Mobility Scooters - The New Danger For UK Window Cleaners

A window cleaner who fell two storeys after his ladder was knocked by someone driving a mobility scooter has been taken to hospital with a head injury.

A window cleaner was seriously injured after being knocked from a ladder by a mobility scooter in Poole yesterday. Paramedics rushed to Vapour Lounge in Ashley Road at around 1.30pm after the victim was found lying on the pavement outside the shop. Those in nearby premises described hearing an “almighty bang” coming from outside before several people ran out to help the fallen man. Grzegorz Krakowiak, who owns neighbouring PC Connect, said he was shocked by what he saw. “I could see the blood on the ground,” he added. “It was horrible.”

Another eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said: “I saw him lying on the ground. He was trying to get up but couldn’t and I shouted for somebody to call an ambulance. “His other half came out of the shop and was very upset.” Darren Hayward, a stylist at Malcolm Tina Barker, said he also heard the crash. He added: “Several people came out to help and one man was speaking to him loudly and trying to keep him conscious before the ambulance arrived. “It was just awful and not something you expect to happen.”
Police closed one lane of the road in the aftermath of the incident to allow CSI and collision investigators to examine the scene, resulting in severe delays. Sgt Nikki Burt, of Dorset Police’s traffic unit, confirmed the incident involved a white mobility scooter being driven by a woman in her seventies, which remained on the pavement as officers worked. She added: “The man on the ladder has sustained serious injuries and has been taken to Poole Hospital for treatment. “His next of kin are aware and with him.”
A spokesman for South West Ambulance Service said the man was conscious when paramedics arrived and had sustained a “nasty cut” to the head. Any witnesses to the incident should call Dorset Police on 101, quoting 12:201.

Mobility scooter crash knocks window cleaner 15ft off ladder (Poole, Dorset): A window cleaner who fell two storeys after his ladder was knocked by someone driving a mobility scooter has been taken to hospital with a head injury. The 40-year-old fell 15ft (4.5m) on Ashley Road, Poole, near the Funky Hair Co, at about 13:20 BST. Dorset Police said the cleaner was taken to Poole Hospital with a serious head injury and a 70-year-old woman driving the scooter was uninjured. Officers are investigating how the accident happened.

They were a bit of a nuisance when they first appeared on streets (Blackpool). Our window cleaner was knocked off his ladder by a badly driven one. Some raced silently past you on the pavement, like kids on BMX bikes. Now there’s so many battery-charged scooters – along with all-purpose pushchairs – they block busy pavements. However, they have also revitalised life for many users. Some users also have a cute, little dog aboard. However, there are also abuses. I’ve seen a couple of scooters racing two abreast down the carriageway, obstructing motorists like some thoughtless horse riders. There are younger, often obese, users who appear nippy enough when they get off but, like some golfers, prefer wheels to their own feet. However, it’s worth those few exceptions for the joy scooters bring to so many otherwise cruelly restricted.

Call for safety helmets to be worn by mobility scooter drivers (Portsmouth): Two sons mourning the death of their father in a tragic accident, have called for safety helmets to be worn by mobility scooter drivers. John Hitchcock, a retired window cleaner, was driving home on his mobility scooter along the pavement in Portsmouth when a wheel went over the edge of the kerb and the scooter fell into the road. It was a totally freak accident but the 75-year-old suffered serious head injuries and died some time later, due to these injuries at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.

His sons, Terry and Michael Hitchcock, attended his inquest in Portsmouth and heard that a helmet would have saved their father’s life. Michael said: ‘He was a truly great father, who was taken from us too soon by the lax legislation surrounding mobility scooters and I hope users of these will take note of how dangerous these scooters are and wear helmets”.

The Highway Code states that scooters must not travel faster than 4mph on pavements. Slower Class 2 mobility scooters can only be used on pavements, whereas Class 3 mobility scooters can travel at a top speed of 8mph, can be used on the road and must be registered with the DVLA.

There is no requirement to wear a helmet, although lights must be used at night and reflective clothing is advised. Bearing in mind that most cyclists wear a helmet, has the time come for mobility scooter riders to do the same, especially when driving on the road?

Officers have launched a course to combat the scourge of the lawless silver-haired scooter rider.

Police crack down on mobility scooter mayhem as drunk and drug-driving pensioners become 8 mph menace to society: A police force facing savage budget cuts has announced a crackdown on the menace of the mobility scooter driver. Officers have launched a course to combat the scourge of the lawless silver-haired scooter rider as the number of accidents on the roads rise. They may not be joyriding teenagers any more, but officers say pensioners on mobility scooters can be just as dangerous with many being caught drunk or high on prescription drugs behind the wheel.
Norfolk Police are now running lessons to teach users the rules of the road. Riders learn to navigate their way over ramps, through slalom runs and across zebra crossings. They are also taught how to master the shopping run, negotiating around cones which represent supermarket aisles. Superintendent Jim Smerdon helped devise the free mobility scooter awareness course which was funded entirely through sponsorship by Halfords. He told Police Review that the problem of dangerous riders is becoming more prevalent because of an ageing population and the ease with which scooters can be bought.
He said: 'People can just buy a mobility scooter, sometimes off the internet or somewhere else, and literally just get on it. 'People are buying one that might be totally unsuitable for them and then getting on it with absolutely no training whatsoever and then they are able to go on the roads, or around supermarkets or whatever else they wish to do. 'One of the problems is that the larger ones have two speed ratios, 4 mph and 8 mph, and you change it from the 4 mph to the 8 mph. 'If, for instance, you are in a supermarket and you have not changed it back to the 4 mph, then 8 mph round the supermarket would be scary in anybody's world [with] the ability to clip people or clip displays.'
Around 150 people are killed or seriously injured annually as a result of incidents involving mobility scooters in the UK. Currently, anyone over the age of 14 can purchase the fastest class of scooter, which has a top speed of 8 mph, with no requirement for a licence, training or insurance. The Government is facing calls for a nationwide testing and registration scheme for the disability vehicles. Today a spokesman for Norfolk Police said the course had proved very popular and did not cost the taxpayer a penny.

Irish Pensioner Dies While Cleaning Windows

Sarah Phelan - granny who fell from apartment block in Avondale House, Dublin.

Pensioner fell through fourth-floor window she was cleaning: A pensioner tragically died when she fell through a fourth floor window she was cleaning, an inquest heard. Sarah Phelan (82) was washing a windowsill of her flat at Avondale House, North Cumberland Street, Dublin 1, on the evening of July 8 last year when the accident happened.

Gardaí believe she was attempting to clean pigeon droppings off the windowsill when she fell. Dublin Coroner’s Court heard from neighbour Mary McDonnell that she was sitting in her flat in the block opposite Mrs Phelan’s when the accident happened at around 9pm. She said that she could see Mrs Phelan washing the windowsill of the top floor flat.“A few minutes later she was hanging out of the cable wire shouting ‘help, help’. I ran around but when I got there she was on the ground,” she said.

She had fallen four floors to a small garden area directly below the flat window. Neighbours rushed to her aid and were performing CPR when paramedics and gardaí arrived. Garda Kieran Brady said that she was unresponsive at the scene. Mrs Phelan was taken to the Mater Hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The postmortem found that she died as a result of major internal injuries sustained in the fall, including a transected aorta. Gda Brady said that gardaí are satisfied that there was no foul play involved in the death.

The court heard that Mrs Phelan was fastidiously clean and had a dislike of pigeons congregating on her windowsill. Gda Brady said that a cloth was found on the windowsill. When asked by coroner Dr Brian Farrell if he believed that she had fallen across the windowsill while cleaning it, Gda Brady said yes. The coroner expressed concern that the window ledges in the flat were very low and the windows could be opened fully. The family told him that the flat, which is a Dublin City Council property, has since been given to a family with young children. Dr Farrell returned a verdict of accidental death and said that he would write to the housing department of the city council to alert them to the issues raised about the windows at the inquest.

Irish OAP Dies While Cleaning Windows

An elderly woman plunged to her death after slipping while cleaning her windows.

Elderly woman dies after fall while cleaning windows: The 82-year-old was understood to be washing a window sill at her fourth-floor flat in inner city Dublin at the time. Witnesses who saw the incident at Avondale House on North Cumberland Street called the emergency services. Gardai said they were alerted to the accident at around 9pm last night. The pensioner, believed to have fallen on to bark cuttings but who sustained serious injuries, was rushed to the Mater Hospital. But she later died from her wounds. Gardaí said the matter was being treated as a sudden death. While a report is being prepared for the coroner, there is no separate Garda investigation into the incident.

Sarah Theelin (82), plunged to her death in Dublin's inner city last night while cleaning a window of her fourth floor apartment.

Tributes pour for OAP who fell to her death cleaning windows: An elderly woman plunged to her death in Dublin's inner city last night while cleaning a window of her fourth floor apartment. Sarah Theelin (82) was in the process of washing her window on North Cumberland Street at 8.30pm when the tragic incident took place. Known affectionately as Sadie to her family, the woman lived in the flat at Avondale House alone following the death of her husband. The pensioner, who is believed to have fallen into the park area surrounding the complex, was rushed to Mater Hospital, but later died.

Sarah, who hails from a large family of nine girls and four boys, was fondly remembered by her family, who described their shock. Tragically, the Dublin native had just returned from her sister’s nearby flat and was still wearing her jacket. “I can't believe it, I am still in shock,” Sarah's youngest sister Catherine said. “We had asked her to stay with us many times, but she liked living in her own flat with memories of her husband and they had no children.”

It is believed that the 82-year-old had moved a chair across to the window and stood up on it in an attempt to clean bird droppings from the glass using a cloth on a stick. She then lost her balance. “We are very surprised that she even made it up on the chair because she was crippled with arthritis,” explained Catherine. “We are all just devastated, she as a great sister and we were very close.”

Several neighbours told the Irish Independent how they heard the pensioner's cries for help as she desperately clung on to the window-ledge. Neighbour Stephen McCluskey (66) said he saw Mrs Phelan "hang on for about five seconds" before falling. "She was hanging on with one hand and I could see her getting weaker and weaker. She shouted, 'help, help' and then I started screaming for help and trying to get other people's attention but there was nothing I could do," he said. "I could see her panicking and I saw her try to put her right (hand) on the window-ledge as she held on with her left, but she was just too weak to support herself."

Mary McDonnell, who lived directly across from Mrs Phelan, also saw her fall to her death, with her daughter's friend Cameron Byrne (13). "I saw her coming down after she shouted out. She hit the ground and kind of bounced back up again for a second. Then we all ran out to her to see if we could do anything for her. "People said not to touch her because she was on her side in the recovery position," Mary said. One neighbour attempted to give the 82-year-old CPR while waiting for the emergency services to respond.

Mrs Phelan was revived for a time and taken to the nearby Mater Hospital. Mrs Phelan, who was described as a "cleanaholic" and "a devout Catholic", worked as a cleaner with CIE for over 50 years. She had lived all her life in the Avondale House flats and several family members also live there, including her niece and carer Audrey Teeling, who was the first on the scene. "She was always cleaning and couldn't pass a piece of dirt without picking it up," Audrey said.

North inner city councillor Christy Burke today paid tribute to the woman who he described as “very respected in the community”. “She was a lovely, low-key lady and is a very sad loss to the area,” Christy told the Herald. “She was a highly respected senior citizen and was very involved in the community and the type that everyone would know. “The north inner city community is deeply saddened by the loss and she will be missed,” he added. Witnesses who saw the incident at Avondale House on North Cumberland Street called the emergency services. But Sarah was pronounced dead at approximately 9pm. Gardaí said the matter was being treated as a sudden death. While a report is being prepared for the coroner, there is no separate Garda investigation into the incident.

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97 Year Old SpiderGran - Window Cleaning Fail

72 Year Old Window Cleaner Falls To His Death

The new estate where Keith Harrison fell to his death.

Jury says Barnsley window cleaner fell to his death: A pensioner who worked as a window cleaner died when he fell off his ladder and plummeted to the ground, an inquest heard. Keith Harrison, aged 72, was washing windows at a house on Verona Drive, Darfield, Barnsley, when the tragic accident happened. He was taken to Barnsley Hospital and transferred to the Royal Hallamshire in Sheffield but died three days later, on January 26. Mr Harrison, had lived on Mount Street, Ardsley, for most of his life. He once worked as a miner, but gave up his job at Houghton Main pit when a friend died in an accident. Mr Harrison also worked in Barnsley Council’s refuse department and started an afternoon window cleaning round. Jurors recorded a verdict of accidental death.

HEALTH & SAFETY DOCUMENT CODE of PRACTICE 

WORKING at HEIGHT
ISSUE DATE & VERSION   JANUARY 2012 v1.2

 

4.1  Generic Risk Assessments and Their Application

The purpose of a generic risk assessment is to define the parameters within which a piece of
equipment e.g. step ladder, elevating platform etc can be safely used. The following generic risk
assessments have been produced and are available by following the links below: The generic risk assessment will give consideration to the following:

• the activity – including loading (weights, dimensions of materials); 
• the condition and stability of the work surfaces; 
• the duration of the work; 
• the equipment that will be used at height, e.g. tools and their weight; 
• personal protective equipment; 
• the environment, e.g. weather, temperature, lighting; 
• the physical condition of the people involved e.g. age, fitness, pregnancy, vertigo; 
• the training and supervision of the people undertaking the work at heights; 
• maintenance and storage of the equipment used for working at heights; 
• emergencies and rescue.

OAP window cleaner dies after plunge: A window cleaner who had been in the business for more than 40 years has died after falling from his ladder. Keith Harrison, 72, was cleaning windows when he fell and banged his head. He was rushed to Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital but died three days later, following a stroke. Eunice Clifton, 67, his close friend and neighbour in Ardsley, Barnsley, said: “He was jolly, kind and just a lovely man. People are in absolute shock. “He loved being a window cleaner, I think it was the social aspect of it. He just couldn’t retire because he liked it so much.
“The day he had the accident he had been mending my fencing. He had got to the last panel and was coming back in the afternoon but never got the chance.” Mr Harrison, who had lived on the same street since he was a boy, was a former miner who worked in Barnsley Council’s refuse department and started an afternoon window cleaning round. He cleaned windows all over Barnsley and was working at a house in Darfield when the accident happened.

Ladder Death After Forty Years Of Window Cleaning

OAP window cleaner dies after plunge: A window cleaner who had been in the business for more than 40 years has died after falling from his ladder. Keith Harrison, 72, was cleaning windows when he fell and banged his head. He was rushed to Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital but died three days later, following a stroke.

Eunice Clifton, 67, his close friend and neighbour in Ardsley, Barnsley, said: “He was jolly, kind and just a lovely man. People are in absolute shock. “He loved being a window cleaner, I think it was the social aspect of it. He just couldn’t retire because he liked it so much.

“The day he had the accident he had been mending my fencing. He had got to the last panel and was coming back in the afternoon but never got the chance.” Mr Harrison, who had lived on the same street since he was a boy, was a former miner who worked in Barnsley Council’s refuse department and started an afternoon window cleaning round.

He cleaned windows all over Barnsley and was working at a house in Darfield when the accident happened last week. A funeral will he held on Monday at Ardsley Crematorium.