Window Cleaning Manchester - using the reach wash system
Window Cleaning in Manchester - Archer Window Cleaning Services.

By: Chris Oakes

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Window Cleaning Manchester - using the reach & wash system - Video

Initially the task of cleaning the windows had progressed smoothly with the two men, who were also tethered by their safety harness, descending to the 43rd floor and starting work.

Methodically working their way up, the cleaners reached the 69th floor when things began to go wrong.

The right hand side of the platform continued rising, but the left did not, leaving the scaffold dangling somewhat uneasily with the two men trapped inside.

Window cleaners Juan Lizama, left, and Juan Lopez (Reuters)

There was a brief moment of panic, Mr Lopez added.

The emergency stop button did not work and, for a few seconds, he did not know what would happen.

I just grabbed on, held on, and hoped we were not going to fall over, he added.

Not only were they strapped into the cradle which by then was almost vertical but everything else was secured to prevent it hurtling to the ground and endangering those below.

We saw the firefighters and we knew we were going to be O.K., Mr. Lizama said.

The firefighters rushed to the top of the building and dropped a rope down, while colleagues swiftly made their way to the 68th floor.

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World Trade Centre window cleaners ready to resume work

window cleaning vancouver
North Shore Home Services Ltd Address: #37109 2930 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, BC V7N 4H9 Phone: 604-988-5294 website: http://www.northshorehomeservice...

By: Troy Thompson

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window cleaning vancouver - Video

Fish Window Cleaning - 3056
Fish Window Cleaning - 3056.

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Fish Window Cleaning - 3056 - Video

Fish Window Cleaning - 610
Fish Window Cleaning - 610.

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Fish Window Cleaning - 610 - Video

In the early days of skyscraper window cleaning at the turn of the 20th century, workershungout the window anchored by nothing more than a leather belt. These days there are more safety measures in place, but why take the risk when there are robots that can do the job?

The company Sky Prohas four different types of robot window cleaners that range from 4to 12 feet long. They look like a giant Roomba. About100 robots have been sold in 47 countries,including to the Wynn casino in Las Vegas but the tallest building they're used on isonly 30 stories. One World Trade Center climbs to 104 stories.

Also,while window cleaning seems like a dangerous job,nation-wide, only two window cleaners died on the job last year, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Far more truck drivers were killed in the line of duty.

There's also the issue of quality.

"The human arm and the human eye are still very competent in doing this work and actually by the way, it's quite efficient," according toIsrael Berger the Chairman of Vidaris, an architectural consulting agency. Berger would put his money onJohn Henry a human window washer. For him,arobots can't beat a window cleaned by hand with a fresh squeegee. "It may sound silly to describe this in those terms, but it's truly so," he said.

So, it comes down to elbow grease.

Berger saidthe best window cleaners use an old fashioned mix of Joy dish soap, hot water and a dash of ammonia.

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A Modern John Henry Case: Window Cleaning Robots vs. Humans

Washing skyscraper windows remains a perilous profession, requiring workers to have the reflexes of a trapeze performer high above city streets. The dramatic rescue Wednesday of two New York City window cleaners stranded nearly 70 stories off the World Trade Center tower has put a fresh spotlight on a high-risk job that often begins with modest pay.

And the practice of putting men and women aloft to scrub windows isnt expected to change any time soon, as the use of labor-saving robots to replace workers has yet to gain a foothold across the industry, experts say. I guess with our modern technology, we can put people on the moon, but we cant develop the equipment that can work across the board, Mark Reinhart, the president of the International Window Cleaning Association, said Thursday.

One product on the market for homeowners operates like a robotic vacuum cleaner, moving up and down the surface of the windowpane. There are other unmanned machines that scrub larger buildings, typically around 10 stories or lower but theyre only useful on a handful of structures, said Stefan Bright, the International Window Cleaning Associations safety director. They have to be all glass because brick and windows can really mess things up, Bright said.

Despite the inherent dangers involved in the industry, it can take a while before a window washer sees a soaring salary. A window cleaner washing storefronts or homes might only earn $12 to $15 per hour, Reinhart said. But someone doing larger commercial properties, including skyscrapers, could earn $15 to $25 per hour. In New York, where the risks are presumably higher because of the dizzying heights, its not unheard of for veterans with all the know-how to reach $29 to $35 per hour. Getting paid top dollar, however, requires months and years of experience with equipment and certification.

With an emphasis on safety training a top priority, there is a silver lining: Deaths remain rare in the industry. There has been one high-rise fatality per year in the last four years in the U.S., according to the International Window Cleaning Association. Thats with an estimated 1.5 million exposures when workers are on the sides of buildings a year.

Window washers who spoke with NBC News said theyre in no rush to see their jobs taken over by new technology. This work is demanding but steady, said Brent Weingard, whos washed skyscrapers in Manhattan as tall as 60 stories. Some of us think theres an art to what we do, he said. Ive seen the machines, but I still believe a man on the glass washing windows does it best.

First published November 13 2014, 12:47 PM

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What Window Washers Are Paid For Death-Defying Work

HughPickens.com writes "Patrick McGeehan writes in the NYT that the image of a pair of window washers clinging to a scaffold dangling outside the 68th floor of 1 World Trade Center have left many wondering why robots can't rub soapy water on glass and wipe it off with a squeegee relieving humans of the risk of injury, or death, from a plunge to the sidewalk? The simple answer, several experts say, is that washing windows is something that machines still cannot do as well as people can. "Building are starting to look like huge sculptures in the sky," says Craig Caulkins. "A robot can't maneuver to get around those curves to get into the facets of the building." According to Caulkins robotic cleaning systems tend to leave dirt in the corners of the glass walls that are designed to provide panoramic views from high floors. "If you are a fastidious owner wanting clean, clean windows so you can take advantage of that very expensive view that you bought, the last thing you want to see is that gray area around the rim of the window."

Another reason for the sparse use of robots is that buildings require a lot more maintenance than just window cleaning. Equipment is needed to lower people to repair facades and broken windows, like the one that rescue workers had to cut through with diamond cutters to rescue the window washers. For many years, being a window cleaner in Manhattan was regarded as one of the most dangerous occupations in the world: by 1932, an average of one in every two hundred window cleaners in New York was killed each year. Now all new union window cleaners now take two hundred and sixteen hours of classroom instruction, three thousand hours of accredited time with an employer and their union makes sure workers follow rigorous safety protocols. In all, there are about 700 scaffolds for window washing on buildings in New York City, says union representative Gerard McEneaney. His members are willing to do the work because it pays well: as much $26.89 an hour plus benefits. Many of the window cleaners are immigrants from South America. "They're fearless guys, fearless workers."

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Window Washing a Skyscraper Is Beyond a Robot's Reach

Window Cleaning - Applicators (mops) and T-bar review
I #39;ve got way to many mops!!

By: Steve O

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Window Cleaning - Applicators (mops) and T-bar review - Video

(RNN) First responders have rescued both men from the window cleaning crew who were trapped and hanging precariously from 1 World Trade Center in New York. The two window washers are not injured, and suffered only mild hypothermia.

Firefighters cut a hole into a window at the bottom of where the scaffolding was hanging, which is still hanging from one cable around the 68th floor on the south facing side of the building.

"Firefighters went to the roof and the 68th floor. From the roof, they dropped rope down to secure - additionally secure the members that were the workers on the scaffold. They dropped a radio down, so they could communicate and they began cutting the glass," said Daniel Nigro, FNDY commissioner.

The FDNY had difficulty cutting the window because of the thickness of the glass; the windows had three layers of glass.

The workers were clipped into the basket, so they did not fall when the cable snapped.

The two window washers had trouble at about 12:45 p.m. ET. Initially, rescuers thought a cable had broken, but it had not. It's unclear why slack developed in cables on one side of the basket.

The Fire Department of New York tweeted "Man all hands 1 World Trade Center, high rise (World Trade Center) scaffolding emergency." Not only are officials concerned about the safety of the workers, but the building's security.

The area around the building was closed off during the rescue, and the September 11 memorial was closed.

Rescuers began to send another scaffolding from the top of the building down to the workers, with the concern that the cables don't tangle with the stranded rig. However, now that the two men are safely inside, that scaffolding has been removed.

The two men were on the perilously hanging basket for about an hour and a half.

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2 window washers stranded, hanging perilously at 1 World Trade Center