Window cleaner's miracle plunge.
AN abseiling window cleaner survived a seven-storey plunge from a Surfers Paradise high rise yesterday. Walter Torres, 20, was cleaning windows at the Solaire apartments on the corner of Ferny and Cypress avenues when he fell, hitting and dislodging a steel beam on the way down but failing to hit the ground. The accident came after two construction workers fell 26 floors to their deaths on a Broadbeach high-rise development on Saturday. Andrew Horchner, operations and safety manager for All Industrial Abseilers, the company Mr Torres works for said it appeared a problem with the abseiling ropes had caused the Robina man's accident. "It seems it was a procedural problem where the ropes got caught up on a higher anchorage and was not able to be seen by him or others on the job," said Mr Horchner. "Once he weighted the ropes it actually pulled through and he fell about seven stories and hit a piece of structure after the rope took up his weight, so his safety system worked because if it didn't, he wouldn't be here now."
Mr Horchner said company representatives had gone over safety issues with their workers following the accident. "We went through a full safety brief on Monday so they were more than aware of safety issues," he said. "Everyone was extra careful and extra sharp on the ropes so this is an unfortunate accident." Tony Clark, who is on holiday from New Zealand, said he rushed to help Mr Torres after hearing a loud bang and seeing him dangling from his harness. "We just heard the steel beam come down and we looked over from across the road," said Mr Clark. "I thought, 'He's dead' but then he put an arm up and I thought, 'He's all right'. "He was up about 10 feet and we couldn't get to him of course. "He started lowering himself down and we said (not to) and once he got to about eight feet we helped him down." Mr Clark said Mr Torres had blood on his face and neck and was whimpering in pain and complaining about his leg. Police from the nearby Surfers Paradise Police Station as well as ambulance crews attended the scene. A Queensland Ambulance spokesman said Mr Torres was taken to Gold Coast Hospital with neck and spinal injuries and was last night in an unstable condition. Workmates who gathered around Mr Torres as paramedics attended to him said he remained in high spirits, joking that he received a 'big wedgie' from his harness. Another man, who was working on the building and asked not to be named, said abseilers were well trained and it was a safe job. "It will be interesting to see what's happened," he said. "We all know exactly what we're doing, you're never scared." "We have a buddy system. We all check each other before we go over so it's really quite a mystery. "If you do everything right, there's no danger." Workplace Health and Safety are investigating the accident.
AN abseiling window cleaner survived a seven-storey plunge from a Surfers Paradise high rise yesterday. Walter Torres, 20, was cleaning windows at the Solaire apartments on the corner of Ferny and Cypress avenues when he fell, hitting and dislodging a steel beam on the way down but failing to hit the ground. The accident came after two construction workers fell 26 floors to their deaths on a Broadbeach high-rise development on Saturday. Andrew Horchner, operations and safety manager for All Industrial Abseilers, the company Mr Torres works for said it appeared a problem with the abseiling ropes had caused the Robina man's accident. "It seems it was a procedural problem where the ropes got caught up on a higher anchorage and was not able to be seen by him or others on the job," said Mr Horchner. "Once he weighted the ropes it actually pulled through and he fell about seven stories and hit a piece of structure after the rope took up his weight, so his safety system worked because if it didn't, he wouldn't be here now."
Mr Horchner said company representatives had gone over safety issues with their workers following the accident. "We went through a full safety brief on Monday so they were more than aware of safety issues," he said. "Everyone was extra careful and extra sharp on the ropes so this is an unfortunate accident." Tony Clark, who is on holiday from New Zealand, said he rushed to help Mr Torres after hearing a loud bang and seeing him dangling from his harness. "We just heard the steel beam come down and we looked over from across the road," said Mr Clark. "I thought, 'He's dead' but then he put an arm up and I thought, 'He's all right'. "He was up about 10 feet and we couldn't get to him of course. "He started lowering himself down and we said (not to) and once he got to about eight feet we helped him down." Mr Clark said Mr Torres had blood on his face and neck and was whimpering in pain and complaining about his leg. Police from the nearby Surfers Paradise Police Station as well as ambulance crews attended the scene. A Queensland Ambulance spokesman said Mr Torres was taken to Gold Coast Hospital with neck and spinal injuries and was last night in an unstable condition. Workmates who gathered around Mr Torres as paramedics attended to him said he remained in high spirits, joking that he received a 'big wedgie' from his harness. Another man, who was working on the building and asked not to be named, said abseilers were well trained and it was a safe job. "It will be interesting to see what's happened," he said. "We all know exactly what we're doing, you're never scared." "We have a buddy system. We all check each other before we go over so it's really quite a mystery. "If you do everything right, there's no danger." Workplace Health and Safety are investigating the accident.
