Window washers stretch safety rules...

Facing hard-to-clean sliding windows, cleaners on East 44th Street cut corners

In an article by Peter D'Amato which can be found here, a five-man crew from a company called Upgrade Services took turns leaning out and stretching to clean the farthest corners of the windows in a 1950s-era office building. This building was sixty feet above East 44th Street. 

Upgrade Services President John McDermott sent the five men back for retraining once the union had heard the risky maneuvers they attempted to perform their work. The workers were in clear violation of the state's labor law. Laws require that workers use safety harnesses or a scaffold when cleaning the outside of windows. The President of the company also went on to say, "After years on the job, veterans can get overly brave. "You get lulled into a false sense of security that it's OK to take these chances."

Window Cleaner To Stars Slipped Without Harness

Paul Benalcazar, 57, of Monroe Township, N.J., was working on E. 81st St. near Park Ave. Monday at about noon when he fell from the second floor, police and relatives said.

Brother of window washer who fell to his death remembered as a helpful provider for his family whose clients included Woody Allen, Diane Sawyer: The distraught brother of an enterprising window washer who fell to his death from an Upper East Side town house said he wasn’t wearing a safety harness and slipped.

Paul Benalcazar, 57, of Monroe Township, N.J., was working on E. 81st St. near Park Ave. Monday at about noon when he fell from the second floor, police and relatives said. “Unfortunately, he slipped and lost his grip while he was cleaning the outside of a window,” said JR Gaete, 49, of North Carolina, as he prepared to fly to New York to help his grieving sister-in-law. “His wife was cleaning one of the mirrors in one of the bathrooms, and she heard the housekeeper scream and yell, ‘he fell out the window!’” Gaete said.

Gaete said his brother was born in Ecuador, but moved to the U.S. when he was 8. “He was a best friend, a great brother, a fantastic father and a great husband,” Gaete said. “If I called him and asked for help, he wouldn't ask why, he would just drop everything.”

Benalcazar went to John Baum High School in Queens, and then started washing windows for his future father-in-law some 25 years ago. He later inherited the company, known as Elite Window Cleaning, and often worked alone while his wife Maryann helped out. Benalcazar’s clients have included Woody Allen, Diane Sawyer and members of the Rockefeller family, Gaete said.

In addition to his wife, Benalcazar had a daughter, Ana, who was about to get married and a son, Paul Jr., who just graduated high school. “We were planning to come up on the 13th to go to his daughter’s bridal shower,” Gaete said.

Benalcazar wasn’t a fan of using a safety harness despite the fact that he worked as many as 30 stories above the ground, Gaete said. “A lot of times, he told me he didn't trust the rigs,” he said. “He relied on his hands.”

He last saw Benalcazar three weeks ago. “My 7-year-old son once asked him ‘What do you do?,’” he said. “Paul told him, ‘I'm Spiderman.’ I go outside buildings and I climb.” The family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations should be made in Benalcazar’s name to the American Cancer Society.

Benalcazar wasn't wearing his safety harness when he slipped and fell to his death from an Upper East Side townhouse.

Gold Coast Window Cleaner Falls 20m To Death

Police and emergency services at the scene of this morning’s tragedy.

Gold Coast Convention Centre window cleaner falls 20m to death (Australia): A man who plunged 20m to his death at the Gold Coast Convention Centre today has been revealed as an experienced abseiler from overseas, who was wearing safety gear when he fell.

Police say the man, 29, fell from the roof cavity of the main convention hall about 9.50am while performing maintenance work. “He was kitted up in full abseiling gear and he’s fallen approximately 20m,’’ Gold Coast police Senior Sergeant Angelique Maloney said. “He had safety harnesses and full abseiling gear.’’

Sen-Sgt Maloney said a Department of Workplace Health and Safety investigation was under way to determine how the man fell, with a specialist photographer called in to photograph the roof area. She said the man was an experienced abseiler worked for a Gold Coast industrial abseiling company. She said his family was being contacted through an overseas consulate.

Several co-workers with him when he fell were in shock and undergoing counselling, she said. It was the second workplace death on the Gold Coast this morning, following a fatal explosion at a Yatala oil-reclaiming factory. And it comes two weeks after two window cleaners miraculously survived a 12-storey plunge from a Sydney high-rise when the cable supporting their metal cage snapped.

Aerial view of the Gold Coast Convention Centre upon its completion in 2004.

The Cold Weather Safety Jacket

The Cold Weather Safety Jacket - what will it look like?

The Cold Weather Safety Jacket ...provides built-in safety and insulation for ample warmth in cold weather climates.

LINDEN, NJ—Attention outdoor workers! Tradesmen/women who work at certain elevations will view this new Cold Weather Safety Jacket with deep appreciation recognizing the need for such a garment. It is both warm and safe for the user. The Cold Weather Safety Jacket is the first of its kind to offer the security of a safety harness and warmth of a jacket all-in-one. The Cold Weather Safety Jacket is more than just a jacket. 

The webbed nylon safety harness is triple-stitched to be directly incorporated into the jacket. Designed to be both lightweight and durable, the jacket is made from a strong, flexible, water/flame resistant canvas and thermal insulation with a removable interior zipper lining. It has four exterior and two interior pockets conveniently placed for easy accessibility, along with two additional lower interior pockets to store the leg harness when it is not in use. The Cold Weather Safety Jacket was designed with the worker in mind. Results from a previously completed televised marketing test have indicated exceptional consumer interest in the Cold Weather Safety Jacket.

The Patent Pending Cold Weather Safety Jacket was invented by Enrique Zuniga of Linden, NJ who said, “I manage a construction company and realize how important safety is for the men or women on the job. The Cold Weather Safety Jacket was designed with the safety of workers in mind and is perfect for all those whose work requires them to be at elevated heights, sometimes facing the most severe weather conditions, including roofers, construction workers, Linemen/Power-line Technicians (PLT), window cleaners and more. This jacket provides the convenience of safety and warmth all in one. At the end of the day we all want to go home to our families.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Development of this product is being handled by Invents Company. For more information about licensing or sale, contact the Licensing Department at Invents Company, 450 7th Avenue, Suite #1107 New York, NY 10123. Tel: 212-620-2629

INVENTS Company — 450 7th Avenue, Suite #1107 — New York, NY 10123 www.invents.com

Contact: Jeanne Nelson   Media Dept: 8812   Tel: (212) 620-2629   Jeanne@invents.com

Window Washer Gets $8M Settlement

Orbe's safety belt (seen on the sidewalk in front of the Council on Foreign Relations building) most likely saved him from being impaled as he fell, according to court papers. Click to enlarge.

Window washer gets $8M settlement for Upper East Side plunge: Faby Del Orbe suffered several fractures and fell into a coma for three weeks when he fell from the Council on Foreign Relations building on Park Ave. in September 2012, according to court papers.

The Council on Foreign Relations has paid an $8 million settlement to a Brooklyn window washer who plunged four stories from the venerable institution’s landmark building on the Upper East Side, the Daily News has learned. Faby Del Orbe had hooked his safety harness to the exterior anchors of a fourth-floor window of the Harold Pratt House on East 68th St. at Park Ave. on Sept. 1, 2012.

When Del Orbe leaned back to do his job, the anchors came loose, causing the worker, then 28, to fall more than 30 feet. He struck an iron fence on the way down — but his nylon webbed belt absorbed the brunt of that impact, preventing him from being impaled. Still, Del Orbe suffered fractures of the vertebrae, pelvis, rib and heel and was in a coma for three weeks, according to papers filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

A lawyer for the Council on Foreign Relations blamed Del Orbe for failing to check the window anchors, and also a contractor for removing the interior bolts several months earlier while installing a plexiglass cover over the window to keep out drafts. The contractor “didn’t advise the council that they have done so and in fact no one was aware that the bolt was cut until Mr. Del Orbe attached himself to it,” lawyer Lisa Fitzgerald argued in court papers.

Del Orbe was required to inspect the integrity of the window anchors he was hooking onto before washing, she said. That didn’t fly with a judge who found the council was liable, leading to the settlement reached last month.

Del Orbe’s lawyer Scott Rynecki said the window washer, a married father, can no longer work due to permanent injuries. “This settlement hopefully will send a message to building owners that they have an obligation to inspect all safety devices in their buildings so workers are properly protected,” Ryneck said. The Council on Foreign Relations, which declined to comment, is an independent think tank and publisher. Its board members include several former cabinet members, including Colin Powell and Robert Rubin.

Faby Del Orbe said the window anchors failed at the E. 68th St. building in September 2012.

Window Washer Rescue - Suspension Trauma

A window washer was rescued from a building on Second Street in Harrisburg. The unidentified man was stuck 80 feet up for about 25 minutes. He's now safely on the ground.

Window washer rescued after dangling from side of building in downtown Harrisburg: A man who slipped in his harness while washing the windows of a building downtown was rescued after dangling over the street for nearly 30 minutes, fire officials said. Newly promoted Harrisburg Deputy Fire Chief Michael Horst said the man was checked by emergency medical personnel at the scene at the Penn National Insurance building on North Second Street. The man was released shortly before 10 a.m., Horst said. Crews used a ladder truck to rescue the man, who was suspended about 70 to 80 feet above the street for roughly 20 minutes after he first slipped, the deputy chief said.

"He was getting ready to change his position on the side of the building and when he did, an automatic safety system kicked in and he was unable to get himself free," Horst said. While the safety harness kept the man from falling, it also put a strain on his legs and waist, meaning crews had to act fast to get him free before medical complications arose, Horst said. "At about 30 minutes his body condition starts to break down from being constrained like that," Horst told reporters.

In spite of Horst's claims that the man was not in any serious danger of falling, onlookers described a frantic scene in the first minutes of the incident. Robert Roth, who was managing the Joe on the Go coffee and snack stand next to the financial building said he first noticed a crowd of people forming a short time before fire crews arrived.

"People were screaming, that's when I came over," Roth said. "He was just sort of hanging there at first, but then he dropped about two stories before he caught himself again ... we all thought he was going to keep falling. It was terrifying." Fire crews had cleared the scene by 10 a.m., and North Second Street was reopened to traffic a short time later.

"He dropped about two stories before he caught himself ... we all thought he was going to keep falling. It was terrifying," - Robert Roth, witness.

Window washer rescued from Harrisburg office building: A window washer was rescued from a Downtown Harrisburg office building this morning. Fire officials said the man was stuck between the fourth and fifth floors of the Penn National Insurance building in the first block of N. 2nd Street. A deputy fire chief on the scene said the man was moving between windows when his safety mechanism became stuck in such a way that it was cutting off blood flow in his leg. The man was stuck for about 25 minutes before firefighters used a ladder to rescue him. The deputy chief said that in another five minutes, the incident could have become fatal due to the loss of blood flow. The window washer was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released

Also see Research on Suspension Trauma for High-Rise Window Cleaners

Suspension from Harness may Cause Death

R.I.P. Window Cleaner Lee Teske

Lee Teske, a recent start-up in window cleaning.

Man cleaning windows dies after 70-foot-fall at St. Cloud hotel: A man who was cleaning windows Sunday at the Kelly Inn in downtown St. Cloud fell 70 feet to his death in what police are saying was probably an accident. Firefighters responded to the scene at about 5:08 p.m. Sunday. Police were called about 15 minutes later and learned that the man had been cleaning windows and fell approximately 70 feet, said Assistant Police Chief Sue Stawarski.

Police were unable Monday to confirm the man’s identity, but family members identified him as Lee Teske, 56. He was self-employed and had experience working as a window washer in downtown Minneapolis and in St. Cloud, according to his sister, Dawn Witschen. He worked alone and didn’t have any employees, she said.

Teske had a safety harness on that rescue workers had to remove when they were treating him, said Greg Newinski, battalion chief at the St. Cloud Fire Department. Teske apparently fell onto the breezeway that connects the Kelly Inn to the River’s Edge Convention Center. He then fell from the breezeway to the ground, Newinski said.

Officials from the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration were in St. Cloud on Monday to review the details of the case, said James Honerman, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

He said that window washing has been a point of focus for OSHA. During the time period of 2009-2011, three Minnesota workers died on the job while washing windows, he said. That led to the creation of a program that started in March 2012 that focused on making window washing safer. Minnesota also was the first in the nation to have a window-washing safety standard, he said.

Dangerous NY Window Cleaner Video Goes Viral

Don't look down: The window cleaner perches on a ledge as he works without a safety harness 100ft above the ground. Click to enlarge.

Living on the ledge: Daredevil window washer pictured working  100ft above Manhattan streets without a safety harness. The unknown workman was pictured with no safety equipment as he cleaned the tenth floor windows . Onlookers saw him shuffle from window to window before casually dropping inside when he was finished.

A window cleaner took his job to extreme levels when he was pictured working ten storys high without a safety harness. The daredevil workman had nothing to stop him falling 100ft to the ground as he shuffled from window to window at the New York office block. Passers-by watched from the Manhattan street below and from neighboring buildings as he fearlessly perched on the ledge with not even a rope to protect him.

Daredevil: The window cleaner was working on the tenth floor of the office block in Manhattan, New York, when he was pictured. Click to enlarge.

The unknown workman was seen climbing out of an open window and holding onto just the wall for support. When he was finished with one window, he shuffled along the outside of the building to wash the next. Once he had moved onto third, he was seen casually dropping his tools back inside before ducking inside and closing the window behind him. People on the street below were seen pointing at the sky as he nervelessly worked.

Disbelief: Onlookers said they were horrified to see him working so high up without a rope and said they feared he was 'pushing his luck' - Click to enlarge.

Death-defying: Witnesses said he moved confidently from window to window before casually dropping back inside when he was finished. Click to enlarge.

His death-defying journey took place on Thursday just yards away from office staff busy at work, completely unaware of what was happening behind them. One onlooker said they were shocked that anyone would risk their life in such a way. They said: 'I was on my way back from a meeting and saw people pointing towards the sky - I couldn't see what was happening at first because the buildings are so tall. 'But through a small gap I could see this guy hanging onto the wall and washing windows, the other people watching told me he didn't have a rope.

Vertigo: Passers-by in Manhattan spotted him from the street and could be seen pointing at the sky in disbelief at how he was working. Click to enlarge.

Quite a drop: The unknown cleaner had no protection if he had slipped while shuffling between the windows ten storeys up. Click to enlarge.

'I have never seen anything like it before. It was actually pretty hard to watch because I was thinking to myself what happens if he slips. 'I'm not sure it's worth it just to finish the job a bit faster. He moved confidently enough so I assume he's done it before - you wonder how long he can keep pushing his luck for.' The management or a health and safety spokesperson for the building was not immediately available for comment.

A daredevil window-cleaner dices with death as he works 100 feet up without a harness. After climbing out of an open window, the foolhardy worker perched himself on a narrow outcrop ten floors above the street below. Clutching the wall, he then shifted between ledges to scrub three different panes at the New York building.

The cleaner’s antics were captured on camera by workers in a neighbouring office block in Manhattan. Despite being just a fraction away from certain death if he fell, the cleaner worked without flinching. As well as his own safety, the foolish scrubber didn’t seem to notice those making their way along the crowded city streets beneath. Having carried out his dangerous cleaning stunt, the unknown man casually dropped his tools back inside. He then headed into the safety of the office block where workers appeared to be carrying on their daily tasks.

A horrified onlooker said they had never seen anything like it. He said: “I was on my way back from a meeting and saw people pointing towards the sky — I couldn’t see what was happening at first because the buildings are so tall. “But through a small gap, I could see this guy hanging onto the wall and washing windows. “I have never seen anything like it before. “I’m not sure it’s worth it just to finish the job a bit faster. “He moved confidently enough so I assume he’s done it before.” His death-defying journey took place on Thursday. The management or a health and safety spokesperson at the New York office block could not be reached for comment.

Man falls 12 stories to his death: Dayton, Ohio - A 65-year-old Dayton man is dead after falling out of a 12th floor window at the Dayton Towers Sunday Afternoon. According to police reports, Stephen B. Ross, was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses told officers they were playing cards in their first floor apartment when they heard a loud “thump.” When they looked outside, they saw Ross’ body on the ground.
It appeared Ross was trying to wash one of the windows of his 12th floor apartment. The police report indicates officers found part of a squeegee on the ground as well as a roll of paper towels and glass cleaner on the window sill. The Montgomery County Coroner’s office tells 2 NEWS Ross’ death will be ruled as accidental due to multiple blunt force trauma.

Krazy Glue For High Rise Window Cleaners

Window washing a tall building is already scary on its own, but doing it when secured in a safety harness using four drops of Krazy Glue is… crazy. But it happened in an ad for a company I haven’t seen advertise since my childhood. So first, let’s watch a classic Krazy Glue ad' from 1980 (below) -- remember the man who glued his hard hat to a steel beam and then swung around to prove the glue’s strength? The present-day spot shows the brave window washer more than 10 stories off the ground. After he’s safely on the building’s roof, the ad flashes back to his harness being secured by just four drops of Krazy Glue prior to his window-washing excursion. See it here, created by SBC Advertising.

Instant Krazy Glue a super-strong, fast-drying adhesive was introduced to the North American market in 1973. Most people recognize Instant Krazy Glue's® brand as THE instant glue that can bond anything from china and collectibles to holiday wreaths and model trains.

The chemical name for Instant Krazy Glue® is ethyl cyanoacrylate - a non-toxic, colorless, extremely fast-acting, strong adhesive. In its pure form, it can lift 2000 pounds per square inch. Instant Krazy Glue® requires a "trigger" to activate its adhesive properties. Fortunately, that catalyst is common water, naturally present on almost any surface on earth. That is why it is important to always keep the glue container sealed tightly when it is not being used.

Instant Krazy Glue® works best on smaller surfaces and requires a very small amount of glue to bond. It bonds instantly with a light touch and requires no chemical catalyst, clamps, vices or heat source. In most cases, the bond is so strong that attempts to separate two glued substances will rip off the original surfaces before the Instant Krazy Glue® bond fails. The Instant Krazy Glue® symbol of a construction worker hanging from his hard hat isn't just an advertising gimmick - it's really that strong.

Why High Rise Cleaners Use Safety Lines

Scaffold Rescue In Manhattan - A worker ended up dangling six stories from the street when he had problems on his window-washing scaffold. It happened during lunchtime Monday in Gramercy Park. The unidentified man fell off of the scaffolding but his safety harness kept him from plunging to the street below. The NYPD was able to use a ladder to get to the man and safely return him to the ground. He was welcomed by the cheers of the crowd that had gathered to watch the events unfold.

Two Window Cleaning Rescues

Two Regina window washers who were stuck on a scaffold 19 storeys above ground have been rescued. The rescue started shortly after 10 a.m. CST outside the west tower of the Twin Towers on the Scarth Street mall. However, office workers on the 19th floor said the men had been there since about 8 a.m. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the problem, but it appeared to be a stuck cable. A firefighter attached to a line was able to drop down and pull them to the roof, one at a time. By 11 a.m., both men were back on solid ground. There was no sign that anyone was injured. Pictured above: A rescuer, seen on the left, attaches a line to a stranded window washer, just before hoisting him to the roof. More pictures here.

REGINA — A dramatic highrise rescue drew curious onlookers in downtown Regina Friday morning. Two workers needed to be rescued when the platform they were on became stuck between the 18th and 19 floors of Hill Tower I. Candace Liskowich, spokeswoman for Regina Fire and Protective Services (RFPS), said at 9:51 a.m. a call came in about two individuals stuck on a platform on the side of one of the Hill Towers located at 1874 Scarth St. Fire crews arrived on scene and the Technical Rescue Team of the RFPS was called. At 9:50 a.m. the red hats of the rescue team could be seen at the top of the building as members peered down at the victims on the platform. Then at 10:50 a.m. the first victim was lifted off the platform and pulled safely onto the roof top. Nine minutes later, the second victim was lifted to safety.
The crowd gathered to watch the event unfold cheered as they watched the rescue take place. "In exactly an hour they had the first victim off that platform," said Liskowich. "I think that's really impressive." Liskowich explained that a member of the rescue team was lowered onto the platform where he assisted the victims. "They used what they call a pick-off technique where they send one of their technical rescue members down to then use a harness or screamer suit, as they call it, and then used a (mechanical) advantage to pull the two victims onto the roof safely," she said. Liskowich added that victims were uninjured, which helped rescue efforts. "It's not a (common) situation for Regina Fire and Protective Services," she said. "They do train constantly, so the individuals we have on our technical rescue team are constantly training for high angle rescues."
Liskowich said rescuers were relieved that both victims remained calm and even communicated, via cell phones, with the rescue team throughout the whole ordeal. Terry Langelier, who works in a nearby business, watched everything unfold. She said curiousity got the best of her when she saw the commotion on the street, so she went out to investigate. "It was scary," said Langelier. "I was hoping they would be picked up safe, that's the main thing." She had never seen anything like that in downtown Regina before. "It just makes you wonder how those things happen," said Langelier. "It's fortunate that it wasn't 40 (C) below." Greg Treleaven was the member of the Technical Rescue Team who was lowered to the platform. "They lowered me down," he said. "I hooked into them and the guys brought them up." Treleaven said he was just doing his job, adding, he trains for such situations three times a month.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fairfax County firefighters rescued a man hanging from the 10th story of an office building on Dulles Corner Boulevard in Herndon at around 6:30 p.m. this evening. Capt. Robert Konczal of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department said a crew was working on the windows of the building when an equipment failure caused a member of the crew to dangle from the building, about 10 stories above the ground. Konczal said Members from two technical rescue companies, No. 436 and No. 421, were at the scene. He said rescuers were able to go to the roof of the building to lower a rescue worker to where the victim was hanging. They put a harness on the victim and the two were lowered to a fire truck with an aerial bucket. The victim was not in any physical distress and was largely unharmed, Konczal said.

Stuck window washer is rescued: Fairfax County firefighters have rescued the window washer who was trapped outside the seventh floor of a Herndon high rise building, authorities said. Rescue crews were dispatched late Thursday afternoon to Dulles Corner Road and Dulles Corner Drive and found the window washer tangled in his safety harness, authorities said. He was rescued about an hour later, and taken to a hospital for a check-up, authorities said.

Window Cleaners Have It Easy

Amazing Video: One Scary Journey To Work! An extraordinary video showing transmission workers scaling the terrifying height of a broadcast antenna has become a massive online hit. The six-minute film, shot using a helmet camera, follows the progress of two engineers as they scale a 1,768ft pylon. The video, filmed in the US, had more than 900,000 hits on YouTube. The progress of the pair is understandably slow, with much of the ascent done without the benefit of a safety harness, as it would impede the climb. And their work is made more difficult as they have to carry all their tools, weighing up to 30lbs. In case anyone is in doubt about the height to which the workers climb, the top of the antenna shown in the film is higher than Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the tallest skyscraper in the US. According to OLE, there's been interest from tv companies and organisations that want to use it as an example of how not to do it. So next time you're off to work with your bucket on a belt & twenty foot ladder, share a thought for these guys.

Safety Fears For High Rise Window Cleaners - Abu Dhabi

Safety fears for high-rise cleaners (ABU DHABI): The case of a worker injured when he fell while washing windows has underscored the need for better safety regulations following a spate of deaths, experts warned. The cleaner was in a maintenance cradle near the mezzanine level of the Ministry of Economy building on Hamdan Street at 12.30am on Sunday when he fell to the ground. Hariff Kallungal, 49, from India, who saw the incident, said the steel basket that held the man also collapsed. “This cradle fell down, and this man was on top of the cradle,” Mr Kallungal said. He said he was bleeding from the back of his head and could not talk because of pain.

The man, who was not strapped into a safety harness, was taken to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) for treatment. “He fell five metres and received a laceration to his scalp,” Dr Murray Van Dyke, the chairman of SKMC’s emergency ward, said. “He was seen in this emergency department, worked up thoroughly, he had sutures placed in his laceration and he was released in good condition.” While it was not a serious accident, “it certainly was a potentially serious injury”, Dr Van Dyke said.

Statistically, about 50 per cent of people who fall from four-storey heights are killed, he said, and few will survive a seven-storey fall. Of the 85,000 patients admitted in a year at SKMC’s emergency ward, Dr Van Dyke estimated about five per cent of those cases were work-related, excluding motor vehicle accidents. Patients injured from falls were relatively “infrequent”, he said, but he pointed out the hospital would count only survivors. “We may have a bias here because if the person has fallen from a high enough point, they will have died. We only see the people who are actually making it to the emergency department, so we can’t infer that the number is the overall number.”

Unless problems such as inadequate training and equipment are addressed, the dangers persist. Four men died in a similar incident in June, plunging six storeys outside Sharjah’s Ansar Mall. The workers had been erecting a sign when their maintenance cradle snapped in half. None were wearing safety harnesses. In July, three workers died in Sharjah when the scaffolding holding them came apart. Falls from heights have been identified as a “top priority” issue in occupational death in the emirate, according to Dr Jens Thomsen, the head of occupational and environmental health at the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

Last year, HAAD logged 108 fatal workplace injuries, of which 28 deaths (or 26 per cent) were due to falls from heights. In 2008, there were 66 deaths on the job, with 26 of those (or 39 per cent) resulting from falls from a height. “If you put the numbers together of falls from heights and deaths from falling objects, this is by far the leading cause of occupational injury in Abu Dhabi emirate,” Dr Thomsen said yesterday. HAAD recently printed 5,000 copies of an occupational hazards booklet for distribution to company owners. Among the topics covered was falls and falling objects, Dr Thomsen said. “It’s quite obvious that the safety standards are not followed everywhere as they should be, and especially with these window-cleaning fatalities. I’ve noticed there were a couple of reports recently in Sharjah with similar fatalities.”

Such accidents are far too preventable to be so common, said Dr Fikri Abu-Zidan, a professor of medicine at UAE University, who last year co-authored a study on occupational injuries in Al Ain. “More than half – 51 per cent – of work-related injuries are from falls from heights, mainly more than three metres high, which by definition is high-energy trauma,” he said. “Everyone [working from heights] should have those slings on at work. The equipment should be better and training should be better.” Rather than waiting for near-misses to occur, prevention means early detection of problems, Dr Abu-Zidan said. “It’s not enough to just bring in labourers. They should have an educational period with training for safety and surveillance for accidents.”

In the UAE University report, which used 2008 data collected from Al Ain’s trauma registry, the most common cause of injury on work sites was falls from heights (51 per cent), followed by injuries from falling objects (15 per cent). Dr Michal Grivna, another co-author on the study, said regulations should be put in place “not only regarding safety on construction sites, but also for window cleaners working at heights”. He also said that awareness about the risks of heatstroke was an important consideration. “The weather and heat-related stress is a challenge if it’s someone standing outside on a platform washing windows,” Dr Grivna said. “They could get dizzy outside working many hours in the sunshine.”

Dr Grivna noted that unlike in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi does not have limitations on building heights, meaning workers who fall from the capital’s high-rises might be less likely to survive.
Laws unheeded are no laws at all.

Toronto Window Cleaner Saved By His Harness

A Toronto window washer learned the hard way why they call it a lifeline, after he fell about 15 storeys while on the job but miraculously suffered no serious injuries. The man was working Friday at a highrise condominium at 381 Front St. W. when for reasons that are as yet unknown, he fell from the 33rd floor. "He did not hit the ground. His harness was on," Sgt. Jason Shankaran of the Toronto Police Service told CTV Toronto. "He was left dangling." "When I looked out my window, I saw two men suspended in the air. One guy was limp and the other guy was helping the other one hanging limp from the ropes," Suzanne Pinker said.

Several co-workers lowered the man to a ledge just a few storeys above the ground, where he was met by firefighters and paramedics. Firefighters took the dazed man to the ground using a ladder truck. An ambulance took him to hospital for an examination and treatment. However, he is reportedly okay. Shankaran said the man did lose consciousness during the fall, and suffered rope burns to his hands. The provincial labour ministry has been called in to investigate.

Police say a window washer's safety harness saved his life on Friday after he fell 15 storeys while working outside a Front St. condominium as horrified bystanders looked on. The man was rescued by fire fighters and transported to hospital after falling from the 33rd floor of the 381 Front St. highrise around 2:30 p.m. He suffered only minor injuries, according to Toronto police, and will be home for the Easter weekend. The worker’s lifeline saved him from sharing the same fate as the four construction workers who plunged to their deaths on Christmas Eve after the scaffolding that they were working on collapsed. The four men were wearing safety harnesses but the harnesses were not tied off to a solid structure, said Toronto police Det. Kevin Sedore.

This is the third time in two months that a worker has been injuring by falling from a height, but deadly falls are not infrequent. A 43-year-old construction worker died after falling from an apartment building near Victoria Park Ave. and Ellesmere Rd. in mid-February, and another worker died after falling 10 meters on the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus a month later. In January the Ontario government appointed Tony Dean, former head of the Ontario public service, to chair a panel of labour groups and safety experts and recommend changes to Ontario’s worker protection system. This comes after the revelation that more than 400 construction workers have died in Ontario since 1990. The Ministry of Labour is investigating Friday’s incident.

30-year-old Arturo Rodriguez will have to undergo surgery for injuries to his hands that he suffered after grabbing a cable line while falling. He might be off work for months. Rodriguez, who was attached to a cable line, fell from the roof of a condominium on Front Street Friday afternoon and was left dangling 15 floors above ground as co-workers scrambled to lower him to a second-floor ledge. He was taken to St. Michael's Hospital to be treated for serious burns and cuts to his hands. He was later released and brought home to his wife and one-year-old son.

Rodriguez, who came to Canada from Mexico as a refugee, told CTV Toronto through an interpreter that all he could think about while he fell was what went wrong. "I thought my husband died," said Brenda Rodriguez, his wife. "Oh gosh, it was terrible." Ruben Rosa, the head of Premium Window Cleaning, the company that hired Rodriguez, said his employee was saved because he was attached to a safety harness. "He was wearing a safety line, that's the main thing. If something goes wrong, the only thing that's going to save you is that life line," Rosa said.