Window washing platform fails

Failed window washing platform on US Bank Tower.

2 workers 'self rescue' from failed skyscraper platform: According to the most recent news story, a scaffolding failed on a window-washing platform on the US Bank Tower Tuesday afternoon. Luckily, it fell sideways and to the left toward a lower-level roof.

The two crew members were then able to safely escape to the neighboring building. Lt. Steve Saunders with the Cincinnati Police Department said, "At around noon, scaffolding lines on the right side of the platform appeared to fail or become loose, with the left side remaining intact. Crowds quickly gathered at Fountain Square to watch the emergency response."

The incident occurred at the US Bank Tower on Walnut Street. It is 27 stories high and 365 feet tall. The window cleaners were up at about 20 stories up when the scaffold fell sideways.

Cincinnati fire officials have not yet determined what caused the accident. East Fifth Street was closed as police as rescue crews worked at the scene. A U.S. Bancorp spokeswoman says the company is grateful there were no injuries. Cheryl Leamon noted that the company is working with building and safety officials to assess the situation and prevent further incidents.

Bethesda Scaffold Malfunction + Rescue

Two window washers stuck 13 floors above ground were able to avoid disaster on Saturday at a Bethesda construction site. 

Workers Safe After Scary Scaffolding Accident At Bethesda High Rise: Two workers stuck 13 floors above ground were able to avoid disaster on Saturday at a Bethesda construction site. At about 4 p.m. Saturday, a piece of scaffolding malfunctioned as the workers were on the Woodmont Avenue side of the 7770 Norfolk apartment project. The 17-story, 244-unit apartment building is under construction. MCFRS spokesperson said the two were window washers who were able to cut into the building and get off the piece of scaffolding. Neither sustained any injuries.

Previous recent scares in Bethesda;

February 11, 2015 - An apparent scaffolding collapse at a Bethesda office building briefly left three workers suspended about 125 feet above the ground on Wednesday morning. MCFRS units were called to the building at 6903 Rockledge Drive just after 10 a.m. By 10:10 a.m., first responders reported the workers had been able to level the piece of scaffolding and self-rescue. MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer said the workers were dangling at about the level of the 13th floor. Emergency scanner reports said the workers were hanging by ropes. First responders were later able to confirm the workers are safe.

4 June 2014: Two window washers were rescued after a window washer scaffolding partially collapsed: A rescue operation was underway in Bethesda Wednesday around 11:00 a.m. after a window washer scaffolding partially collapsed, approximately 75 feet from the ground.The "high angle" rescue happened at the NIH Building 10 on Rockville Pike. Two window washers were secured and removed via NIH Tower Ladder, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue said. There were no life-threatening injuries reported.

From The Windows, Wires And Scaffolding

July 7, 1946: Robert Maxey and Stanley Medwid clean windows on the tenth floor of the Lexington Building. They are securred by their safety belts which are fastened to two little knobs on the sash frames. The squeegee, when not in use, is carried on the hip. (Photo by Albert D. Cochran). Click to enlarge.

From the windows, wires, steel and scaffolding: Acrobats with paint brushes. High riders. Steel painters. Window washers. Scaffolding climbers. No matter what you call them, these brave souls have challenged our photographers to create interesting angle-filled images over the years. Click all pictures to supersize.

Aug. 30, 1970: Charlie Carroll wipes one clean. (Ellis J. Malashuk). Click to enlarge.

Feb. 27, 1976: A precarious perch for the window washer cleaning the exterior of the Dept. of transit and Traffic at Calvert and Bath. (Carl D. Harris - Sunpaper) Click to enlarge.

No caption filed. (Baltimore Sun file photo). Click to enlarge.

April 12, 1957: Spring cleaning time for these window washers. (Robert F. Kniesche). Click to enlarge.

From Chicago to New York: Alex Henderson, window washer at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, talks in a microphone to a brother window washer at the Empire State Building in NYC. The radio conversation was arranged by the National Broadcasting Company as the Chicago window washer and the NYC washer touted their trade. Click to enlarge.

Oct. 8, 1972: Window washers require a scaffold to work on the First National Bank Building at Light and Redwood streets. With modern windows taking up more and more space in new construction a window washer's work downtown can keep him very busy. (Sun file). Click to enlarge.

June 4, 1964: Window washers Nick Murdich and Bob Cave, seen from the One Charles Center window, lean in at the 22nd floor. At the end of the scaffolding, railed enclosures called "buckets" hold motors, cables, and electric cord. Rollers fit behind beams to hold scaffold close to the building. (Ellis Malashuk). Click to enlarge.

Window Washer Rescue In Maryland

Window washers had to be rescued from the side of an NIH building after their scaffolding collapsed.

BETHESDA, Md. - Two window washers were rescued from a building in Maryland after the scaffolding platform they were on partially collapsed. Montgomery County fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says officials were called around 11 a.m. Wednesday to a building on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda. Piringer says the two men who had been on the scaffolding were suspended in place by safety equipment and were about 75 feet above the ground.

The National Institutes of Health fire department was able to rescue the men using a bucket ladder. The two were taken to the hospital to be evaluated and did not have life threatening injuries. It was not clear what caused the scaffolding to collapse. The building the men were rescued from is a clinical center.

Two window washers were rescued after a window washer scaffolding partially collapsed: A rescue operation was underway in Bethesda Wednesday around 11:00 a.m. after a window washer scaffolding partially collapsed, approximately 75 feet from the ground.The "high angle" rescue happened at the NIH Building 10 on Rockville Pike. Two window washers were secured and removed via NIH Tower Ladder, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue said. There were no life-threatening injuries reported. This is a developing story; stay with FOX45 for details.

Window Cleaning Equipment Falls From 32-storey Tecom Tower

Below Al Shaiba Tower in Dubai.

Window cleaning equipment falls from 32-storey Tecom tower (Dubai): 1 dead, 1 hurt - Five vehicles damaged: A window cleaning equipment snapped from the 34-storey Al Shaiba Tower A in Tecom, killing one person and leaving one person injured. According to eye witnesses, the two passers-by were in the area to deliver fruits and vegetables. "One of them tried to run away upon seeing the object falling down. He was hit while he was running," said a building employee. While both men were taken to hospital immediately, the seriously injured man, a Pakistani, did not make it, according to unofficial sources. The nationality of the injured person is not known yet.

The accident was caused by the collapse of a window-cleaning cradle, installed on the building. According to the building management, the company was hired to install the equipment only. "They were attaching it to the building floor by floor. When they reached the 31st floor, it collapsed," said a building manager. As a result, one balcony of an apartment on the 31st floor was hit, after which it plunged down. "My wife and her father were at home when it happened. I was at work," said the Egyptian resident of the apartment. "She called me to say that there was a lot of glass and I had to come home. When I entered the apartment, I saw a huge hole in the wall. The entire balcony had come off."

Below the building, the damage is great. Five vehicles have been crashed, four of them are totally damaged. One of the vehicles is a truck belonging to the unfortunate delivery men. "I was sitting on the terrace to drink a coffee while it happened. Suddenly I saw the object flying down. I took my coffee and I started running," said the Syrian Mahmoud Kattan (30), who works at Hair Fiesta, the hair salon under the building. His colleague Ibrham (34) from Egypt had a day off, but was woken up by the loud sound of the collapse, as his apartment is located on the 34th floor. "I suddenly saw the object flying by my apartment window. The sound was crazy, I was in shock.”

Similarly, Bonita (36), a South African resident on the 32nd floor was shocked by the intense noise when the object fell down. "At first, I did not dare to come close to the apartment window. I heard that loud sound and then saw a cloud of dust. It was as if the building was going to collapse." When she decided to take a look out of the window, she saw a body lying on the street. "At that point, he was moving his arm, he was still alive." The accident took place just after 11am and Dubai ambulance and police personnel are still at the scene. The area has been cordoned off, although residents are permitted to enter the building.

The accident created a whole in the wall of the living room.

This apartment balcony on the 31st floor was hit by the cradle.

EARLIER STORY: Window cleaning equipment fell from the 32-storey Al Shaiba Tower A in Tecom, injuring at least two people. The equipment landed on a couple of passers-by, causing serious injury to one, Dubai Ambulance personnel told Emirates 24|7. A supermarket staffer in the building said the seriously injured person was a Pakistani delivery boy who worked in the area. Cars parked next to the building were also damaged., with at least four badly damaged. The area is still cordoned off. The accident took place just after 11am and Dubai ambulance and police personnel are still on the scene. "I suddenly heard a loud noise as if the building was falling apart," said Bonita Carr, a South African resident living on the 32nd floor. "When I looked down the balcony, I saw something had fallen down."

Window cleaning cradle collapse: man dead after accident in Tecom, Dubai -  One man was killed and another injured when a window cleaning cradle fell from a 34-storey building in Tecom after its ropes snapped. The accident happened early on Tuesday morning at the Al Shaiba Tower in Tecom. The victim died in hospital on Tuesday afternoon. The falling cradle damaged 12 vehicles parked in front of the residential building, throwing up debris in a 200-metre radius. Stones and pieces of equipment were strewn under cars and across the pavement. Colonel Abdul Qader Al Banay, Director of Jebel Ali police station had earlier told Gulf News two were injured when the cleaning platform fell and some cars parked under the building were also damaged.

2 arrested after 3 injured in Tecom tower window-cleaning cradle plunge:  Two men have been arrested after a window-cleaning cradle plunged from a Dubai skyscraper, injuring three people below. The trio, who are all Asian, were on the street next to Al Shaiba Tower in Tecom about 10.45am yesterday when the unmanned platform fell from the 34-storey building. Initial reports suggested one man had been killed. However, last night the head of Jebel Ali Police Station, Brigadier Abdul Kader Al Banay, said three men had been injured and were being treated at Rashid Hospital. He said one of the men was in a critical condition.

An eyewitness shared what he saw, along with graphic photographs of the accident, on a blog. He said: “There was a strong sound of squeaking glass smashing followed by a boom. People rushed to the street to find the damage on the ground. “With God’s mercy only, the cars parked in front of the buildings were empty except for an unlucky delivery truck. The poor labourer unloading the truck received a direct hit.”

Meanwhile, Al Banay said: “The cradle collapsed and the men tried to escape but pieces of the machine fell on them.” Al Banay added: “The cradle landed on a deep-freeze van. Five other vehicles were also damaged.” Police said they have arrested the cleaning company owner and a supervisor who were responsible for putting up the equipment on the building. They are continuing to question them. The eyewitness said: “Police and rescue workers arrived almost instantly at the scene and the paramedics tried to rescue the badly injured man.”

Two injured as window-cleaning equipment falls in Dubai’s Tecom tower: Two men were injured and several cars damaged on Tuesday morning when window-cleaning equipment fell from a 34-storey tower in Tecom. There were unconfirmed reports that one of the injured men later died in hospital. “The whole building shook,” said a resident who lives on the 30th floor of Al Shaiba Tower A. “I was sitting with my cat on my lap and we both shook because of the noise.” By the time the resident, who asked not to be named, went downstairs to check on the noise, police were there and an ambulance had already taken away the two injured.

One of the two men was delivering fruit and vegetables to a supermarket at the building. “There were vegetables and bananas strewn everywhere,” said the witness. “The whole street was scattered with pieces of metal.” Several cars parked next to the entrance of the building were severely damaged, while other nearby vehicles also had minor damage. Apartment windows on one of the upper floors of the building also appeared to be damaged. One resident said she was afraid for her safety as similar equipment is mounted on the roof of tower B of the complex.

Maintenance cradles are safe, Dubai Municipality official says: An official at the civic body said on Wednesday that residents should not have to worry for their safety when cleaning and maintenance works are carried out in their building as all equipment are approved by the Dubai Accreditation Centre. The affirmation came a day after a cradle used to hoist workers on the exterior of a building fell from a 34-storey residential building in Tecom on Tuesday killing one man and injuring another passer-by.

According to Dubai Municipality, either the building owners or the building’s administration are responsible for providing an adequate and reliable maintenance service which includes providing cradles used to clean the glass panels. “Buildings with window curtains have to be designed and built in a way that allows room for cradles to be used on as there are several models of cradles. Before the building is approved, the building’s management has to first test the cradle and ensure that it works properly, and that can only be done by obtaining a certificate of inspection from a private company that attests such equipment,” said Ahmad Khalil, principal safety engineer at the Building Department, Dubai Municipality.

Khalil explained that the private companies attesting the equipment have to be approved by the Dubai Accreditation Centre, and that the responsibility of providing periodic maintenance has to be carried out by the building’s administration. “The management of buildings should never look for ways to cut costs and should always ensure that they are providing residents with services that have been verified and approved by the relevant authorities,” he said. Khalil pointed out that accidents may arise from faulty cradles if the equipment has not been regularly maintained, if the maintenance companies hired do not have the license to operate such equipment, or are generally incautious to following safety procedures.

Men injured in Dubai window-cleaning cradle fall expected to recover:  Both men injured when a window cradle fell from a 34-storey tower on Tuesday morning are expected to make a full recovery, the regulator of the free zone where the tower is located said on Thursday. The Dubai Technology and Free Zone Authority, the regulator for Tecom, the area where Al Shaiba Tower A is located, said a preliminary investigation has been completed. “While we are prohibited from disclosing full details at this time, we can confirm that no fatalities resulted from the incident,” it said. The authority said one man remains in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. A second suffered minor facial injuries and has already been released from hospital.

“We will continue to work with Dubai Police and other authorities throughout the course of the investigation and will take appropriate action once the process has been completed.” The two men were hurt when the unmanned cradle fell about 10.45am. Several cars were damaged and some windows on surrounding buildings appeared to be damaged. Tecom Investments released a statement, saying it had been in touch with the two injured men “to check on their welfare and gain a better understanding of what occurred”.

Authorities deny reports of fatality in crane fall in Dubai: Tecom, DTMFZA say two workers were injured in the accident, preliminary investigation completed. Authorities have denied reports about a man’s death after a window-cleaning platform crashed from the 34th floor of a tower in the Tecom area on Tuesday morning. The Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (DTMFZA) on Thursday confirmed that there was no fatality in the incident as reported by a section of the media.

The DTMFZA said it has completed its preliminary investigation into the incident at Al Shaiba Tower A.  “While we are prohibited from disclosing full details at this time, we can confirm that no fatalities resulted from the incident.” The authority said one man was in hospital following prompt medical treatment and is expected to make a full recovery. “The second man sustained minor facial injuries in the accident and has already been discharged.  We will continue to work with the Dubai Police and other authorities throughout the course of the investigation and will take appropriate action once the process has been completed,” its statement added.

Tecom Investments also issued a similar statement. “We are pleased to confirm that the incident at Al Shaiba Tower A did not result in any fatalities, contrary to initial media reports. DTMFZA and Tecom Investments have been in direct contact with the two men injured in the incident to check on their welfare and gain a better understanding of what occurred. We will continue to liaise with DTMFZA, the regulator for the area, and provide our assistance in resolving this matter,” it said.

Khaleej Times had reported that the men were working under the platform, on the ground floor, when the collapse took place. Eyewitnesses said they were stunned when they heard a loud noise and saw the crane come crashing down on top of three workers. The crane also caused damage to six vehicles in the area, one of which was still occupied by its driver, as well as the injury of two passers-by. As a result of the collapse, windows on the 31st floor were also damaged.

Window Washer Winners & A Loser In New York

The duo was cleaning the exterior of the JPMorgan Chase windows on Madison Ave. near 46th St. when they got stuck at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Two window washers stranded on side of midtown high-rise when scaffolding goes on the fritz - The two workers manage to escape the scaffolding on the side of the J.P. Morgan building before rescue personnel arrived Wednesday morning. They were left high and dry, but only for a few minutes. Two window washers on a motorized scaffolding ended up getting stuck several floors up on the side of midtown high-rise Wednesday morning — but were able to get to safety before help could arrive, officials said.

The incident was over within minutes.

The duo was cleaning windows on the JPMorgan Chase building on Madison Ave. near 46th St. at about 9:30 a.m. when their scaffolding apparently went on the fritz. An FDNY source said the duo was able to get off the scaffolding before rescuers got there. "No one was on the scaffolding when we arrived," an FDNY spokeswoman said. It wasn't immediately clear which floor the motorized scaffolding was on when it stopped moving.

A loser, outside an East 14th Street apartment building near Union Square.

Daring Window Washer Eschews Harness, Sanity - Is teetering on the edge of a high ledge sans harness a new and exciting trend in window-washing? In April, a gentleman captured our hearts and boggled our minds after he was seen dangling casually from an open window 100 feet above the pavement dwellers slinking below. In July, alarmed office workers sent a photo of a man clinging to the outside an adjacent building, seemingly wiping away without a rope in sight. (The building's management company insisted the man was in fact wearing a Charmed Invisible Harness, and that he was as safe as a baby in an artisan-crafted bjorn. We remain skeptical.)

And now, this. While this fellow, perched outside an East 14th Street apartment building near Union Square, doesn't quite set the record for Highest Free Form Window Wash, he's sufficiently far from the ground that falling would likely result in death, or at the very least, paralysis and the breaking of several important bones. Then again, it's not like there are any great options in the first place.

Window Washing Is Safer Than Driving a Taxi

"The platform itself is designed to fold into 90 degrees so it can wrap around the corners," Bright says. The workers on the platform yesterday were maintenance workers, he explained, who were there to fix an earlier problem identified with the platform not straightening.

Don't Forget, Window Washing Is a Lot Safer Than Driving a Taxi - Some elevated scaffolding failed at New York's Hearst Tower Wednesday afternoon, resulting in two workers being left stranded, 40 stories up, for over an hour. So should we be worrying about the high-altitude workers who maintain the world's skyscrapers?
 

Not really, says Stefan Bright, the safety director for the International Window Cleaning Association. "It's pretty rare that anybody gets killed in one of these permanent platforms," Bright says. The full technical name of the type of platform that failed on the Hearst Tower is a "permanently installed powered platform," and of the 500 to 700 of them currently in use across the United States, a whopping 70 to 80 percent of them are in New York City. They're typically designed for buildings over 300 feet.
 

Back in February, The New Yorker published a lengthy article on window-washers (which these two workers yesterday were not, although they were on a window-washing apparatus), noting that "the work of washing windows in the United States is significantly safer than driving a cab." Bright says that in fact there was one fatality in the entire national window-washing industry last year, and two the year before that. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2010, the most recent year with clear definitions on these categories, confirm that fatality rates due to falls for window-washers, janitors, and cleaners are indeed quite low.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data 2002 till 2010, click to enlarge.

The specific platform on the Hearst Tower is a little tricky, as it's designed to bend around the peculiar angles of the building. The same New Yorker piece highlighted this $3-million system on the Hearst Tower, installed in 2005, and designed and built by Toronto-based Tractel-Swingstage:

Designing and building the machine took a team of Tractel engineers three years. The result, a rectangular steel box the size of a Smart car, supporting a forty-foot mast and a hydraulic boom arm attached by six strands of wire rope to a telescopic cleaning basket, houses a computer that monitors sixty-seven electromechanical safety sensors and switches, and runs around the roof of the Hearst Tower on four hundred and twenty feet of elevated steel track.

"The platform itself is designed to fold into 90 degrees so it can wrap around the corners," Bright says. The workers on the platform yesterday were maintenance workers, he explained, who were there to fix an earlier problem identified with the platform not straightening. While he isn't clear on the sequence of events between the problem being discovered and the maintenance workers getting struck on the platform, it appeared the raising and lowering element stopped working. There are also reports that a motor failed in the device. The state's Department of Labor and New York City's Department of Buildings will be investigating yesterday's failure.
 

But these devices just get stuck every once in a while, according to Bright. He pointed out an incident in May, when two window-washers in San Diego were stranded on a building for over an hour before being rescued.
 

News outlets are also drawing links to another incident in New York City back in 2007, when two window washers fell 47 stories after the scaffolding collapsed. Miraculously, one of the men survived. NBC New York reports that the same company that designed the Hearst Tower's device, Tractel, helped maintain the Upper East Side window washing scaffold that fell in 2007. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Tractel three citations following that incident.

Someone decided to abbreviate “assistant” — with embarrassing results.

NYC station’s abbreviation results in embarrassing new title - WPIX-TV made quite an a… — err, shall we say fool — of itself yesterday with a lower third error. The station was, along with the other New York City stations, covering a scaffolding collapse at the Hearst Tower in Manhattan  when it aired the graphic above. The station managed to track down a window cleaning assistant named Stefan Bright. But someone decided to abbreviate “assistant” — with embarrassing results.

Window Washer With Chest Pains In Milwaukee Rescue

Man rescued from outside NWML building: A man was rescued Tuesday afternoon from the fifth floor of the  Northwestern Mutual Life building at North Marshall and East Wells streets in Milwaukee. WISN 12 News learned the man, possibly a window washer, was working on scaffolding outside the building when he suffered some type of chest pain. The man also had chemicals with him on the scaffolding. "Our Heavy Urban Rescue Team came in they were able to put the individual in a stokes basket and do a lowering situation for him, to the roof, and we were able to get him on a cot and out of here and get him transported to the hospital," Milwaukee Fire Department Battalion Chief Christopher Snyder said.

"It scares me.  I'm afraid of heights, so when I just hear about it. It gives me the shakes," North western Mutual Life employee Sara Lewkowski said. Lewkowski and her friend Robin Sorensen were inside the building at work. They first heard about out it on the Northwestern Mutual website. "I had walked up stairs, and I saw fire trucks and police officers, and then, I went online and they had already had it covered saying that one to the workers was feeling some pain, and they called it in right away," Lewkowski said.

Northwestern Mutual actually has a plan in place to handle such emergencies. Firefighters are giving the company high praise for that. "They had people are the door bringing us in in stages as we arrived and taking us up there, and they had a medical staff up there and nurses with the individual until our paramedics got there," Snyder said. News Chopper 12's Matt Salemme said there were 35 mph sustained winds in the area when he approached. 

Window washer with chest pains rescued in downtown Milwaukee: A deputy fire chief says that Milwaukee Fire crews rescued a worker who was washing windows in a downtown Milwaukee building when he suffered chest pains. The incident happened at about 12:00 p.m. at a downtown office tower on the 700 block of North Marshall Street. The tower is part of the Northwestern Mutual complex. "We had a worker that was working on scaffolding about five stories up, experiencing chest pain," said MFD Deputy Chief Randall Zingler. He explained that Heavy Urban Response Team members gave the man assistance while on the scaffolding.   Paramedics transported him to a local hospital.