MRSA & the Window Cleaner

MRSA/Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus was discovered in 1961 in the United Kingdom. It made its first major appearance in the United States in 1981 becoming prevalent among intravenous drug users. MRSA is often referred to in the press as a "superbug."

As the cold and flu season continues to bloom, I find it is necessary to talk about antibiotics and our abusive relationship with them. The use and promotion of antibacterial household products is driven by the fear of getting sick or even just the fear of germs themselves. We should ask each other if this is rational. If we take antibiotics carelessly we can make ourselves more susceptible to illness. Also, we need to know when to take antibiotics as they are not effective in combating a viral infection or one of the fungal varieties. If you were to take an antibiotic for these types of infections, you would not resolve the problem, you would just weaken your body's defenses against another illness. We often hear the term, "Kills 99.9% of bacteria." Well, have you ever wondered about the other .1%? This special portion of the previous population is resistant to the antibiotic material used in the sanitizing substance. These bacteria have been given the informal name of a "Super Bug." Super bugs are multi-resistant bacteria that are resistant to the antibodies that are specifically designed to exterminate said bacteria. These remaining bugs are free to roam and multiply. One type of infection that occurs due to this over exposure or abuse of antibiotics is the Methicillan-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA for short. This infectious strain often rears in hospitals and even schools. According to Medical News Today, in the past decade the rate of MRSA infection related deaths has risen by 1,400 percent. In 2005, approximately 19,000 deaths were linked to MRSA infections and it is estimated that nearly 90,000 people in the United States may be infected by the Super Bug. These rates will only be accelerated as we continue to socially mistreat and over treat our fears of getting sick.
So, this being said, I would like to take this chance to offer some suggestions for maintaining a healthy, bacteria-friendly immune system. The first thing you can do is reduce the amount of antibacterial soap and aerosols you use but continue to use soap for basic hygiene purposes. Secondly, make sure we have properly diagnosed our symptoms so as to not mistreat our infections causing further illnesses. And finally, we need to refrain from the use of antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. In this situation, take the full course of antibiotics in order to kill the malicious bacteria more entirely to prevent the reoccurrence of the infection later on. By following these very broad guidelines, we can maintain healthy, properly functioning and ultimately strengthen, our immune systems.

Hand washing & frequent wetting & drying has now been linked to dermatitis. Increased bacterial count in hands and colonization of antibiotic resistance developing in the hands of workers. Study found that dry nurses' hands were twice as likely to be colonized by bacteria. 58% of healthcare workers are said to be colonized with MRSA. Some bacteria with a genetic pre-disposition to resistance to antibiotic properties will survive. When these resistant bacteria divide, they pass their resistance on, creating entire colonies of antibiotic-resistant bacteria colonized in the healthcare workers hands.

Cuts and cracks in the skin are one of the main entry points for MRSA. The skin’s protective barrier is compromised when the skin is dry, and, as many dry skin sufferers tend to scratch itchy spots, they may have scrapes that, although not visible as a cut, nevertheless leave one exposed to bacteria. Traditional moisturizers mask the dryness by coating the skin, but they do not actually provide the needed moisture or promote healing.
A shielding lotion bonds with the outer layer of the skin to form a protective barrier that locks in the skin’s natural moisture, prevents direct contact with bacteria and other irritants, and thereby heals dry skin. Although skin infections are often mild in themselves, they can spread to the blood causing serious illness. If you have dry skin, protect yourself now with a good shielding lotion.

Window Cleaning Odds & Ends

Cristiano Ronaldo accused of stealing millionaire window cleaners businessman's wife: A millionaire businessman last night claimed his marriage had been wrecked by Cristiano Ronaldo. Devastated John Haynes, 50, branded the football ace a slimy toe-rag after discovering his wife Olena, 25, above, and the footballer had sent each other more than 300 text messages.
John claims Olena was using a secret mobile he found stashed in their home. He says Manchester United and Portugal star Ronaldo, 23, struck up a relationship with the Ukraine-born brunette in August. Dumped John, director of a window cleaning business, said: "When I found a telephone at home I saw it wasn't one of my contract phones that she normally uses. Then I saw it was bleeping and I picked it up and went through the messages. "There were a total of 300 messages from each of them over a two-week period. "I saw 49 messages coming in from him with his number saved as Ronaldo. "The text messages looked like they had been written by a seven-year-old it was dreadful English and they mentioned Portugal. They were very coyly written. They were things like, Do you miss me baby? I miss you. "I just assumed she was playing around with a waiter in a restaurant who had just arrived from Portugal. I had no idea it was him. "I put it to her on many occasions and she wouldn't tell me exactly what was happening. "When Ronaldo failed to take my calls I texted him warning him to back off because she was a married woman. "I asked her what was going on she said, 'Oh, it's something and nothing. "I flew her to Kiev to get her out of the country because I suspected something was going on and unbeknown to me she flew back to the UK 10 days later." John says the first text was sent on August 31 and Olena moved out of the marital home to live with a friend on September 13. John says his worst suspicions were confirmed when he was shown a photo of his wife and Ronaldo leaving a restaurant in Manchester late on November 28.

Artist's quids in: These three Gadgies have just ridden off with thousands. The trio are featured in a painting by North artist Alex Millar, which has just netted top price at an auction in Newcastle. Alex, who's based in Newcastle, is best known for his pictures of the gadgie, the cloth-capped northern character who has a mongrel dog and rides a bike! His paintings are in huge demand, selling for thousands of pounds. Anderson & Garland’s winter sale saw pieces from all eras go under the hammer but it was former window cleaner Alex’s work that attracted the most attention, eventually getting snapped up by a mystery bidder for £13,000. The Newcastle-based artist made his name by producing a series of paintings of “Gadgies,” inspired by old men he used to see while growing up. And he is delighted his work continues to sell well. Alex, 48, said: “It is very flattering. “I always find it amazing when they start going for large sums of money but I think these days, the way the banks are, people get drawn to art as a great investment, which it is.”

Another reason those spray on window cleaners should be banned....

Not new news, but a great video of those business cards that are available on your van/truck.

I liked this one....

Employer not aware of maid's dangerous stunt, SINGAPORE: Madam Ella was tending to her laundry at the corridor outside her flat on Wednesday afternoon when she was struck by a sight that left her shaken. At the block opposite her fourth-storey flat in Jalan Tenaga, near Bedok Reservoir, a young domestic worker was standing on the narrow ledge outside a third-storey window, cleaning the glass. The 39-year-old preschool teacher described the way that the maid was moving around with no safety equipment as 'doing stunts'. She rushed back into her flat from the corridor after she saw that scene. 'I didn't want to go out again because I was afraid,' she said. 'I didn't want to be there if anything happened.' She said she had heard of recent deaths from falls in the area, and had no wish to see anyone fall to her death. She told her 12-year-old daughter what she saw, and the girl then decided to photograph the maid while hiding behind a pillar. This was around 3.30pm, Madam Ella said. The girl snapped two photos at first. Madam Ella said her daughter took a third shot 10 minutes later, so that was at least how long the domestic worker was out there. She said she decided not to call the police as she was worried about causing trouble for the maid. In the end, she decided to send the pictures to The New Paper to highlight the dangerous situation.
TWO maids died in late 2006, and another maid had worked only for eight days when she plunged to her death in March last year. Such incidents prompted the Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) to impose measures to prevent such incidents. These include offering safety awareness courses and taking action against errant employers. The publicity seems to have had some effect. In 2007, the total number of foreign domestic worker deaths fell to 25 from anannual average of 35 over the last sixyears. In November 2007, one employer, Tang Cheong Kim, was convicted and fined $4,000 for failing to provide a safe working environment for her domestic worker. As part of the Work Permit conditions, employers are responsible for providing a safe working environment for their maids. Failure to do so is an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. Offenders can be fined up to $5,000 and/ or jailed up to six months. Errant employers will also be disallowed from hiring another foreign domestic worker. Mr John Gee, president of Transient Workers Count Too, an advocacy group for migrant workers, said: 'Our members themselves have seen workers hanging outside windows.' Other than employers telling the maid to go outside, some cases of falls happened because the maid themselves tried to escape the flat after being barred from leaving. Mr Gee said that there were also cases of maids going out of the window without being told. 'It's a wise precaution for any employer to anticipate this,' he said. He says the law is clear that the employer is responsible for the maid's safety. To find oneself in trouble not through any choice of one's own can be 'especially galling'. What should you do if you spot a maid doing an unsafe act? You can can report unsafe working conditions to MOM by calling the MOM foreign domestic worker hotline at 1800-3395505 or by sending an e-mail.

A typical example in Brazil...

Why Window Cleaners Jobs Are Safe

Tool test - Kingfisher Window Cleaner by Alastair Brett:
I knew it was dangerous to offer to be a “Have-a-go hero” for Bricks&Mortar. They suggested I test a telescopic window cleaner as we have a narrow alleyway up the side of our house, which makes it difficult to get to the first-floor windows. So I ventured out with my priapic Kingfisher telescopic mop only to find that it would not fit into any normal bucket because the cleaning head, with its “removable soft cleaning pad”, is more than 12in wide. Luckily I had a square window-cleaning bucket, which it fitted into nicely. The cleaning head then fell off - there was no proper thread for it to attach to the pole. But at only £11.73 inc VAT I was hardly in a position to complain. I then climbed a step ladder to do the wide glass panes at the back of the house, and rather liked being able to dip the cleaning head into the bucket on the ground without have to go down the ladder. The head then fell off a second time, and I had to secure it with string and elastic bands.
Disaster then struck. I tried the side passage windows, but as soon as I put the cleaning head up to try to do the first-floor windows I got a cold shower of dirty water. This taught me a number of lessons: i) I was mad; ii) the pole does not actually extend to 3.5m but only to 3.3m; iii) if you have small Georgian window panes only 6in wide the mop is no good as it is too wide, although it can be reduced in size (but not the soft cleaning pad); iv) that if you have a really wide window ledge you have to be able to stand well back from the window to see what you are doing (I couldn't see a thing); and v) to get the squeegee head to work properly, you have to work it crosswise and then down, like a professional window cleaner.
So while it was good fun (if you can keep the head on), you MUST have a big bucket, big window panes (not 6in-wide ones) and be able to stand well back for the pole to work.
Heros' verdict: three stars
Kingfisher telescopic window cleaner: £11.73 at Machine Mart

Window Cleaning Buckets & More

Window Cleaning Resource have just realised another edition of Window Cleaning Nation, it can be viewed in the highlighted links. Joining up may be option to watch - you won't regret it! Another video from 'Sanchez' where he shows you a choice of buckets & how that discarded havana on the way to the job, leads to action.

Here's a wheeled bucket that can handle rough terrain. Roll over grass , gravel and bumpy surfaces easily. You can zip along and stop quickly without spilling a drop with its self-leveling feature. It has a long graceful handle so you can be relaxed as you move from window to window. It doesn't take up much room when stowed away either.

The French researchers have developed a technique for replicating the microscopic surface of the insects' wings, which repel water and dirt. Minute waffle-like structures on the wing make it difficult for water droplets to spread out, and as a result they roll off, taking dirt with them. New Scientist magazine reported that experts at the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Aubervilliers have found a cheap and effective way of reproducing the complex surface. A silicon-based liquid polymer is poured over an actual butterfly's wing and allowed to dry. The solidified polymer is then peeled off and turned into a mould which is used to make films just 900 nanometres (nine millionths of a millimetre). A window can then be made to repel water and dirt by layering it with these films. As a result, the drops roll off, and they take dirt with them. This makes the surfaces ideal as the basis for self-cleaning windows and windshields. In the past creating such surfaces was tough because it means creating a template using lithographic techniques usually reserved for chip making. This makes it costly and slow, and limits the size of surfaces that can be produced, said Christophe Peroz at the centre. I FEEL SORRY FOR THE BUTTERFLY!

How to Conform to the Work at Height Regulations this Christmas: Since being launched in 2005 to provide ladder safety guidelines, The Working at Height Regulations have caused a lot of confusion, with employers baffled on how they should be applied or whether ladders are banned altogether. To clear the misunderstanding, storage and access equipment specialists Action Storage is offering free advice to public sector and commercial organisations on the use of ladders, stepladders and scaffold towers to help them conform to the regulations this Christmas. “What every organisation needs to be clear on is that the Working at Height Regulations doesn’t ban the use of ladders,” said Action Storage MD Tom Brialey, “It simply advises that alternative methods should be used whenever possible. Otherwise a risk assessment needs to be conducted to check that the ladder will be used for less than 30 minutes and poses a low risk.” With falls the main cause of death in the workplace and 1200 ladder related major injuries every year, employers have a responsibility to ensure their employees know how to use a ladder safely. This includes ensuring ladders are in good conditions; employees know how to use them safely and are using the right ladder for the job.
Ladders fall into three classifications:• Class 1(BS2037 & BS1129) – Industrial ladders: provide support for vertical loads of up to 175 kg (27.5 stones) and are suitable for a high frequency of usage in industrial environments• Class 2 (BS EN-131) - Trade/light industry: medium duty ladders for relative low frequency and safe conditions. Load capacity of up to 150 kg (23.5 stones)• Class 3 (BS2037 & BS1129) – Domestic ladders: suitable for infrequent use and for carrying weights of up to 125 kg (19.5 stones)
Organisations can contact Action Storage by email or on its unique, free helpline for advice on choosing the most suitable access and handling equipment for their particular task.Action Storage also offers the following guidelines on using its range of ladders, stepladders and scaffold towers safely and with the minimum risk:• Regular equipment inspections should be conducted to ensure the brackets, steps and joints on a ladder are secure and reliable• If there is a possible risk of electric shock a fibreglass ladder should be used because of its isolating properties, and it should always be kept dry and clean• Steel ladders are heavier and more durable than aluminium ladders, which makes them more suitable for longer term and repeated use• Never stand a ladder on boxes, bricks or any surface which is unstable to gain height• Allow at least an additional one metre beyond the top rung you’ll be standing on in order to ensure a handhold at all times. Since they were launched, The Work at Height Regulations have led to council’s banning workers from putting up Christmas decorations and window cleaners being turned away from office blocks because of fears of falling foul of the rules. However, Action Storage aims to dispel some of the confusion this Christmas and assist public sector and commercial organisations to conform to the regulations, whilst also ensuring they’re using ladders and access equipment safely and with the minimum risk to their employees.
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North Shields, UK pub raided by man with shotgun; A GUNMAN was on the run today after threatening staff and customers during a raid on a pub. The raider, armed with a shotgun, burst into the Sir Colin Campbell pub in North Shields, last night. The pub on Saville Street West was targeted as it started filling with regulars at around 6pm. Robert Nye, a window cleaner from nearby Spence Terrace, was with his brother Chris, both 19. He said: “We were playing pool when this guy burst in with tights over his face. He was wearing a plastic nose and a baseball cap. “At first I thought it was a joke. Then he pointed a gun at the barmaid and said: ‘Fill it up’. He was getting agitated. “He was demanding all the money they had. The poor girl looked terrified but she opened the till. Then he pointed the gun at this old man, a regular in the pub. He looked really frightened. “He just kept the gun pointed at the old man and said: ‘Shut up before I shoot the lot of you’.” His brother, also a window cleaner from Spence Terrace, added: “It was absolutely terrifying. “The barmaid was hysterical. We’ve never been caught in anything like this before. “You don’t expect this to happen when you’ve just come out for a few beers and a game of pool midweek. “He was in there for a good five minutes. He took all the money, including the silver, and then ran out.”

Elvis’s Christmas special, Islington: ‘The King’ joins celebrities at Camden Passage lights switch-on: It was a case of old meets new at Camden Passage on Saturday as Elvis, Jaime Winstone and the antiques traders celebrated the annual Christmas lights switch-on. Actress Jaime, who lives in Islington, was joined by actor boyfriend Alfie Allen, son of writer and comedian Keith and brother of singer Lily, as she helped illuminate the passage. Islington Mayor Stefan Kasprzyk praised the Georgian feel of Camden Passage and age-old fixture Elvis – window cleaner Vic Joy – was there to celebrate.

Finally some good advice: A clean, well-maintained office is essential to any legitimate business, not only to impress your clients and customers, but also because an office needs to meet certain health code regulations. If your office does not have regular staff experienced in business cleaning tasks, your working conditions could become very unhygienic and unpleasant. Cleaning is a very unglamorous task, and there are many things to consider. Some of the areas that need to be tackled are floors and carpets, drapes and upholstery, stains, bathrooms, glass and other furniture and garbage disposal.It difficult to find reliable janitorial staff who are good at every little aspect of this activity. Most businesses would rather not deal with low-paid labor. The best solution is to outsource these tasks to a contractor whose staff is experienced in dealing with them efficiently and economically. A good business cleaning firm would provide a wide range of janitorial services that make your office maintenance easier. Some of these services include:Window Polishing: This is hard work and should ideally be done by a professional who possesses all the proper equipment for this task including a squeegee. The cleaning of external windows in particular involves some risk to life and limb, and should only be handled by an expert.

Lambeth rent-hike is 'crushing blow': HARD-UP council tenants face a rent-hike timebomb that will see bills rise by an average of at least £620-per-year because a bungling housing department is in financial crisis. Labour-run Lambeth plans to increase rents by an average of £12-per-week from April 1 next year in a desperate bid to plug a deficit of up to £15million. But it could be as much as £15-per-week and comes on top of a seven per cent rise this year.
Details of the proposals have emerged in the council’s draft budget proposals for 2009/2010. The council also looks set to ramp up tenant service charges for caretaking, estate management, window cleaning and communal lighting by a further five per cent. Every tenant in the borough’s 30,000 council-owned homes will be worse off under the proposals.

Organised black market for illegal migrant workers, Malaysia: Everywhere you go and everywhere you see, the foreign invasion of migrant workers pursuing menial jobs Malaysians don’t want to get paid for anymore is startling and pervasive. It has been so since this country decided to lurch towards industrialisation, commerce and knowledge. The foreign invasion has spread to literally every nook and cranny in the peninsula where labour-intensive jobs, the ones that demand workers to profusely sweat under the sun, kneel and crawl over dirt and muck, and dig and scrape until blisters form and the back strains. Malaysians have long dumped jobs that requires floor sweeping, window cleaning, toilet flushing, dish cleaning and leftovers clearing – the pay is terrible, unless it is a job frying fries and grilling burgers at the multinationals of McDonald’s and Burger King where the money is sweet enough for younger Malaysians to ignore any little snobbery of status consciousness. For most Malaysians, other than the ones with the deep felt paranoia of being overwhelmed by foreigners, the presence of these migrant workers are shrugged off nonchalantly as a non-threat and even welcomed. If Malaysians don’t want these low-paying jobs, the foreigners are more than welcome to it. It is a cycle that every developed nation has experienced – Latin Americans and Mexicans to America, and Indians, Pakistanis and Middle Easterners to Britain and Europe.

Window Cleaning Dossier

Kevin the Window Cleaning Business Coach will be releasing his new window cleaning dossier, here's what he has to say: -

"May I interest you in 39 pages of advanced, intense, innovative window cleaning marketing education? For FREE? Great!
All you need to do is click on this link, and you’ll be taken to paypal, where you can sign up for your FREE dossier trial, and receive the premier edition of the world’s first publication dedicated to helping you harness the power of marketing in your window cleaning business:
“The Window Cleaning Marketing Mentor”
The January 2009 premier edition is hot-off-the-press, and I’m giving YOU the chance to read all 39 of its pages for FREE. No tricks. No gimmicks. And one catch: If you love it, I’ll keep sending it to you every month, directly to your mailbox, for a recurring monthly charge of only US$47, following your free trial issue.
If you don’t love it, just let me know by calling 416-779-7263, faxing 416-924-5763, or sending and email to kevin@windowcleaningbusinesscoach.com and I’ll stop your subscription to this one-of-a-kind resource, and never charge you a penny.
If that sounds like a good deal to you, and of you’d like to take a closer look at the only publication in the world designed to help you grow muscular marketing chops for your window cleaning business, then click on the link below, complete the Paypal checkout, and I’ll pop one in the mail for you for FREE!
Gimme my FREE dossier trial now, Kevin!
Click the link below. (oh - and one more thing - only 100 of these FREE trial memberships are now available, so when they’re gone, they’re gone, so you might as well snatch one up now, before its too late.)"

The Unger '0' degree

The Unger '0' degree is a tool that gets more use as it gets more popular for window cleaners. Although there are other tools out there that mimic the 'S' or fanning technique. In the first video another installment from Mark Strange of "Beautiful View" from Toronto, Canada gives us a few more unbiased reviews of products in the window cleaners workplace. This time his opinion on tips for Unger '0' degree. Next up, Don Marsh, the window cleaner from Gainesville, Florida showing us how to use the same squeegee on a fan-window. And thirdly Jason Ihrig with Hi-tech Window Cleaning shows us the same.

Manchester Pays Respects to Window Cleaner

With the tools of his trade - a metal ladder and plastic bucket - tethered to the roof, just as they had been during his decades as a much-loved window cleaner, Tony Durrant went on his final round. More than a hundred gathered to say a fond farewell following the sad death of a Salford legend known for much more than just his family trade. But it was a homage to his window cleaning business which formed the centrepiece of his horse-drawn hearse.
The mourners flocked towards St Michael's All Angels Church in Liverpool Road, Eccles to pay their respects after Tony passed away on November 19, losing a battle with lung cancer.
The father-of-two had run his self-named family business from his Peel Green home in Gorton Street for 40 years and his family had lived in Salford since the 1920s. He was a popular member of the Eccles community.

Family members decided to put ladders and a bucket belonging to the 64-year-old window cleaner on top of an elegant horse drawn glass carriage which carried his coffin to Peel Green cemetery, making it a poignant moment for the 150 mourners that followed. After playing pool for England, Tony had set up a local pool team for Eccles. He was also hailed a maths ‘genius’ and won three rounds of the popular TV quiz show Countdown.
Tony passed away just 18 weeks after his wife, Yvonne, sadly lost her battle with cancer.
He left behind his daughter, Kay, 42, and 21-year-old son Richard, as well as two grandchildren and sister Jean. Kay said: "He was diagnosed with lung cancer 12 weeks ago and was given 12 weeks from diagnosis to death. "In 2003 he was also diagnosed with amaloydosis, a very rare condition which meant he had to travel to London for treatment. "He was an absolute genius at maths - he was much better than Carol Vorderman." During his life, Tony was known for his generosity in the community and the unexpected masses of mourners were made up of old friends he knew through his heyday years spent playing pool in the pubs throughout Eccles.
Tony was also the man behind a mystery £1,000 donation made last year to the terminally-ill Eccles girl, Sophie Vigne, who was able to enjoy the holiday of a lifetime thanks to his generosity.
Kay said: "He was always straight with people but also a bit of a softy.
"His saying was ‘don't be greedy’. "He just wanted to have enough money to look after himself, and the rest he gave to others. "I read a eulogy at the funeral - it was a really heartfelt one and I smiled because while I was reading it my auntie Jean said: ‘I think there's a man from every pub in Eccles here.’" It is hoped Tony's window cleaning company will be passed on through the family and his son Richard (pictured below) will carry on window cleaning under the name Tony Durrant and Son.
Richard said: "I‘m going to miss my dad, he was my best friend and I hope that through taking on the family business, I can do the best I can for him."