Centre evacuated after incident: A CRANE collapse led to the evacuation of the Clover Centre walk-in clinic at Great Western Hospital. The collapse happened at about 8.15am yesterday as window cleaners prepared a 60-metre cherry-picker crane for their morning’s work. Within minutes of turning on the crane’s engine a supporting arm broke, tipping the 35-tonne machine precariously over the outbuilding, which had `10 staff and six patients inside. None of the window cleaners – from
Lingwoods cleaning company in Reading – were on the crane’s platform at the time. “If it had collapsed with someone in the cage up at 60 metres, we could have been looking at a truly terrible incident,” said Mark Hemphill, health and safety investigator for the Great Western Hospital NHS Trust. “We’re grateful to the window cleaners who ran into the Clover Centre immediately to raise the alarm and evacuate the building. “Given its position, the crane could have collapsed at any time and taken the building out completely.”
Walk-in patients were treated at the hospital’s emergency department or directed to the Carfax Street NHS Medical Centre in the town centre until the crane was made safe at 2.30pm. The Clover Centre re-opened at 5pm. The patient discharge lounge was moved to the north side of the building for the day, but normal service was due to resume with the reopening of the west entrance of the hospital at 8.30am today. The blue Bronto Skylift SI crane was rented from London-based plant hire company Orion Access Services and had been used at the site at least 12 times so cleaners could reach the hospital’s highest windows.
It was still at the scene as the Adver went to press but was today set for removal and examination by the manufacturers, who will then send a report to the Health and Safety Executive. Paul Morris, operations manager for Lingwoods, said he had never heard of anything like the collapse in the 20 years he had worked for the company. Mr Morris, who spends a week at GWH every three months cleaning windows, added: “The first thing we do before starting the job is extend the crane to see that everything is in working order. “Something like this is exactly the reason no-one goes in the crane before the safety checks are done.”
Hanging mannequin prompts 911 calls, rescue: A man purported to be hanging by the neck from the Howrey law offices next to the Four Seasons Hotel in East Palo Alto Saturday turned out to be a dummy. Dozens of people telephoned 911 on Saturday morning to report the hanging man, according to Menlo Park Firefighter Neiley Hunt. But the "victim" turned out to be a fire department mannequin sporting a flame tattoo on its right arm.
The mannequin was part of a week-long annual search-and-rescue simulation by the Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 3, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) task force sponsored by the Menlo Park Fire Department. The week-long drill practiced rope rescuing -- lowering team members down the building's facade to save the mannequin -- which represented a window washer who had fallen from his scaffolding.
Among those participating in the drill was Angus, a border collie that was lowered down the rope with his handler, Peter Gross, a San Francisco firefighter. Firefighters from as far away as Santa Clara and San Francisco took part in the training exercise.
Window Washer Rescued From Ninth Floor of Building: A window washer had to be rescued after the scaffolding he was working on came loose, stranding him above the ninth story of a D.C. office building. Deputy Fire Chief Ken Crosswhite says the man was working Thursday morning between the ninth and 11th floors in an inner atrium of the building on Connecticut Avenue in northwest Washington. He says the scaffolding was hanging vertically when rescuers arrived. Fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says the man wasn't injured.
For a couple of window washers, the morning got off to a jolt as their scaffolding collapsed. Co-workers rescued one of the two window washers, but the second had to be rescued by D.C. firefighters. The scaffolding was hanging vertically when rescuers arrived. "One worker was left dangling eight or nine floors up," says D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Pete Piringer. It happened about 7:30 a.m. at 1140 Connecticut Ave., NW, an 11-story high rise. Rescuers secured a rescue platform and lowered a rescuer down to the worker. Firefighters then lowered the two to the second floor. The window washer, who was wearing a safety harnass, was not injured.
A window washer hanging perilously from a rope nine stories above ground was rescued Thursday morning after the scaffolding he was working on came loose at a D.C. office building. Deputy Fire Chief Ken Crosswhite said the man was working Thursday morning between the ninth and 11th floors in an inner atrium of the building on Connecticut Avenue in northwest Washington. He said the scaffolding was hanging vertically when rescuers arrived. Fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said the man wasn't injured.
Road cordoned off in Harrow Town Centre after stranded window cleaners: Firefighters were called to Harrow town centre this morning after two window cleaners got stuck in the cradle of a cherry picker. A fire engine was sent to rescue the pair from the vehicle, which they were using to clean the outside of a building in College Road. The road was cordoned-off by police during the operation.
Unsafe work practices blamed for window washer fall: The workers health and safety board says it has an initial theory on what caused Tuesday's fatal fall of a window washer in downtown Montreal. CSST inspectors believe unsafe work practices are to blame. "The work was not well coordinated," CSST spokesperson Alexandra Reny said. Four window cleaners had just stepped off a 20-storey-high platform and removed their safety harnesses before the fall. The CSST is speaking with the three other workers to get a better understanding of what happened. Inspectors will also focus their investigation on the victim's training, Reny said. A final report on the circumstances surrounding the incident is expected in six months.
