Mike Rowe Says Safety Third, Here's Why..

Mike Rowe - safety third

‘Dirty Jobs’ host responds to ISHN editorial - Mike Rowe says Safety Third is "a conversation worth having': This letter by the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe is in response to a May issue editorial written by ISHN Chief Editor Dave Johnson about Rowe’s comments on workplace safety.

First segment is an article by ISHN Chief Editor Dave Johnson talking about Mike Rowe, the second segment after the video is the reply by Mike Rowe..

He’s nobody’s safety model - Mr. “Dirty Jobs” debunks some safety myths By Dave Johnson -

Is this any way for America’s number one blue-collar guy to talk?: “Of all the platitudes embraced in the workplace there is none more pervasive, erroneous, overused and dangerous than ‘Safety First!’”

“In the jobs I have seen thus far, I can tell you with certainty, that safety, while always a major consideration, is never the priority.” “Never. Never, ever. Not even once.” “Making money is more important than safety — always.”

Calling out the emperor: Perhaps only macho Mike Rowe is man enough to call out the emperor for forgetting his clothes. Lots of people say this heretical stuff under their breath. Mike lowers the boom. It’s a dirty job but he’s used to it, having hosted the show, Dirty Jobs, on the Discovery Channel since 2005. Seems Mike has been caught out of compliance, not wearing the proper safety gear, more than once on his show. (So have we on the magazine cover.)

One viewer posted this comment on www.mikeroweworks.com: “My husband works on the oil rigs as a well tester. We watched you folks do so without any eye protection! Are you crazy? Drilling a hole with no protective eyewear? Between him, a well tester, and me, a workers’ compensation lawyer, we’re cringing! Somebody could LOSE AN EYE! Seriously — Safety First fellas!”

Mike the non-conformist: Rowe’s response might make a safety pro cringe: “It is not the objective of “Dirty Jobs” to conform to any particular set of safety standards, other than those dictated by the people for who I happen to be working at the time. I take my cues from them.” So Mr. Blue Collar is a non-conformist who plays follow the leader. He’d make for an interesting subject in a safety orientation session.

Mike comes in, grabs a chair, and tells you about his own safety orientation. (The following come from Mike’s own writings.) “Safety is important,” he says, “but not more important than getting the job done.” You know,  many companies would hire him on the spot. “This guy gets it!”

Unmitigated nonsense: It’d be a good idea to hide your “Safety First” posters if Mike comes to your dirty job site. He calls the “Safety First” slogan “a load of unmitigated nonsense.” We’ll let Mike elaborate: If an employer tells you safety is the most important thing, don’t believe it. That causes workers to become complacent and careless, he says. Which is a problem, because in Mike’s world it’s every man for himself. No one has your back. You gotta suck up your own responsibility.

Back to the safety orientation session. You tell Mike all about your company’s emphasis on safety, how you want him and every other worker to go home at night safe and healthy. That this is a core cultural value.

I see Mike leaning back in his chair, grinning that friendly, slightly goofy grin, shaking his head, and breaking out laughing. After all, he has written that “When a business tells you that they are more concerned with your safety than anything else, beware. They are not being honest. They are hedging their own bets, and following the advice of lawyers hired to protect them from lawsuits arising from accidents.”

Let’s get real: I’ve never heard a public figure be so… blunt about safety. Thanks, Mike, you’re nobody’s role model but you cut through decades of safety BS. But be careful about blanket generalizations, buddy. Every business is lying about its safety intentions? I’ve talked with CEOs who sure aren’t lying when they say never again do they want to make a midnight phone call to the wife of a worker just killed in an accident.

Rowe says he wears safety belts and motorcycle helmets not because it’s the law, but because it seems like a reasonable precaution to him and “the only one responsible for my own safety is me.”

Go observe someone else: Here is where Mr. Blue Collar lets too many folks off easy. Senior leaders have no responsibility for his safety. Supervisors, forget ’em. Safety managers, you don’t have to worry about Mike Rowe, go train someone else. Just watch out because Mike might play fast and loose with safety laws if that what he sees people around him doing.

Don’t try to hook Mike up with a safety coach or mentor; I doubt the conversation will go far. And Mike is not your best subject for an observation and feedback session. You probably won’t like the feedback you get from him. And by all means, keep the “Brother’s Keeper” and “Actively Caring” stuff away from him.

Comments on Mike’s website replying to his post about safety are refreshingly politically incorrect. For instance: “You very clearly pointed out that your employer (everyone’s employer) simply does not make our safety their priority. Thank you for that bit of truth-telling.”

“Safety is never the first priority and all these laws and rules and BS are intended to minimize statistically insignificant risk while ignoring major risk.”

“In business, business always comes first. An employer cares more about lawsuits and their workers’ comp rates than your safety. We always say: Safety Third.”

There is truth in some of what Mike Rowe has to say about safety. Thankfully Mike goes on to make some generalizations about attitudes toward safety that cross the line of reason and remind you that, yes, he’s not a model, he’s acting,

Dave Johnson

‘Dirty Jobs’ host responds to ISHN editorial - Mike Rowe says Safety Third is "a conversation worth having'

Hi Dave -

Mike Rowe here, Dirty Jobs, etc.

I’m writing to thank you for your article in May’s edition of ISHN, and for sharing with your readers a few of my comments on workplace safety. Over the years, I’ve learned that some Safety Professionals do not always welcome criticism, especially from a smart aleck TV Host. I don’t blame them. No one likes to be second-guessed by a wise guy who needs a bath and has no credentials. Thanks for keeping an open mind, and providing some context for my comments. Here’s some additional background that you’re welcome to share with your readers, if you think it would be of interest.

The comments you attributed to me first appeared in a blog called Safety Third, which I wrote for my website back in 2008. Safety Third told the stories of my various encounters with over-zealous Safety Officers. The first one I recall, involved a very cranky gentleman who demanded I wear a harness while working on a scaffold that was maybe four feet off the ground. When I pointed out that the safety line attached to the harness was longer than the distance between the ground and me, he said, “Don’t argue! Safety First!” Later that same week, a Safety Officer with The Department of Natural Resources interrupted our shoot to insist I put on a life jacket while installing a culvert in a run-off pond. The water in the pond was less than a foot deep. When I asked him to explain the need for a grown man to wear a life jacket in ten inches of water, he offered the same words of wisdom -“Safety First!”

I have never understood the point of ranking virtues and values in order of their importance. If Safety is First, what is Second? Or Fifth? Or Ninth? In the Boy Scouts, we used to say “Safety Always,” which made a lot more sense to me. Safety Third became my default reply whenever someone acted as though my Safety was their responsibility. On Dirty Jobs, I met many such people. And for a while, I actually believed them.

From 2004 to 2008, the Dirty Jobs crew visited more hazardous sites than any other crew in the history of television, from crab boats to coal mines the very tops of the tallest bridges, to crocodile infested swamps. During that time we sat through close to a hundred mandatory safety briefings. We all became intimately familiar with all the basic protocol - lock out tag out, confined space, fall hazards, respiratory precautions, PPE, the endless checklists, etc., etc. Through it all, trained professionals were on hand to remind us, (and our cameras,) that our safety was their top priority.

For a while, it worked. We managed to deliver three seasons of Dirty Jobs with no accidents. Then things started to unravel. Stitches, broken bones, sprains, contusions, falls, a damaged eardrum, second and third degree burns, and many more near misses…it was weird. The job sites were no more dangerous than they’d always been, but the mishaps among my crew were skyrocketing. Then one day, a man was killed while we were shooting in a factory near Pittsburg. He was crushed by the door on a giant coke oven. In the break room, where I was told of the accident, a large banner said, “We Care About Your Safety!” That got me thinking about things like unintended consequences, and the dangers of confusing compliance with real safety.

I found a study on traffic accidents that claimed the most dangerous intersections were those with signs that told you when to walk and when to wait. Intersections with no such signs were statistically safer, apparently because people were more likely to look both ways before crossing the street if there was no blinking sign to tell them when it was safe to do so. According to the theory of Risk Compensation, people subconsciously maintain their own level of “risk equilibrium” by adjusting their behavior to reflect the changes in their surrounding environment. Thus, when the environment around us feels unsafe, we take fewer chances. And when that same environment feels safer, we take more chances. That got me wondering – if companies and Safety Professionals tell us over and over that our safety is their priority, wouldn’t that tend to make us feel safer? And wouldn’t that in turn, prompt us to take more risk, therefore making us…less safe?

I’m no expert, but I think that’s exactly what happened to my crew and me. Over time, we had become convinced that someone else was more committed to our wellbeing than we were. We became complacent. We were crossing the street because the sign told us it was safe to do so. But we weren’t looking both ways.

In 2009, Discovery agreed to air a one-hour special called Safety Third. On Safety Third, I talked candidly about mistakes we’d made on Dirty Jobs, and the unintended consequences of putting Safety First. I argued that many compulsory Safety programs discouraged personal responsibility in favor of Legal Compliance. I asked viewers to consider all the amazing progress that would have never occurred had Safety been valued above all else. (I also pointed out that if big companies really believed that Safety was First they would wrap their employees in bubble pack and send them home.) I concluded by saying that Safety Third was a lot more honest than Safety First, but ultimately, too important and too personal to be reduced to a platitude. But if we had to have one, my vote was for “Safety Always.”

Well, hell. I might as well have suggested that we replace steel-toed boots in favor of flip-flops. Or outlaw hardhats. I got a nasty letter from OSHA, and a flood of angry mail calling me a “bad role model.” NASA was pissed. So were several Labor Unions, and dozens of Fortune 500 companies who took exception to my “irreverent tone.” I even got a snippy letter from PETA, though I’m still not sure why.

Safety Third had ruffled a lot of feathers, but I was thrilled by the response.  I answered all the angry mail, and went to speak personally to those organizations and companies who were most offended. For the most part, skeptics came to agree that the underlying concepts of Safety Third – common sense and personal responsibility – were still worth talking about, and conceded that any resulting conversation which might lead to heightened awareness would ultimately be a good thing. Your piece, Dave, is now a part of that conversation, and I’m grateful.

As for the rest of your article, there is one thing I need to address directly. While it’s true that I am “macho” far beyond the accepted definition, I am not as you suggest, “America’s number one blue-collar guy.” I have no “blue collar bona fides” to offer, and no permission to speak for anyone but me. It’s important to be clear about that, because my opinions are not necessarily those of Discovery, Ford, Caterpillar, Kimberly-Clark, Master Lock, Wolverine, VF Corporation, or anyone else with whom I may do business. In fact, I should thank all those companies for their patience with me, as many of my comments on this subject have been taken out of context, and have no doubt caused some internal discomfort.

The truth is, Safety Third has caused me all sorts of headaches over the years, but I still think it’s a conversation worth having. Everyday, workers fall through the cracks of a one-size-fits-all safety policy. Complacency is the real enemy, and I’m pretty sure the way to eliminate it will not involve more rules and more soothing assurances that an individuals safety is someone else’s priority. Workers need to understand that being “in compliance” is not the same as being “out of danger.” That’s not going to happen by repeating the same dogma that’s been out there for the last hundred years, and forcing people to watch thirty-year old safety films that would put a glass eye to sleep.

I realize that Safety Third sounds subversive and irreverent. It’s supposed to. But it’s not a call to completely dismantle accepted procedures and protocols. It’s an attempt to improve upon them, and generate a conversation around a topic that really does affect everyone; hopefully, a conversation that will lead to fewer injuries on the job. A few ruffled feathers seem a small price to pay.

Thanks again,

Mike Rowe

'Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe Gives Advice

Mike Rowe in his series on high rise window washing.

A Fan Asks Mike Rowe For Life Advice… His Response Is Truly Brilliant: Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs  is an awesome guy. He can build or fix anything, he’s very entertaining, and has a great sense of humor. Mike also tells it like it is and gives great advice to others. A fan wrote him and asked him for some career advice. Mike Rowe has featured before on the blog for his window cleaning antics here.

Hey Mike!

I’ve spent this last year trying to figure out the right career for myself and I still can’t figure out what to do. I have always been a hands on kind of guy and a go-getter. I could never be an office worker. I need change, excitement, and adventure in my life, but where the pay is steady. I grew up in construction and my first job was a restoration project. I love everything outdoors. I play music for extra money. I like trying pretty much everything, but get bored very easily. I want a career that will always keep me happy, but can allow me to have a family and get some time to travel. I figure if anyone knows jobs its you so I was wondering your thoughts on this if you ever get the time! Thank you!

- Parker Hall

Hi Parker,
 

My first thought is that you should learn to weld and move to North Dakota. The opportunities are enormous, and as a “hands-on go-getter,” you’re qualified for the work. But after reading your post a second time, it occurs to me that your qualifications are not the reason you can’t find the career you want.

I had drinks last night with a woman I know. Let’s call her Claire. Claire just turned 42. She’s cute, smart, and successful. She’s frustrated though, because she can’t find a man. I listened all evening about how difficult her search has been. About how all the “good ones” were taken. About how her other friends had found their soul-mates, and how it wasn’t fair that she had not.

“Look at me,” she said. “I take care of myself. I’ve put myself out there. Why is this so hard?”
 “How about that guy at the end of the bar,” I said. “He keeps looking at you.”
 “Not my type.”
 “Really? How do you know?”
 “I just know.”
 “Have you tried a dating site?” I asked.”
 “Are you kidding? I would never date someone I met online!”
 “Alright. How about a change of scene? Your company has offices all over – maybe try living in another city?”
 “What? Leave San Francisco? Never!”
 “How about the other side of town? You know, mix it up a little. Visit different places. New museums, new bars, new theaters…?”
She looked at me like I had two heads. “Why the hell would I do that?”

Here’s the thing, Parker. Claire doesn’t really want a man. She wants the “right” man. She wants a soul-mate. Specifically, a soul-mate from her zip code. She assembled this guy in her mind years ago, and now, dammit, she’s tired of waiting!!

I didn’t tell her this, because Claire has the capacity for sudden violence. But it’s true. She complains about being alone, even though her rules have more or less guaranteed she’ll stay that way. She has built a wall between herself and her goal. A wall made of conditions and expectations. Is it possible that you’ve built a similar wall?

Consider your own words. You don’t want a career – you want the “right” career. You need “excitement” and “adventure,” but not at the expense of stability. You want lots of “change” and the “freedom to travel,” but you need the certainty of “steady pay.” You talk about being “easily bored” as though boredom is out of your control. It isn’t. Boredom is a choice. Like tardiness. Or interrupting. It’s one thing to “love the outdoors,” but you take it a step further. You vow to “never” take an office job. You talk about the needs of your family, even though that family doesn’t exist. And finally, you say the career you describe must “always” make you “happy.”

These are my thoughts. You may choose to ignore them and I wouldn’t blame you – especially after being compared to a 42 year old woman who can’t find love. But since you asked…

Stop looking for the “right” career, and start looking for a job. Any job. Forget about what you like. Focus on what’s available. Get yourself hired. Show up early. Stay late. Volunteer for the scut work. Become indispensable. You can always quit later, and be no worse off than you are today. But don’t waste another year looking for a career that doesn’t exist. And most of all, stop worrying about your happiness. Happiness does not come from a job. It comes from knowing what you truly value, and behaving in a way that’s consistent with those beliefs.
 Many people today resent the suggestion that they’re in charge of the way the feel. But trust me, Parker. Those people are mistaken. That was a big lesson from Dirty Jobs, and I learned it several hundred times before it stuck. What you do, who you’re with, and how you feel about the world around you, is completely up to you.

Good luck - Mike

PS. I’m serious about welding and North Dakota. Those guys are writing their own ticket.

PPS Think I should forward this to Claire?

The Drop - Window Washing Reality Show

Dino Pertzoff & Mike Rowe together in Hawaii. Click to enlarge.

World wide window cleaning in Hawaii was formed by joining "Dino's window cleaning" & "the window window man" starting with 3 owners & 2 employees in 1998. Now it is the largest highrise window cleaning company in Hawaii. They have a great gallery of pictures on their website, which can be seen here. Dino Pertzoff of Worldwide has been summoned to give a few T.V. interviews since rising to fame when he was featured in Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" series. There may be a reality T.V show on the horizon featuring Dino & his competitors in Hawaii, this time called "the Drop." Who knows if it makes it past it's pilot episode it could be great insight & entertainment for window cleaners... Worldwide!

"DIRTY JOBS" - Is there any job that is just off limits to the show or to Mike? Eddie Barbini (producer of "dirty jobs") - " Not really." "We haven't turned down a job yet." "Mike is always game for whatever is up as long as it's not dangerous but he walks that fine line putting himself in situations that you just think 'How is this guy going to do this?'" "Last week, what aired is the window-washing segment in Hawaii." "Mike washes windows on an over 400 foot skyscraper in Hawaii." "He washes it not in the traditional way on scaffolding but he's actually in a little swing seat that he goes down with pulleys along the side of the building." "I'll tell you that it's frightening." "Our cameraman wouldn't even go on and backed out of it." "Actually, it'll rank up there at the top as one of the dirtiest jobs even though it's not dirty in the sense of dirt but the characters are phenomenal and the experience is phenomenal and Mike is hysterical in it."

Window Cleaning News + Video

Mongolian rally - The lengths some people will go to in order to help others. Next summer, Mike Ashton and his crew will drive nearly 10,000 miles and through 20 countries to Mongolia - and, once they've arrived, they plan to leave their car there. That's because they're competing in the 2010 Mongolia Charity Car Rally, in which entrants donate their vehicle, equipment and cash to suitable charities in the remote country. The Rally starts on July 11.
Mongolia is nearly five times the size of the UK but only has one major accident and emergency unit. Mike's team intends to contribute a four-wheel-drive ambulance that's fully equipped to save lives in Mongolia. He was inspired by the need for him to require emergency treatment at the A & E department at his local hospital, treatment that most of us take for granted. Mike's team is called NoMad Adventure. He will be joined on the drive by his son Callum 16, and Syd Wall, a friend. The team's first fund-raising event is on November 13 at Talton Lodge, Crimscote for a Mongolian-themed evening of food and entertainment with a lot of local companies donating the meal and drink.
The team is looking for main sponsors to cover the costs of the vehicle, fuel, equipment and visas, as well as the all-important vehicle preparation. A self-employed gardener/window cleaner and greenwood craftsman, Mike intends to make large quantities of charcoal for his wife to sell during next summer, in order to replace his income while he'ds off raising money. The rally starts in London on July 11 - after that, the crews are on their own. Sponsors for vehicles, equipment and general help can pledge their support on the Mongolia Charity Rally 2010 page on the Charity Rallies website where there's a wealth of information and pictures about previous rallies, the vehicles donated and the projects supported.

Record for pocket powerhouse Tommy: Pint-sized strongman Tommy Campion has broken the world record for being the lightest competing bodybuilder. The window cleaner turned muscleman entered the Guinness Book of Records after weighing in at 55.5 kilos – eight-and-a-half stone. Tommy, who lives in Presthope Road, Pennywell, travelled to Manchester this summer for an over-50s competition where he weighed in at a record light weight. Now the dad-of-three has received his official certificate from adjudicators. "It's a novel achievement, I know, but it's still something to get yourself in the Guinness Book of Records," Tommy said. "I've now got the certificate to prove it." The 51-year-old, who is also a keen runner, said his low weight, is not down to dieting, but to genes. At just 5ft 2in tall, Tommy said he takes after his "slightly built" mum. "I'm pretty sure that's where I get it from," he said. "She was this tiny, little person. "I was only six stone when I left school at 16 and I almost became a jockey at one point. Somehow I got into bodybuilding and I really took to it." Tommy began bodybuilding 25 years ago and for the past eight years has been competing as a member of the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation. In recent years he has been placed fifth and sixth in national competitions.

Who must clean windows (South Africa)?
Question:
In a sectional title complex or block of flats, is the body corporate responsible for cleaning the outside windows?
Answer:
At the moment the situation with regard to window panes is not clear, but there is an amendment to the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 (the Act) in the pipeline. This will provide that the boundaries of sections go through the middle of window frames and it will then be clear that the exterior portion of windows is always common property.
The body corporate is responsible to repair and maintain the common property, including common property windows. However, common property maintenance would not normally be considered to include the cleaning of all exterior window panes, even once it becomes clear that these are all common property.
In a high-rise building where occupants cannot easily clean their own windows, the rules of the scheme may oblige the body corporate to employ window-cleaners. In schemes where occupiers can readily access the exterior of their windows, they will not normally be entitled to insist that the body corporate clean the outside of the window panes.
As the situation is currently not clear from the provisions of the Act, it is suggested that this issue be dealt with in a scheme’s rules so that all owners in the scheme are aware of what the position is for their scheme.

Gonzalez is still cleaning up here: Tony Gonzalez may not play football in Kansas City anymore, but a piece of him remains here. As everyone knows, Gonzalez now lives in Atlanta, where he plays tight end for the Atlanta Falcons. But Gonzalez still operates his business, Extreme Clean 88, out of Lenexa. While Gonzalez concentrates on football during the season, the day-to-day operations of Extreme Clean 88 are handled by Dennis Allen, Gonzalez’s cousin and co-founder and manager of the business.
Gonzalez calls Allen at least four times a week to offer advice or render suggestions. Gonzalez admitted Monday that this area holds special meaning to him. “I grew up in Kansas City,” he said. “Kansas City will always be my base. It’s where I started my career. And it’s where Extreme Clean 88 started.” In 2007, he bought into Rigdon Inc., a company that specialized in window cleaning. The name was changed to Extreme Clean 88. Gonzalez added services, including hood exhaust cleaning, gutter cleaning and janitorial services. Extreme Clean 88 now has about 40 employees.
A family connection sparked Gonzalez’s interest in commercial cleaning. He has an uncle that runs a similar business on the East Coast and in Tennessee. Gonzalez has been successful in snagging work around town almost as easily as he snags passes from quarterbacks. The company almost doubled its revenue in 2007, and this year business is up 50 percent.
The company cleaned the Arrowhead Stadium training facility and did the final cleanup on the Arrowhead Stadium improvements. The company also did the final cleaning on the glass of the Sprint Center before it opened to the public. “The business has been doing well despite the challenges with the economy,” said Kerry Rigdon, the other manager and co-founder. “We’re growing and looking to expand on our current services.” Depending on his health and the team he has in Atlanta, Gonzalez told his cousin that he plans to play only a couple more years. After he retires, he wants to expand the business.
With Gonzalez serving as the face of the company, its services have been easy to market. “There’s some credibility that goes with that,” Rigdon said. “Tony opens doors. He has a brand that gives people a level of comfort.” The company also has done work at schools such as Kansas State University and Johnson County Community College and at the four casinos in the area. “When the economy comes back, we’re going to be doing pretty good,” Rigdon said. Kansas City shouldn’t feel slighted by Gonzalez’s departure. He’ll obviously devote more time to his business once he hangs up the pads. Watch the videos.

OTTAWA, Canada — Mark Albert, a 45-year-old man killed in a rowhouse fire Saturday morning, lived on loyalty. Dave Stenson, owner of Howard’s Pawn Shop on Carling, said Albert had been cleaning his windows for the past 10 years. As kids, the two would go fishing together at Britannia Pier. But as they grew up, Albert grew apart from his friends and family. Through window washing, Albert relied on people like Stenson to keep himself financially afloat. He was a fixture in the Bayshore area, plying the streets looking for clients. “He’s a lifelong resident of the west end,” Stenson said. “All I was doing was giving him a couple of bucks to get by.” Albert died in Unit 13 at 2959 Penny Dr., in a fire that took 36 firefighters over an hour to bring under control. The fire broke out shortly after midnight in a second-floor bedroom before spreading to the roof, fire officials said. They estimated structural damage at $200,000 and contents damage at $250,000.

The body of an elderly man has been found in rural farmland between Burnley and Pendle. Police said they were investigating whether the body was that of Jessie Shaw, 83, who went missing three weeks ago. Although a formal identification has yet to be made, Jessie’s daughter, Julie Shaw, said she was ‘convinced’ it was her dad. She said a lifelong friend of her father made the discovery while out hunting in fields close to Higham on Saturday lunchtime. Despite having no official confirmation that it is that of her dad, she said she was ‘99.9 per cent sure’ it was him.
She said: “It’s our dad. He had the same clothing on that he was wearing when he disappeared. Jessie, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s for four years, spent all his life in Padiham and worked down the pits before starting his own window cleaning business.

"DIRTY JOBS" - Is there any job that is just off limits to the show or to Mike? Eddie Barbini (producer of "dirty jobs") - " Not really." "We haven't turned down a job yet." "Mike is always game for whatever is up as long as it's not dangerous but he walks that fine line putting himself in situations that you just think 'How is this guy going to do this?'" "Last week, what aired is the window-washing segment in Hawaii." "Mike washes windows on an over-400 foot skyscraper in Hawaii." "He washes it not in the traditional way on scaffolding but he's actually in a little swing seat that he goes down with pulleys along the side of the building." "I'll tell you that it's frightening." "Our cameraman wouldn't even go on and backed out of it." "Actually, it'll rank up there at the top as one of the dirtiest jobs even though it's not dirty in the sense of dirt but the characters are phenomenal and the experience is phenomenal and Mike is hysterical in it."

FWC Video + Window Cleaning News

More video from the Federation of window Cleaners show in Blackpool. Featuring suppliers, new innovations to the market & a general good time.

Clear Cleaning Limited with Richard Emmanuel – working in conjunction with a respected fabricating company have designed and manufactured a fully CE marked Safe Portable Anchor Device. Designed specifically for use on the roofs of commercial properties, Clear Cleaning’s new Trolley provides a portable suspension anchor for personnel concerned with Rope Access and Fall Arrest. It is easy to assemble, simple to move from one location to another and invaluable in situations where a rescue has become necessary. Unlike other Trolleys on the market, Clear Cleaning’s model is designed for one man to maneuver with ease, and its 192kg of counter-balance weights locks into place once the wheels have been disengaged – but unlike most of the competition, the Clear Cleaning Trolley has all of the required CE Markings.
It has tubular zinc coated steel framework and welded joints – no nuts or bolts are used in the framework’s construction – ensuring that the trolley is immensely strong and more than capable of dealing with the demanding nature of its working environment. Clear Cleaning’s Trolley is without doubt is a valuable addition to the equipment resources of any company involved in working at height.

No stranger to UK window cleaners -The window cleaning warehouse is the one stop shop for all professional window cleaners. They have the UK’s largest selection of traditional and pure water window cleaning equipment bar none. From scrim to rope access you will find it all here under one roof and at the lowest prices in the UK. Established in March 2004 they have gone from strength to strength and now supply over 5000 window cleaning companies across the UK and Europe with professional window cleaning tools. Based in Barry (just outside of Cardiff, South Wales) they encourage you to take a visit to their warehouse and see the biggest choice of window cleaning equipment in the UK.

In the video, Bal Matharu & Gary Steels with Unger Enterprises Inc. Unger is the leading provider of innovative professional cleaning solutions. Unger is an international company and has been manufacturing professional cleaning tools for more than 40 years. Unger takes pride in developing innovative and unique tools that help professionals clean more productively, in order to present a cleaner, healthier building. Unger has offices in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, as well as manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany and India. Unger provides innovative cleaning solutions to more than 80 countries worldwide. Rock on....

Based in Wimbledon, London - Cleaning Spot Ltd strive towards excellence in the supply of world-class products and accessories for the window cleaning industry. Currently Cleaning Spot are offering free delivery on all orders over £35.00 with a small order charge of £3.95 for orders under this amount. Please be aware that this offer is available to mainland UK only. Cleaning spot offer products from the whole janitorial range. You may remember NecProtech here in a previous blog. Cedric is a funny guy!

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More window Cleaning News....

Question to Mike Rowe: If you could do one of these jobs for the rest of your life which one would it be?
Answer: If I could or if I had to?
Question to Mike Rowe: Either.
Answer: It would be one of the entrepreneurial ones, not one of the piecemeal ones. It would be outside. You know it might be high-rise window-washing, one that's coming up in the new episodes. I don't recall ever being as scared and at the same time as transfixed by the beauty. You're in Hawaii, five hundred feet up looking at Pearl Harbor dangling from a skinny little rope,
you're crapping your pants for sure, but you are just surrounded by this amazing beauty. And when beauty and fear live that close to each other it's not entirely unpleasant. You get sort of used to it and you think it could be fun. As opposed to the sharks, there was no beauty, there was just "Oh My God". I like those mixes, it wouldn't be something like gandy dancing or dam deconstruction. It wouldn't be the job where they hand you the sledgehammer at 6 AM and take it back when the sun goes down. I'm just too old for it and it hurts too much the next day. The squeegee's easier on the back. There's a real art to proper squeegee manipulation. There's a feathering techniques and if you do it right you don't have to go back and clean up the streaks. You're sitting on a swing, throwing suds up, and as quick as you can, before the sun dries them, using this special technique. It's beat the clock, it's don't fall, and it's really pretty all jammed into the part of your brain that really matters. It's not boring.

State fines Grand Rapids firm $21,000 in connection with fatal June fall by window washer at art museum. A window washer who plunged 60 feet to his death at the Grand Rapids Art Museum did not have a lifeline anchored to the building and was not shown where the safety device should have been placed on the roof, state safety inspectors allege. A four-month Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation found 21-year-old Tyler Cotter's line was incorrectly tied to the rigging system, which also did not have a bolt properly installed, authorities say.
The cumulative result of the alleged violations of safety procedures led to the fatal June 17 fall, for which the state fined Cotter's Grand Rapids-based employer, Award Window Cleaning Services Inc., $21,000. The state cited the business for inadequate tie off on the lifeline, inadequate training of Cotter and for exposing him to the hazard. Cotter died about a month after his daughter, Peyton Cotter, was born. His mother, Judith Cotter, said it continues to devastate his family that he could not raise the child that he doted on when not at work. The revelations further frustrated her since she believes the accident could have been avoided. "It seems like someone was careless and there should have been more supervision," Judith Cotter said. "That stuff should be checked every single time and he should have been told. "Tyler was very cautious, but he didn't know. It could have been prevented."
Mark Reinhart, Award's president, is reviewing the state's findings. He contends the company's training is extensive for the high-rise cleaning operation. "We make sure that before they even go up that they know everything," Reinhart said. "We quiz them and revisit any areas of concern. We work hard at it." A second window washer working at the museum was not hurt in the accident. The men had completed one section of the windows and were in the process of doing the next set. The allegations of unsafe work conditions are not the first to be levied against the window cleaning service. State investigators cited Award in 2007 after an aerial lift toppled as workers were about 90 feet in the air working on Van Andel Arena windows. The two workers who crashed to the pavement in that mishap suffered minor injuries. See also here.

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