father in Wales and our sincere condolences and sympathy go to all their family and friends at this most tragic time in their lives.”
North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones opened and adjourned an inquest into the deaths. Local divers Richard Workman, 30, and James Hordley, 21, who are cousins, assisted police and recovered the bodies. Mr Workman, who manages the Shell Island campsite, said: “I can’t imagine what the mother is going through.” A joint investigation into the inciden between police, Gwynedd council and the Health and Safety Executive was continuing last night.

Service supplier wins new contract to clean Argos stores: Interserve, the services, maintenance and building group, has announced that it has added to its portfolio of national retail support services contracts by signing a multi-million pound deal with leading high street retailer, Argos. The contract involves store cleaning, window cleaning, high level cleaning and warehouse cleaning at Argos’s 745 stores across the UK. Interserve states that it will transfer approximately 1500 staff under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment) following Argos’s decision to outsource its cleaning requirements to one supplier. This approach is intended to save the retailer money whilst improving service quality. Interserve reports that it will be working with Argos to improve the quality, sustainability and customer experience throughout the store estate.
Tony Sanders, Interserve commercial managing director, said: 'The retail sector is perhaps more competitive than ever and we are delighted to have secured Argos as one of our key accounts under a full national portfolio. 'We are also pleased to now become the preferred supplier for cleaning and associated services across the Home Retail Group. We now manage around 50 million square feet of retail space as our retail team and capability goes from strength to strength.' Will Jary, operational support manager at Argos said: 'We were impressed by Interserve’s proposal which demonstrates its great attention to both cost and service quality. Interserve has great experience in TUPE transfers and sustainability which also makes it a natural choice for this contract.' Interserve has highlighted its commitment to staff training and development through the creation of a cleaning apprenticeship in partnership with Asset Skills, the Sector Skills Council for facilities management and cleaning.

ABM Industries Inc. (ABM) is our insider buying stock of the week. ABM Industries Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides janitorial, parking, security, and engineering services for commercial, industrial, institutional, and retail facilities primarily in the United States. It operates in four segments: Janitorial, Parking, Security, and Engineering. The Janitorial segment provides floor cleaning and finishing, window washing, furniture polishing, and carpet cleaning and dusting, as well as other building cleaning services for customers in various facilities, including commercial office buildings, industrial facilities, financial institutions, retail stores, shopping centers, warehouses, airport terminals, health facilities and educational institutions, stadiums and arenas, and government buildings.

Saturn Apartments By Hisae Iwaoka (Rated ‘T’ for teens). A touching, character-rich vision of an intriguing new world. Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the Earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the Earth, thirty-five kilometers up in the sky. The society of the ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high. When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father’s occupation. As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu’s job treats him to an outsider’s view into the various living-room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.

A Tarentum man is accused of running over another man with an SUV and then trying to flee police early Saturday. The injured man, Robert R. Michel, 42, of Brackenridge Avenue, Brackenridge, was in critical condition uesterday in Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh. Police said Albert Davalos, 38, of West Seventh Avenue, Tarentum, is facing attempted homicide and a host of other charges. He was in the Allegheny County Jail yesterday in lieu of $250,000 bond. Police said the men argued inside Michel's bar, the Argonne Inn on Argonne Drive, before the confrontation happened outside. Davalos, who police said is a self-employed window washer, was arrested after a short but spectacular chase.
Harrison Police Chief Mike Klein said an officer arriving at about 1:05 a.m. saw an SUV speeding away from the bar. The officer gave chase about 40 yards up Argonne Drive to a sharp bend and then down a hill onto the short, narrow and winding Vermont Street. Along the way, the Ford Explorer that Davalos was driving was disabled after careening into a guardrail on the left side of the road. The SUV hit with enough force to break off a wheel at the axle, police said. The chase ended a short distance away along Mile Lock Lane, which intersects Vermont Street. Klein said Davalos was arrested without further incident. Allegheny County Police also are investigating. In addition to attempted homicide, Davalos is charged with drunken driving, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and fleeing or attempting to elude police, said Assistant County Police Superintendent James Morton.

Denver window washer Roger Schlenger stopped buying health insurance five years ago. His salary just couldn't keep up with rising cost of insurance. "Something had to go," he said Monday. "Whether it was my transportation, paying my insurance, food in my belly or not having roof over my head," he added. Schlenger is one of those hoping that Congress will move on a health care overhaul. His comments to 7NEWS came as President Barack Obama pushed back hard against Republican critics. "We can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care," Obama said after meeting with doctors, nurses and other health care workers at Children's National Medical Center. "Not this time. Not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake."

Ogden to forgo clean windows: It’s a dirty job, but at least for now, no one has to do it. The city will forgo window washing over the next year at the Municipal Building, reduce newspaper subscriptions and undertake other cost-saving measures to cope with a $2.2 million reduction in its general fund budget. The general fund has been reduced from about $51.1 million in fiscal 2009 to $49.9 million in the city’s fiscal 2010 budget largely because of a decrease in sales tax revenues, projected to reach only about $12.4 million. "There may be a continual slide in the economy (in fiscal 2010 that began July 10)," said John Arrington, the city’s finance manager. The city budgeted to receive about $15.2 million in sales tax this year but will likely get only about $12.7 million, he said. As a result, the city is implementing various money-saving strategies, said Mark Johnson, the municipality’s management services director. "We are being as frugal as we can in every area," he said. For example, the city will discontinue window-washing services at the Municipal Building for the next year, which should save about $1,500 to $2,000, Johnson said. The task may resume when the economy improves. "I don’t think we can go forever without washing windows," Johnson said.

Denver Airport Window Washing Woes

Push is on not to wipe slate clean - Nine Denver council members want winning bidders for city pacts to keep the same staff: The Denver City Council may require winning bidders for city contracts to retain employees from the previous contract holder rather than starting fresh with their own workers. The ordinance, being pushed by council member Chris Nevitt (pictured), is the result of the possible dismissal of window-washers at Denver International Airport. The airport has put the window-washing contract out for bids. Nevitt in the past month asked airport officials to require any new contractor to continue employing the current 23 window-washers, many of whom have been washing airport windows in Denver for more than 10 years. DIA aviation manager Kim Day declined to do so, instead inserting less firm language in the request for bids: "Contractor agrees to use good faith effort to interview and employ staff with current or past DIA experience."
Now Nevitt is spearheading a push for an ordinance that would require all city and airport contractors to keep existing employees for a set period of time after a contract switches hands.
He argues that such a practice is similar to what other airports in the nation have on the books.
Eight other council members Monday joined him in sending a letter to Day and Mayor John Hickenlooper's chief of staff, Kelly Brough. In their letter, they expressed disappointment over the lack of job security for the city's contract workers. Those signing — Nevitt, along with Carol Boigon, Doug Linkhart, Rick Garcia, Paul Lopez, Peggy Lehmann, Marcia Johnson, Judy Montero and Michael Hancock — said they would bring forth an ordinance to establish a worker-retention policy. "Particularly in this difficult economy and amid rising unemployment, it is imperative that the city, as one of the metro region's largest employers, responsibly manage workforce transitions between service contractors to avoid imposing inadvertent cost- shifting to other public services," the letter states.

The issue could split the 13-member council along labor and business lines, similarly to how the council divided during a debate over an airport-parking contract last year. Nevitt has close ties with labor organizations and founded a labor-backed think tank. The 23 workers whose jobs are in jeopardy are represented by Service Employees International Union. Nevitt said the airport currently requires new contractors to keep existing employees, but only when those employees make less than $15 an hour. The window- washers make more than $19 an hour, Nevitt said.
Chuck Cannon, a DIA spokesperson, said the airport plans to close on the bids Friday. He said the contract is worth between $6 million and $8 million.
Local firm B-G Service Solution had the window-washing contract, which had a term of three years with the option for two one-year extensions. The firm subcontracted the work out to another local firm, Shawn's Sparkling Squeegee Service. At some point, ISS Facilities Service took over B-G Service, which held the contract even when the airport was at Stapleton. The issue spooks Perry Stone, who has washed airport windows since 1993 and has raised two children on his wages. "I've provided a pretty decent home and environment for them by working this job, and my co- workers would say the same," he said.

Window of Opportunity came with a Squeegee

Thursday broke hazy and gray, the mercury lodged at the freezing mark with no sign of the sun. The idea of standing outside with a bucket of water in a brisk wind could not have been less inviting. But there was Art Biggs, giving the soap-and-squeegee treatment to every shop window in the sprawling Westgate Centre in Lakewood. "Days like this are pretty brutal," he said. "But you know? I love this job." Like long-distance trucking or driving a combine, washing windows offers a certain isolation that invites introspection. "I have lots of time to spend inside my own head," Biggs said. "There's always time to be daydreaming or mulling over current events." Sometimes he listens to audio books, but generally it's just him and the Zen of soaping windows and fanning a squeegee across them.
At 39, Biggs, who grew up in Littleton, has been in the trade for 15 years. After graduating from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a history degree, he found himself working a dead-end retail job. Then one day, a revelation. "A window washer walked in and went to work," Biggs said. "He was just ecstatically happy, almost like he was on some religious high. And he made more money in 20 minutes than I did in three hours. "I thought, 'Hey, he may be on to something.' " Soon enough, Biggs walked into a Home Depot and bought a window-washing kit: squeegees, mops, detergent (he prefers Dawn) and a bucket. The tools of the trade don't get much simpler unless you shovel snow for a living. "I went out and got my first customer that week," he said. "It was a Mail Boxes Etc. store."
Today, Biggs, married with one daughter, has 65 commercial clients and serves 100 homes. He's insured to work up to 30 feet off the ground, "so basically a Denver square is my limit." He charges $45 an hour, working 50 hours a week in warm weather and 30 hours from January to March. "Basically I have a nice middle-class income," he said. So far, it's been recession- proof.
The job has its hazards. Biggs has never fallen off a ladder, but he has had them shift on him. "It's like being on an amusement park ride and have something go wrong." Then there are the wasps. "You'll be reaching into a window well and get nailed four or five times," he said. "That's when I lose my live-and-let-live perspective." Then winter arrives and you arrive at work on a frigid day only to find you have left your waterproof gloves at home.
But there are perks: working outside, a flexible schedule that gives him time to spend with his daughter, who is autistic. Sometimes he even has an audience. "Kids are hilarious," he said. "They're just fascinated. Sometimes I hand them the squeegee and let them go to work. "A few of the parents are a little reserved — it's not the career path they want the kids to take — but other parents get into it: 'That's great, honey; now you can come home and do our windows.' " I asked Biggs what the job has given him. "I think my profession enables me to see the world from both sides of the fishbowl," he said. "I have come to love this city and its people. I feel like I am in some great theatrical work every day. "Kind of like 'Our Town.' " With squeegees.

Electricity Shocks Window Washers, Denver

Two window washers suffered electrical shocks while working at a Denver building after the ladder they were handling fell into a power line. The window washers, who work for Shawn's Sparkling Squeegee Service, were taken to a Denver-area hospital after suffering residual effects from the shocks. The accident occurred near the intersection of West 29th Avenue and Wyandot Street. The power line carried an estimated 220 volts. Co-worker Miguel Cruiz, who has been a window washer for eight years, said he was at the scene when the accident happened. "Two guys were trying to move a ladder but lost control of it," Cruiz said. "It fell into power lines." Cruiz said that his two co- workers were walking and talking after the ladder fell, and that he didn't know why it was necessary for them to be taken to the hospital. Their conditions were not available. Initial reports from Denver Fire Department officials said only that one window washer had been shocked.

Death in Denver at the same building!

Plunge kills man at Denver apartments.

A man plummeted to his death from a balcony at Brooks Tower in downtown Denver around noon Sunday. "There is still an investigation to make a determination whether the death was accidental or suicidal," said police Detective John White. The man is believed to be in his 20s, said White, who didn't know whether he was a resident of the apartment complex. In 2006, Brian Thompson fell to his death from a balcony at Brooks Tower. Police ruled that death accidental. 9News reported that a window washer suffered minor injuries Friday in a 30-foot fall at the building.

Denver Dive

Window Washer Falls from Skyscraper: DENVER - A window washer fell at a skyscraper in downtown Denver Friday morning. The Denver Fire Department said the window washer fell about five stories at Brooks Tower (pic above), 1020 15th Street. Officials say his emergency equipment worked, and saved him from hitting the bottom. He went to the hospital for treatment of his injuries, but doctors expected him to be okay. A witness said he saw water falling outside his window, and heard the window washer fall. The man reportedly is an employee of Shawn's Sparkling Squeegee Services, Inc. Pictured below: Officials investigate the scene where a window washer fell at Brooks Tower.