Window Cleaning Rescues & Suspicious Deaths

The aerial ladder platform (ALP) that was brought by the department of fire and emergency services to rescue us looked like a toy from the 22nd floor where we were stranded for almost 10 hours. "The emergency services personnel and others watching us from the ground floor looked so tiny," recalled Akbar Hussain, 22, one of the two window cleaners who were stuck outside the World Trade Centre in Yeshwanthpur for a large part of Monday evening.

Window cleaners stuck outside 22nd floor rescued after 9-hour operation (Yeshwantpur, Bangalore): Duo were dangling more than 200 feet above the ground in an open-air platform for nearly nine hours before being rescued by Fire Department. Dangling in an open-air platform more than 200 feet above the ground, two labourers clung on to dear life for nearly nine hours while rescue teams figured a way to extract them to safety. The window-cleaners were stuck outside the 22nd floor of the World Trade Centre at Yeshwantpur.

Wasim Ahmed and Akbar Hussain were stranded while working in the WTC at Yeshwantpur on Monday.

Wasim Ahmed and Akbar Hussain – from Uttar Pradesh – were lowered from the roof of the 32-storey building on a pedestal at 8 a.m. in a day-long exercise to clean the glass façade of the tower that houses numerous multi-national companies and consulates. The pedestal was being manoeuvred by a machine. Around noon, the apparatus got stuck at the 22nd floor. Their colleagues tried to fix the machine, but failed. Then they tried to hoist them to the roof, but did not succeed.

When all efforts to rescue the duo failed, the Fire and Emergency Services personnel were alerted. By then, it was 5.45 p.m. The extendable ladders of the two fire tenders fell short by a long margin. The ladders could reach a height of 175 feet. Wasim says, “We were stuck for nearly nine hours and were scared out of our minds. It was a long way down. But, we were confident that the wires holding the pedestal would not break. The fact that it was only the machine that was malfunctioning and there was no problem with the ropes gave us some measure of confidence.”

Eventually around 9 p.m., officials broke glass panes on the 22nd floor and pulled the duo to safety. A police officer, who was part of the rescue operation, said, “The glass had to be broken carefully to ensure neither the duo nor those below were injured during the process. The pieces would be blown a little distance by the wind – which is dangerous as the complex houses a mall – before they hit the ground.” An official of the Fire Department said the duo were not wearing helmets or safety gear. More detail here.

Window cleaner trapped on platform outside Canberra building: A window cleaner and a mechanic had to call the fire brigade for help when they became trapped on a raised platform in Canberra on Saturday morning. The men were working on the fourth floor on the top of a building on Constitution Avenue, in Campbell, when the platform stopped moving. They called triple zero shortly after 7am.

The Emergency Services Agency said it sent the ambulance, a pumper and the Bronto Aerial Platform to help. "A firefighter was able to fix the mechanical issue of the hydraulic platform they were working on," the agency said in a statement. "ACT Fire & Rescue did not have to use its Bronto Aerial Platform. The two men have been safely lowered to the ground." No one was hurt in the incident.

He had no identification on him but now, nearly two weeks later, the OPD has identified the man as Fallbrook resident, window cleaner, Mark Andrew Slaughter, 45.

Death of Fallbrook man called ‘suspicious’ (OCEANSIDE): A man found injured on an Oceanside bike path on New Year’s Day and later died was identified Wednesday as a Fallbrook resident. Mark Andrew Slaughter, 45, died under what police are investigating as suspicious, Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Cosby said. Slaughter was found along a bike path on South Coast Highway, near Eaton Street, about 8:40 p.m. on Jan. 1, police said. He had head and face injuries, and was taken to a hospital. He died a short time later.

Cosby said an autopsy was conducted but the Medical Examiner’s Office was not able to determine what caused Slaughter’s head injuries or what caused his death. Internet sites show Mark Slaughter as owner of Focus Window Cleaning Service in Fallbrook. Investigators are asking that anyone with information about the case or about Slaughter’s movements on Jan. 1 call them at (760) 435-4892.

Police cover the body of a domestic helper who fell out of the window of an apartment in Kowloon City on Wednesday.

Indonesian maid falls to death in window-cleaning accident: An Indonesian maid fell to her death on Wednesday when she was apparently doing some cleaning work at a window of an apartment in Kowloon City. The domestic helper, a 21-year-old who bears the first name Titik, came to Hong Kong just two months ago, according to Ming Pao Daily. The accident took place at midday at a building named Elite House on Argyle Street.

A security guard said he rushed outside the building after hearing a loud thud. He saw a woman lying on the ground unconscious, prompting him to immediately call the police. When the police and medical personnel arrived, they pronounced the woman dead on the scene. Blood stains and broken pieces of a flower pot were found on the floor. The police didn’t find any suicide note on the person or inside the flat, leading them to believe that the maid may have fallen from the window accidentally.

Cheung Kit-man, chairman of Hong Kong Employment Agencies Association, said that in the past two years there had been a total of fourteen cases of domestic workers falling out of windows. Domestic workers are often not careful, he said, noting that some maids tend to lean way too out from windows when cleaning. Under current law, the Hong Kong government requires an employer to buy insurance for their foreign domestic workers. Family members of the maid are eligible for compensation, and the cost of transferring the body back to homeland will also be covered.

Spate of suicides in China still largely unexplained: The unnatural deaths of seven government officials in less than a month have raised concerns among members of the public, as the causes of some of the deaths have not been explained. Yang Xiaojun, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said only limited information has been provided from official sources, and it’s not sufficient to stop the public from speculating. He said he believes the results of investigations into the deaths are a matter of public concern and that governmental departments need to explain the causes in a timely manner.

Earlier this year, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee issued a notice requiring the public release of detailed information about deceased officials. According to a report in Southern Weekly, 112 officials committed suicide from August 2003 to April 2014, with 39 percent of those dying in their offices, 33 percent at home and the rest at parks or clubs. Hao Zhuang, security chief in Jiaohe, Jilin province, died after falling from the window of his sixth-floor office on Monday morning. The local government made a statement, saying Hao fell from the window accidentally when he was cleaning the window glass and died of critical injuries despite emergency medical treatment. No other details were available.

Also on Monday, Wang Jinwei, 50, head of the finance bureau of Enshi, Hubei province, died after falling from the roof of the residential building where he lived. No explanation for his death has been released. According to a report by Legal Evening News, officials who died of unnatural causes recently include Xiao Wensun, mayor of Liuzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, who drowned in a river on Nov 4; Zhang Jianwei, head of the disciplinary department of China Nation Offshore Oil Corporation, who died in his office on Nov 3; Wang Pin’gang, senior vice-president of China Shenhua Energy Co, who died on Oct 29, the same day the former head of the land and resources department in Xiamen, Fujian province, surnamed Lin, hanged himself in a park; and Chen Hongqiao, president of Guosen Securities, who committed suicide at his home on Oct 23.

Industry Veteran Asks Questions

Another Window Cleaner Falls Off Building. Why?

Another Window Cleaner Falls Off Building. Why? In Sydney, another major accident has occurred involving window cleaners and façade access equipment. Two cleaners were left in critical condition after the building maintenance unit (BMU) cradle they were working in fell 12 floors onto the street awning below. One man was crushed under the cradle and the other wound up dangling over the edge of the awning.

This is on the heels of another accident in August where a window cleaner fell off the Apple store in Sydney. He was using rope access methods to clean the façade. He too amazingly survived but with serious injuries.

Are these types of accidents going to be the norm? Do authorities require a death before they act? I’m amazed that after the Apple store accident, the working at heights industry has had no contact directly or indirectly from the agency that is meant to govern workplace safety in NSW, WorkCover. Where are the WorkCover inspectors or educators? Absolutely nothing is being done to improve safety for the thousands of people who work at heights across Australia.

I see the extent of the problem daily. It may be a lone window cleaner working on the facade of a 60-floor apartment building, a plasterer finishing a ceiling while standing on a ladder on the edge of a balcony, or a fall protection anchor point that pops out when being load tested for annual certification.

We need immediate action; to begin with, WorkCover should be inspecting all buildings in Sydney to ensure the façade access and fall protection equipment is in compliance. Also, Government needs to sit down with industry bodies like the Working at Heights Association, IRATA and ARAA, and they need to comprehensively review working practices and standards. This needs to be done now. If we act quickly, we may be able to save someone’s life. If not, I believe it’s just a matter of time before the next accident is a fatality.

Contributed by Andrew Ferguson (KARABINER): Andrew is an expert in Fall Protection, Rope Access and Façade Access Equipment and has been working in these sectors for since 1991. Andrew has worked on large and prestigious commercial construction projects in Australia, Middle East and Asia. He’s experience also extended to the miming, oil and gas sectors.

With 24 years experience there are many first from Andrew and his expert teams, both Karabiner and XSPlatforms. Innovation has always been one of the key elements in his success in solving many of the most difficult access scenarios put up by industry. Such as green facades with 20 tones annually of waste and vegetation to be removed and replaced, glass roofs with complex atrium spaces, large façade art installation, buildings with counter-leveed façades, merging new construction into heritage buildings and a mirrored of architectural features never contemplated just a few years ago. Tackling commercial construction faces many modern challenges however it can be simpler than in the miming, oil and gas sectors where everything is made more complicated by site remoteness, tight program’s and the shear scale of the projects. 

Andrew was a founding member of the Australian Rope Access Association, sat on the WorkCover committee reviewing Façade Access, Working at Heights and Rope Access in NSW. He also sat on the Australian Standards Committee which develop the first Australian Standard for Rope Access (AS4488), his company Karabiner was a (past) member of IRATA and now he is a member of the Working at Heights Association (WAHA) and part of the team developing the ‘Industry Code – Permanent Anchors, Lifeline and Rail Installations’.

Scotland The Brave... Stupid

Scotland The Brave... Stupid.

Heartstopping video shows foolhardy window cleaner perching on a tiny ledge four storeys up - without any safety gear: This is the shocking moment when a window cleaner balancing on a top floor ledge - without any safety equipment. Colin Elliot appears to use only his left hand to cling on to the outside of a third floor flat while wiping the windows with his other hand. Witnesses said he left the property through the window before carrying out the dangerous task, branding him 'fearless' but 'stupid'.

Barry McLauchlan, 22, (pictured) who was working on the opposite side of Caird Drive, Glasgow, recorded the terrifying moment on Monday morning. The labourer, from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, said: 'I was just working away and looked across the street. I noticed this window cleaner. He said: 'I thought nothing of it, but the more I stared I noticed he wasn't wearing any safety equipment. There was no harness or safety aids. 'I was shocked. I was fearing more for his life than he was. 'I saw him climb out of the window. He closed it behind him and washed the window as if it was a ground floor and nothing had happened. 'Except from his hand holding on to the window, there was nothing keeping him there.'

Witnesses branded the daredevil "fearless" and "stupid" as he dangled from a window with just his hand for support, nonchalantly cleaning windows.

The daring window cleaner was named as Colin Elliot from the Partick area of Glasgow. Mr McLauchlan and his colleagues believe he must be self-employed or just a member of the public. He said: 'I work in the construction industry and know how important it is to stick to health and safety. 'He's a braver guy than I am. But there is fearless and then there is stupid. 'You've got to think about health and safety. My thought is that this guy is self-employed because any company's insurance would not have paid for that.'

Barry McLauchlan, 22, who was working on the opposite side of Caird Drive, Glasgow, recorded the terrifying moment on Monday morning.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which regulates the workplace, said it could not comment as the man may have just been a member of the public. But a spokesman added: 'Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries, and we would hope anyone working at height took necessary precautions to prevent an incident.'

Mr Elliot, 56, said he has been cleaning windows for almost 34 years without incident.

However, Colin Elliot said he is the window cleaner captured in the footage. Mr Elliot, 56, said he has been cleaning windows for almost 34 years without incident.  He said: 'No, I don't use safety equipment - it's not like I do the Empire State Building.' Mr Elliot said the tallest buildings he works on are three storeys high. Commenting on those who had questioned his working with no safety

equipment, he said: 'It's just from their point of view. I wouldn't recommend they go out on a window ledge. 'If you're fearful of the activity you shouldn't do it. I have an exceptional head for heights.

Mr Elliot, pictured said: 'Having survived it for 33 and a half years I must be bloody good at risk assessment'.

'I guess I assess the job quick enough and if I thought it was pushing it safety-wise, I say I want to get those windows hinged before I do it. 'I would tell them if they were beyond the pail. I know when a window is too dangerous. 'I never go out on a window ledge if I don't need to. If I have got a bay window I open each of the windows in. My advice is you never take any needless risks. 'Having survived it for 33 and a half years I must be bloody good at risk assessment.' One local resident, who did not wish to be named, said: 'He's a great window cleaner and does a great job, very thorough. He's a very interesting character and has been working in the west end for a very long time.'

Another Window Cleaner Dies - More Accidents - More Idiots

A 78-year-old window washer was fatally injured (died).

Window washer fatally injured in fall: A 78-year-old window washer was fatally injured in a fall this morning at Christian Theological Seminary. According to an IMPD spokesman, the accident occurred about 10 a.m. at the seminary, 4251 N. Haughey St. The fall, said IMPD spokesman Michael Hewitt, “appears to be accidental. According to supervisors, there does not appear to be any foul play.’’ The man’s name is not being released pending notification of relatives.

Window washer falls to his death at CTS - Indianapolis (WISH) - IMPD officials say a man fell to his death while washing windows at the Christian Theological Seminary. Officials say the 78-year-old man was washing windows at CTS, which is just off Butler's campus, when he fell from the third floor. The man was pronounced dead on the scene. Officials say foul play is not suspected. This appears to be an accident.

Also see here for HEALTH & SAFETY DOCUMENT CODE of PRACTICE .

A broken handrail at the Harbour View Thai Restaurant on Addison St shows where a window washer fell this morning.

Window cleaner injured in Addison St balcony fall (Illawarra, NSW, Australia): A window cleaner has been airlifted to hospital with a serious head injury after he fell from the balcony of a Shellharbour restaurant. The man was washing the side glass partitions of the Harbour View Thai Restaurant, on Addison Street, moments before he fell four metres into the gutter, taking part of the balcony handrail with him.

New South Wales Ambulance paramedics came to the aid of the man, 42, from Flinders, shortly after 8 o'clock this morning. He lost consciousness in the fall and was confused and disoriented when paramedics arrived. He was transported to Illawarra Regional Airport then airlifted to St George Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment for a possible fractured skull. He remains in a serious but stable condition.

Hamburg City - sure is different. A window cleaner is balancing around 13 meters height on a ladder, while his colleague is holding the rope that secures him. But in an emergency.. both fall.  A reader-reporter photographed this dangerous game, saying.. "That's just crazy."

Dieter Gottschalk (63), operations manager at the Heidmann Building Cleaning Ltd., was horrified... "They were employees of a subcontractor of us. "We will be calling our sub-contractors for a conversation."

These window cleaners have no pane! (No shit!) - Oh man, the reckless! Two window cleaners doing some gymnastics on a 13 meter building. One secures the other with a rope. Just stupid.. he himself is totally unsecured at the roof edge.  If the lower man falls, he takes the upper man with him.  To make matters worse, the man on the roof is on the phone. The office building "Schaumburg Hof" in downtown Hamburg.  A reader-reporter photographed this dangerous game, saying.. "that's just crazy."

When these images were shown to the window cleaning company afterwards, Dieter Gottschalk (63), operations manager at Heidmann Building Cleaning Ltd., was horrified. "They were employees of a subcontractor of us."  "The window cleaner on the roof would have to be secured with a separate belt system and a rope also."  "He is disregarding the accident prevention regulations of the trade association." "We are going to call our sub-contractors in regard to this conversation."

Biggest Idiot On A Ladder Winner

And the winner is..

Biggest idiot on a ladder crowned by Ladder Association after public vote: After three months of picture submissions and voting, the Ladder Association’s Idiots on Ladders campaign has discovered the biggest “ladder idiot” in the UK. Beginning on September 1st, the Ladder Association welcomed submissions from the public of the worst uses of ladders they could find. The competition, which aimed to shame dangerous ladder users into changing their ways, then offered people the chance to vote on Facebook to decide which picture was the worst.

The clear winner, with over 30% of the vote, showed a worker reaching up to the top of a chimney with a gaping fall directly below him. Not only could the fall have killed him, but one commenter pointed out that his ladder still did not reach high enough to keep him from stretching upwards. To top the situation off, he also had a bucket wedged between the ladder and the wall it was resting against. The Ladder Association is now looking into the background of the picture in an attempt to identify the man and offer him the training he obviously needs, assuming he has survived to benefit from it.

In second place came a picture taken earlier this year, showing a gardener with one foot on the rung of his ladder and the other on a tree branch, while he brandished a chainsaw at the tree’s other branches without protective clothing or a harness. The picture originally came from a news story in the Lincolnshire Echo, which reported that he was fined a total of £6,000 for his ladder idiocy. The photo only won around 14% of the vote but took off on Facebook as it was shared and commented on by even more people than the winner.

Cameron Clow, Chairman of the Ladder Association, said: “This competition was all about raising awareness and as such it was run alongside the Ladder Exchange, which offers people and businesses the chance to trade in unsafe ladders for new, compliant ones. We wanted to show together two of the biggest dangers in the workplace – people using their ladders in an unsafe way, and people using equipment that is unfit for purpose.

“Ladders are arguably the most common type of equipment used for work at height – it is estimated that three million are in use in the UK alone. Reported ladder accidents have fallen by over 30% over the last 10 years, but more clearly needs to be done. We are pleased at the response the competition received, with people making sure to pull out their cameras whenever they saw dangerous ladder use, but it is also a worrying sign of how common this kind of unsafe activity is.”

38 pictures were submitted throughout the contest from around the globe, with one picture of a ladder perched precariously on an unsafe mobile access tower being traced back to Mexico. While it is already known that falls from height are the number one cause of death at work, the number and variety of the pictures are startling evidence that dangerous ladder use is occurring daily. With the competition now over, the completed Idiots on Ladders album can be found on the Ladder Association Facebook page here.

Some of the window cleaning entrants of "biggest idiot on a ladder"...

 

Clickable links...

Ladder Falls: Even The Most Experienced Can Fall

Window Cleaners Star In: Ladders, Tables & Death Wishes  

Is Cleaning a Window Worth Your Life?

Protect Your Brain - More Ladder Falls

DeathWish: HomeOwners Clean Their Own Windows

Latest Spotlight On Falls From Height

Eric was injured in a fall from a roof while at work on Wednesday July 11th. He has been in ICU for several days with many broken bones and 2 collapsed lungs but is slowly making a recovery.

Benefit fund established for victim of fall (WENATCHEE) — Friends of a Wenatchee window cleaner injured in a severe fall last week seek donations to help his recovery. Eric Opel, owner of Eric’s Affordable Window Service, fell from a Chelan roof July 11 and suffered broken collar bones, ribs, shoulder blades and one arm, as well as collapsed lungs and a fractured lower vertebra. He remained Saturday in intensive care at Central Washington Hospital, in serious but stable condition. Donations to help his family with expenses can be made to the Eric B. Opel Benefit Fund at Cashmere Valley Bank, 1100 Maple Street, Wenatchee, or any Cashmere Valley Bank Branch.

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Illegal maid's garbage-chute escape ends in death - She plunged from 8th floor after trying to escape. An Asian housemaid plunged to her death from the eighth level into the building’s chute in Abu Dhabi after she tried to escape inspectors coming to the apartment for a washing offence, mistaking them for immigration law enforcers. After she heard the knocking on the door, the 28-year-old maid climbed out of the bathroom window, grabbed the sewage pipe and tried to climb down to the ground floor. But she lost her balance and plunged down to death into the chute.

A 28-year-old maid plunged to her death from the eighth floor of a building in Khalidiya area of Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The inspectors had asked the maid to open the door to hand her a fine for violating Municipality’s laws on hanging the wash on the balcony but she thought they were there to arrest her for absconding from her sponsor. “This incident illustrates a permanent state of fear and anxiety suffered from the offenders of the immigration and labour laws…they just try to escape by any means even through this could cost them their lives,” said Colonel Rashid Mohammed Bursheed, director of the criminal investigation department. Bursheed said preliminary investigation ruled out criminal act but it was not clear whether the maid was on her own in that apartment. “We appeal for all people and establishments not to employ illegal migrants and to shut all doors that will encourage them to stay in the country illegally,” he said.

Mystery behind worker's horror plunge: A 20-year-old construction worker was fighting for his life last night after plunging at least six floors from a central Auckland building - in full view of his colleagues and horrified university students. The man, a contractor for Fletcher Construction, fell while working on the Auckland University of Technology's new 13-storey design and creative technologies building yesterday. Work was suspended at the site as police and Department of Labour investigators examined the scene. One colleague said he couldn't understand how the man could have fallen as he would have had to pass through a barrier to get outside. A witness said it appeared he fell from scaffolding on to a bin full of metal pipes. Students coming to and from class in another building saw the fall, and others heard the man hit the ground. Some onlookers thought he fell from at least the eighth floor, although a St John Ambulance spokesman said it was about the sixth floor.
The site was shut down about 2pm and the 250 workers sent home.

The student initially thought the worker was dead. "They covered him over him completely with jackets and we thought that was the end. No one did any CPR so we were pretty sure it was all over." The man "looked so young". "He was completely grey - all the colour had gone out of him. He had tattoos on his chest and they stood out heaps because he was so white." She said the workers who were first to their injured colleague took off his shirt straight away and then covered him with jackets.

FALL SURVIVORS

February 2012: Window cleaner Louisa Kuypers, 18, fell 30 metres from the roof of the Lion Breweries office building in Carlton Gore Rd, Newmarket. She was critically injured.
December 2011: Mikaela Blayney, 20, plunged six storeys during an acrobatic abseiling group's performance above Aotea Square. She broke only her cheekbone.
June 2011: A Wellington window washer fell from the fifth floor of a building and on to a car, only fracturing his big toe.
July 2010: A 15-year-old survived a 50m plunge from a balcony at the Proximity Apartments in Manukau, through a carpark roof on to a concrete floor. The teenager suffered broken bones and internal injuries.
August 2010: A North Shore 18-year-old fell seven storeys during a night of drinking and taking Ecstasy. She suffered breaks in her vertebrae, a punctured lung and three broken ribs.

New York Window Cleaning & Elevated Work Accidents

NYPD And FDNY Squabbled Over Scaffolding Rescue: On Friday, the FDNY and NYPD pulled off a dramatic rescue after three window washers were suddenly clinging to life on scaffolding that broke outside a building, 15 stories above 65th Street street. Except it turns out that the 10 minute rescue wasn't exactly pulled off in simpatico: police and firefighters launched separate rescue efforts concurrently, and have been trading barbs about it ever since.

Emergency Service Unit Detectives James Coll rappelled down the side of the building to the workers while a colleague monitored him from the roof. At the same time, firefighters entered a 17th-floor apartment to rescue the men through the windows. In the end, both were necessary to rescuing the workers. But FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Massucci argued in the press that Coll took an unnecessary risk: “I didn’t see the need for him to put himself in harm’s way...The city protocol is that FDNY has all life, safety and rescue operations." Coll retorted: “Well, we’re trained to do this. We have some of the best training and the best equipment to do this.”

Glenn P. Corbett, an associate professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told the Times that the lack of coordination was ridiculous: “This is an ongoing issue that’s been around for a long time, and I think the real critical part is that we were told, several years ago, that the citywide incident management system fixed this, and it did not fix it,” he said. “This was an issue on 9/11, with separate command posts for the Police and Fire Departments, and there continue to be instances where coordination is missing now.” Such as the 911 response system.

New York City Window Washing Accident: In New York City, window washer accidents, like ladder fall accidents, may occur even if the worker takes adequate precautions. In the event of window washing injuries or death, New York has special legal protections for window washers. Window washing is inherently risky because it is done at dangerous heights. In New York City, window washer accidents, like ladder fall accidents, may occur even if the worker takes adequate precautions. In the event of window washing injuries or death, New York has special legal protections for window washers.

Laws that Protect New York Window Washers from Window Washing Injuries and Death: New York state laws require window washer employers to provide their window washing employees with sufficient training and appropriate safety equipment.  The two laws which specifically protect window washers are New York Labor Law Section 240 and New York Labor Law Section 202. If violated these laws provide the basis for a lawsuit. New York Labor Law Section 240, also known as New York's Scaffold Law, protects all workers who work at elevated heights, including window washers. Under this law, building owners and general contractors are obligated to provide workers with proper protection against gravity-related accidents in New York, such as a fall from a ladder. Required safety measures can include secure ladders, anchorage points, safety vests, lifelines, and harnesses. Section 240 places "strict liability" on the part of the property owner and general contractor in the event

• 1. A laborer suffers window washing injuries or death as a result of not having proper protections.
• 2. A ladder, scaffold or other raised work platform is defective and causes the window washer to fall from a height sufficient to cause injury or death.

The term 'strict liability' means that the property owner or contractor may be held liable for compensatory damages paid to the injured window washer, even if the window washer was partially negligent and/or using his own tools. New York Labor Law Section 202 requires owners of buildings, managing agents, window washer employers to provide and require use of proper protection and safety devices to clean exteriors of buildings. More specifically, the owner of a building in New York must have structural features and anchors or other fixed devices on the building for the window washer's protection prior to allowing a worker to clean a window. This means that, according to the law, window washers should not even be permitted to clean unless proper protection is provided. Window washing must be done in a safe manner in conformity with the law's requirements and the rules of the board of standards and appeals.

Workers injured in New York window washing accidents should contact a New York work accident lawyer who has experience representing the victims of a wide variety of manual labor injuries, including those stemming from window washing accidents. If a window washer gets injured due to a violation of these laws, he or she may be entitled to receive compensation for lost wages, medical bills, reduced earning capacity and for pain, suffering and disability. If you are a window washer injured in a fall, don't assume you only have New York Workers' Compensation to cover your medical care and loss of earnings. You may be entitled to seek significant money damages for your window washing injuries. It is important for window washers to clearly understand their full legal rights following New York City window washer accidents.

Injuries Sustained From Workers that Wash Windows: Window washing accidents can occur because of a number of factors. Injuries are caused by faulty or insufficient safety devices. Poor worker training is also a cause of many manual labor injuries. Scaffold and ladder fall injuries are often very serious because they involve falls from heights. Common window washing injuries (ladder fall and scaffold fall) include back injuries, head injuries, severe fractures, spinal cord injuries or broken bones. After a scaffold or ladder fall accident, even an experienced window washer may suddenly be unable to ever work again. A number of victims of New York City window washing accidents suffer fatal injuries.

Victims of New York City window washer accidents and/or their families need to understand their rights.

Spotlight On Fatal Falls from Height

Stephen Wainwright.

Closure for Ilkley mum 7 years on from son’s fatal fall: The mother of a window cleaner who fell to his death seven years ago yesterday said she felt a sense of closure after planting two trees to remember her son. Pat McPherson said it had been seven “heartbreaking” years since Stephen Wainwright died after falling from a fifth-floor balcony while cleaning windows at a block of flats in Wells Road, Ilkley.

But yesterday, Mrs McPherson planted two trees at Ilkley cemetery in honour of her popular son, who had been cleaning windows for 20 years when he died in March 2005. She said it was a good opportunity for friends and family to remember the 44-year-old Leeds United fan, after attempting to set up a memorial with the club over the years.

However, it was not possible and now Mrs McPherson said she was happy to plant the cherry blossom and acer trees in the cemetery grounds thanks to money donated from Mr Wainwright’s friends and his family over the years. “It’s been seven heartbreaking years,” she said. “All his friends collected money for him and they’ve been very good and still come round to see me now. “He had friends from the ages of 14 to 80 and the number of people who got in touch after he died has been amazing. “He would have liked this.”

Mr Wainwright was born in Otley and moved to Ilkley with his mum when he was six years old. He was a former pupil of Sacred Heart School and St Mary’s School, Menston. He later studied art at Keighley College. He liked being a window cleaner because it kept him outside. An inquest into Mr Wainwright’s death heard it was likely he had either been leaning on railings inside the balcony trying to clean a kitchen window or was on the outside of the balcony holding on to the rail.

Indonesian Maid Falls to Her Death in Singapore: An Indonesian maid fell 13 storeys to her death last Saturday while reportedly cleaning windows. The 23-year-old fell from her employer’s home in Pasir Ris Street 71. Residents told Chinese newspaper Lianhe Wanbao that they heard a loud thud and saw a wooden bamboo clothes pole next to her body. Her employers declined to comment. A police spokesman said they were alerted to the incident at around 4:45 p.m. that day.

The maid was pronounced dead at the scene and the police have classified the incident as an unnatural death. Investigations are ongoing. Last month, a 28-year-old Indonesian maid fell seven floors from her employer’s Jurong East condominium after reportedly losing her balance while cleaning windows. Between 2006 and 2010, 27 maids died as a result of falls from heights. The figure includes accidental falls and suicides.

Faced with a spate of falling deaths in the 1970s, New York City undertook a campaign over education and regulations that reduced the number of deaths from 40 to 50 annually to just four by 1980.

Emirates act on window deaths: Sharjah saw four children plunge to their deaths in the space of two weeks in late November-early December. Two more followed in Abu Dhabi, one at the end of January 30 and again four days later. The three-year-old girl who plunged to her death in January from a fifth floor apartment at Airport Road in Abu Dhabi had nearly met her fate four weeks earlier, when she was rescued by a policeman who noticed her leaning out of a window in her home. Adults are not immune from the problem either: Last week, a 23-year-old Ethiopian cleaning woman met her death after falling. “Many people don’t use air conditioning, starting in December or November,” Michal Grivna, who teaches in the UAE University’s department of community medicine, told The Media Line. “When there is cooler weather they tend to open the windows instead of using air conditioning.”

At least two of the emirates are now doing something to address the phenomenon. Abu Dhabi’s Municipal Affairs Department announced on March 13 that it was giving homeowners six months to meet new standards of safety. These include rules that windows and balconies must not allow openings in excess of 10cm (4in). Locks and protective measures must also be in place for windows and openings that are less than 1.5m (5ft) above the apartment floor. A week earlier, Sharjah issued similar instructions, including a requirement that building owners increase the balcony height to at least 1.2m instead of 1m and that windows should be child-proof so that without the aid of an adult they could not be opened wide enough for a child to climb out. 

Fall: Alcides Moreno & wife Rosario.

Miraculous survival stories: Window cleaning brothers Alcides and Edgar Moreno fell 47 stories when the cable securing their cleaning platform snapped in 2007. They had not been wearing safety harnesses as they washed the New York apartment building’s windows and after falling 500 feet Edgar, 30, was killed instantly. Married father-of-three Alcides, then 37, was left in a coma with multiple fractures of his ribs, right arm and both legs as well as damage to his spinal cord. Alcides not only made a full recovery but was able to walk again. Dr Philip Barrie, from New York-Presbyterian Hospital, said: “If you’re a believer in miracles, this would be one. I’ve seen it all – or at least I think I have – until something like this happens.”