UK Window Cleaner Issues

Jim Richards, a window cleaner, one of the parents from Manor Community School and Nursery is campaigning against parents who drop off or pick up their children outside the school.

Ex-bouncer takes on school parking pests at Manor Road Community Primary School in Keary Road, Swanscombe: A former bouncer has started a campaign to shame fellow parents who are putting schoolchildren in danger with their irresponsible parking. Jim Richards, 45, from Swanscombe knows how to keep calm in stressful situations.

Working as a doorman for 17 years, the father-of-two is used to people being angry with him, and that experience has certainly come in handy over the past week. Mr Richards has a six-year-old daughter at Manor Road Community Primary School in Keary Road, Swanscombe, and when he dropped her off, he realised people were parking on yellow zig-zag lines close to the school entrance, making it difficult for children to cross the road safely.

He confronted some of the parents and after disagreements with those unwilling to park elsewhere, Mr Richards decided enough was enough and started taking photos of the cars he believed were causing a problem. He then put them on Facebook for all to see, including via the Swanscombe Dwellers community page. He claims there has been a difference since he started the campaign just over a week ago, with some parents arriving earlier to drop off their children or parking elsewhere.

Some people have lost their rag with Mr Richards, but his experience as a doorman has allowed him to keep his cool. He said: “I think it really does help. I don’t get irate because you can’t as a doorman. “It is more about people management. It was quite easy talking to people even when they were shouting at you.”

Mr Richards, who is now a window cleaner, said he “took it on himself” to do something on behalf of concerned parents. He said: “There’s mums and dads who haven’t got a voice but think the same thing. "Dartford council got involved and said the pictures should have been passed straight to the authorities, but we were finding that these people were parking there no matter what. “It has got a lot of support from the parents.”

Knife brandished in window cleaners' argument: An unlawful knife was brandished during a heated argument between local window cleaners outside a public house, a court has heard. James William Howard Paill, aged 49, of Windmill View, Capel Iwan, Newcastle Emlyn, pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, when he appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates on Wednesday. The court heard that an argument started outside the Nags Head Public House, Abercych, on April 4. Sarah Lewis, prosecuting, said: “The defendant got the knife out of his pocket and witnesses saw him wielding it in a threatening manner.”

Stephen Welch, defending, told the court the implement had several tools, and his client had always carried it in relation to his work in the window cleaning business. Paill became unable to work with his hands following a skiing accident, and used the implement to help him with everyday tasks such as opening bottles. Mr Welch said: “He became involved in a argument with the owner of another window cleaning business, that escalated to the extent that the other man’s colleagues appeared on the scene. He made it known that he had the implement and brandished it, but he never intended to use it.”

The court heard that the knife was unlawful because it had a fixed blade. Mr Welch added: “He just wanted to ward off several men who were in drink. He apologises. He thought what he had was lawful, he was surprised to find it was not.” Mr Welch added: “The knife was taken out after he had been hit, but he accepts he should not have it on him in the first place.” Following a report from the probation service, magistrates imposed a six week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, with a community order and supervision requirement. He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £80 victim surcharge. A destruction order was made for the knife.

Big Issue seller - I’d really like to get myself a nice window-cleaning round.

Stephen Wylde, 54, Market Street, Wells, Somerset:  I live in a tent just outside Wells. I like the peaceful countryside, the basic way of living – I just have to get decent clothing from charity shops in winter. From where I’ve been before, in London, you couldn’t really pitch a tent anywhere because the youth would come and damage it. Here I’m able to be tucked out of the way, which I need because I haven’t got a front door. I’ve got a dog but she’s got breast cancer and she’s old. I’m looking after her, getting her decent food. I don’t take her to the pitch because I like to stand there on my own two feet.

As a kid I used to like going round with lads, shooting targets with pellet guns, not birds or anything. I liked racquet games and climbing up the scree slopes in Wales. I liked woodwork and have done a bit of that over the years. I was part of a community, travelling around the sites with horses or trucks. It was all right ’til I started getting into heavy drinking, so I came away from it. You have to or it’s an ongoing circle. I got myself off of drink, tobacco as well. I’m trying to look ahead.

I’d really like to get myself a nice window-cleaning round. I made attempts at getting one together: Jobseeker’s Allowance offered to lend me £1000 to buy a van and get myself out there but because my address is a PO Box I can’t get a bank account and so couldn’t get the money.

That’s when I started doing The Big Issue. It’s helping me keep off things I shouldn’t be getting on and I’m managing to pay a couple of debts and feed myself. I’m keeping myself above water. I saved up and got myself a pass for the Bishop’s Palace at Wells Cathedral, where I can go to sit in the garden and eat my sandwiches, get a bit of peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle. It costs but it gives me a bit of sanctuary.

I have to walk three miles to my tent and sometimes go up a hill with a panoramic view. I love England. We’re such a diverse culture, bits of everyone in the world because everyone has passed through this island for centuries. My customers... They are a diverse lot. I’m starting to build up a pitch, getting regulars. On my pitch... On market days I sell from about 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Taunton Window Cleaner Impaled On Railing

Jon Richardson recovering at home - with the offending spike.

Taunton window cleaner impaled on railings after falling off ladder: Window cleaner Jon Richardson is nursing a sore foot after falling off a ladder and becoming impaled on railings. But without his quick reactions he reckons the accident would have been far worse.

“I fell 2½ metres and was going down stomach-first with the spikes coming towards me,” said Jon, aged 40. “But I got my foot out just in time, otherwise I’d have had four spikes through my tummy and wouldn’t be here today.”

Jon was on the top rung and about to start cleaning an upstairs window in Grove Gate, Staplegrove, shortly before 10am on Saturday when the ladder slid from underneath him. After he landed on the railings, with his body on the ground, Jon at first thought he’d simply trapped his ankle. “I called for help and people came running out,” said Jon, of Trendle Road, Taunton, who will be off work for six weeks. “They lifted my body up level with my feet, which is when I saw the spike had gone through my foot.”

Firefighters cut him free with the spike still embedded in his foot, while ambulance staff administered pain relief. He was then taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, where a doctor removed the spike and he later underwent surgery to remove debris from inside his leg. Jon, a window cleaner for 20 years, who lives with his partner and has two grown-up children, said: “My family were horrified when they heard I’d been impaled on a spike. “But it could have been far worse if I hadn’t realised what was going on and moved my foot in the way.”

Internet Daredevil Window Cleaner Fined

This daredevil window cleaner is captured on film balancing on a ledge without a safety harness on the third floor of a building in Bath.

Internet star window cleaner who balanced on third floor ledge is fined £2,000 for breaking health and safety rules: A window cleaner who became a YouTube hit when he was filmed balancing on a third-floor ledge with no safety harness has been ordered to pay £2,000 for health and safety breaches. First reported here.

Fearless Wayne Mallon was caught on camera as he calmly climbed out of a top-floor window to carry out his work 40ft above the pavement. Passers-by watched in horror as he stepped onto the outside of a stone balustrade before walking around the building. A later clip showed him doing the same thing on the level below, but this time walking along the top of the narrow windows – again without any kind of safety equipment.

Self-employed Mallon, who works for Terry Mallon and Sons Cleaning Services, pleaded guilty to three health and safety charges at Bath Magistrates Court in Somerset. The 40-year-old was fined £400 for each of the offences and ordered to pay £800 in costs, as well as a £15 victim surcharge, bringing the total to £2,015.

Risky: Footage showed Wayne Mallon balancing precariously on a ledge without a safety harness as he climbed across the building - 40ft up - to clean its windows.

Mallon, of Whiteway, Bath, took to the windowsills above the Loch Fyne restaurant in Bath in September last year. It was filmed by a passing pedestrian and went viral on YouTube, attracting nearly 90,000 views to date. But the clip came to the attention of the health and safety team at Bath and North East Somerset Council, which brought charges against Mallon and Loch Fyne.

The restaurant chain faces six breaches of health and safety regulations, which will be dealt with this Friday. A spokesman from B&NES Council said: “The council, in common with the window cleaning industry, takes these issues seriously because of the dangers to the public and workers.

“Whilst working in this manner, Mr Mallon was putting not only his own safety at risk but also that of members of the public who were passing on the busy pavement below. “The council hopes that the fine and court costs of £2,000 incurred by Mr Mallon will deter businesses from putting themselves, other workers and members of the public at risk.”

He added: “Falls from height remain the most common cause of workplace fatality. “The council wishes to remind all businesses carrying out these activities that they must, for their own and other’s safety, familiarise themselves with legal requirements which in this case would have assured Mr Mallon’s safety.” 

 

Bath hotel fined over unsafe window cleaner: A restaurant and hotel firm has been fined £15,000 after a window cleaner was filmed balancing precariously on a ledge outside one of its buildings. Loch Fyne admitted one breach of health and safety law and was also ordered to pay costs of £3,023. Self-employed window cleaner Wayne Mallon was fined £2,000 on Monday. He was seen climbing along the ledges of the third floor of the Milsoms Hotel building - owned by Loch Fyne - in Bath without ladders or safety equipment. Mallon, of Whiteway, Bath, who works for Terry Mallon and Sons Cleaning Services, pleaded guilty to three health and safety charges at Bath Magistrates' Court

The footage went viral when it was posted on YouTube in September last year and has attracted more than 90,000 views to date. It came to the attention of the health and safety team at Bath and North East Somerset Council (Banes), which brought charges against Mallon and Loch Fyne, which has its roots on the west coast of Scotland. The film was shown to magistrates and Loch Fyne admitted allowing a contractor to work at height in an unsafe manner. 

Robin Wood, representing Banes, told the court that the firm had a duty of care to contractors. "If a suitable risk assessment had been carried out, Mr Mallon would not have endangered himself or others below in the way he did," he said. "There were a number of documents in place to make sure a risk assessment was possible but they were not being used and had not been checked by the company for more than eight years. "We have no evidence that this happened on more than one occasion, except he seemed to know what he was doing."

He added: "The video has been seen by more than 89,000 people on YouTube. It has also appeared in national newspapers and on television. "Window cleaners from around Europe have commented on YouTube. The industry itself is aware of this, and in some ways, they will take note of what has happened in this instance."

Speaking outside court, a Loch Fyne spokesman said the company took health and safety "extremely seriously" and expected the same from its contractors. "We accept today's decision and are grateful this isolated incident in Bath was brought to our attention. "As a result we have put tighter measures in place to prevent anything similar happening again, including stricter procedures for our restaurant manager to follow when using external contractors."

Loch Fyne, which employs 1,234 staff at 42 restaurants and four hotels, said it was the first time it had ever appeared in court. Speaking outside his home, Mallon said he was "very health and safety conscious". He added that only three of the hotel's 28 windows could be reached using "reach and wipe" equipment.

Unsafe Window Cleaner Video Goes Viral

Daredevil window cleaner not good for image of window cleaners.

Bath's daredevil window cleaner with a head for heights: A daredevil window cleaner has been captured on film balancing on a ledge without a safety harness on the third floor of a building in Bath. More than 1,000 people have viewed the Extreme Window Cleaning clip on YouTube, which shows a man working above the Loch Fyne restaurant, at the corner of Milsom Street and George Street. During the three-minute film he is seen to climb out of the top floor window and onto the other side of the stone balustrade, before walking around the outside of the building. Later on he is seen doing the same thing on the level below, but this time walking along the top of the narrow windows - but again without any kind of safety equipment.

A member of staff at Loch Fyne said the incident was being dealt with internally by the restaurant chain’s owners Greene King, and added that they had been in contact with the health and safety team at Bath and North East Somerset Council. B&NES today confirmed it was investigating the incident. It is understood that the floors above the restaurant are occupied by the hotel side of the business, Milsoms, which has a number of rooms available for guests.

Extreme window cleaning (BATH, SOMERSET): An investigation has been launched after a daredevil window cleaner was captured on film balancing on a ledge without a safety harness on the third floor of a city centre building. The YouTube clip, which shows a man working above the Loch Fyne restaurant is being investigated by Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Discount Signs for Window Cleaners

A rather quick & varied history of one of the blogs sponsors for today - Jeff Brown of "Reflections Window Cleaning" & "The Discount Sign Center." Jeff is based in & around Somerset in the UK.

After a 9 year military career in the RMC, Jeff became a electronic security Engineer and spent 15 years installing, servicing and repairing intruder alarms, CCTV Systems and fire alarms. Jeff found that after 15 years he was becoming bored with this job and fancied a change from the 24hr call-out and 7 days a week routine. He just happened to mention it to one of the neighbors who he never even knew was a window cleaner. His neighbour & partner had been window cleaners for the past 30 years & were planning to retire within the next few months and looking for someone to take over the business! First of all Jeff laughed at him and said "somehow I can't see me as a window cleaner," went home and told his wife, and she to laughed too? .. This opportunity played on his mind and it dawned on him that he could finally become his own boss, so he sat the wife down and chatted to her and asked her - "what her thoughts were on the idea?" She said "you have nothing to loose so give it a shot"... cutting a long story short.

Jeff took over the window cleaning round from Stan and Stewart back in June 1997 and joined them before their retirement, working with them to learn all the tips and tricks of traditional window cleaning. Finally at the end of June - Stan and Stewart retired and left him to get on with it. Straight away, Jeff employed his wife Lynne (known by many on the forums as the Boss!) on a full time basis, and with a full round of 500 customers (most of whom were way under priced), he also employed his 3 daughters on a part time basis. It seemed at times Jeff was being bombarded with new customers when they were seen: 4 female window cleaners! Time went on and the girls all got married and left, so Jeff & Lynne had to cope with a huge round! Gradually he gave away a couple of hundred customers to another window cleaner in the area. Three years ago Jeff took the plunge, and invested in a water fed pole system and found he was able to cover the smaller round quite easily. But then just after the wfp change over, his wife, Lynne (the Boss) was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and her condition gradually became worse.

The time came to decide what to do with the window cleaning business, his eldest girl now married with 3 boys told him that she would like to take over the whole business and the Boss and Jeff were more than happy to pass it onto Michelle - his eldest. She bought herself a van and Jeff fitted it out with the wfp system, she decided she wanted a sign written van and called on the services of an online DIY vinyl sign supplier and after a great deal of issues with the company her signs finally arrived - but not to the specification she requested. But Michelle being Michelle decided that she would fit the vinyl signs. When she turned up at the door to show Jeff, the first thing Jeff asked was "who fitted them for you?" Her reply was "I did them myself," this got Jeff thinking - 'now that most of my days are spent at home looking after the Boss', he looked into what was involved with supplying vinyl signs, but he never wanted to get into it in a huge way. He purchased all the equipment and decided that the main customer base would be the window cleaners - but found he was getting small orders from around his own town and all by word of mouth. Now Jeff still wanted to focus on the window cleaners to keep the business small - again another decision was needed? "Do I open up to everyone and neglect the window cleaner?" Not likely! So he decided to give the window cleaner the biggest discount that he could, but make enough money to cover his costs! So anyone who looks at Jeff's website - look out for the 3 stage discount that he offers to the window cleaner.

Jeff began doing some signs for Window cleaning clients and the feed back he received was encouraging to say the least. Kindly the clients supplied photo's of what they used their signs on, because its not just cars and vans that can be sign written - it is most of our equipment. Jeff showed pictures on the "Waterfed Pole Training Academy" (website owned & run by Jeff & Joe) of his daughters tank, backpack and improvements to her own vans sign writing. Poles, trolley's and the back of car windows have been sign written with signs produced by Jeff for you to install yourself.

Jeff decided he wasn't happy with just doing vinyl for his equipment so branched out to producing vinyl printed clothing, and the results so far are very encouraging. So encouraging in fact, that Jeff has branched out again and decided to do sublimation printing. Tests are still under way - so Jeff can now offer promotional items for your business! Jeff says "the range is huge," so look in now and again to the website to see the items on offer. This side is run by the boss who Jeff managed to talk into giving the window cleaners a discount above anything else. The new "Discount Signs" website is still under construction and will be finished soon. Jeff says

"I'm happy to announce that our signs have now traveled as far away as Australia and we continue to have repeat orders from this Australian company." Jeff gives his promise, "Window Cleaners will receive the best offer!"

Jeff can be reached at:
Discount Signs
See Jeff's New Products
Reflections Window Cleaning

The Water Fed Pole Quad

Kevin James has a new ride - and it isn't your normal vehicle for a window cleaner! Kevin of "Life on a Ledge window cleaning" operates on the Somerset/Wiltshire border servicing the main towns: Bath, Bradford on Avon, Frome, Westbury and Trowbridge. He uses a quad (Can-Am 800) that is capable of towing 500 kilos - more than enough to clean the houses of the 850 residential clients he services. In fact he states that he now needs 1000 clients to fill five days a week on a six week turnaround with the use of the water fed pole! Click on the pictures to enlarge.

.

Kevin says "the quad is completely road legal, taxed as PLG, not agricultural." "The bike carries 120 kilos on rear with 40 kilos on the front & it has an Omnipole Back Pack on the front, with an external leisure battery that is charged via split relay off the bikes electrics - I only have to charge the battery every 10 days!" He adds it "really suits residential work in the UK & customers dont mind me parking in their drives or lawns - I used to spend £35 a week on petrol (Volvo 2 litre estate with trailer) but now I'm down to £20." Contact James of "Life on a Ledge" on 07773 616059

.