Window Washer Survives 47-Story Fall

Washing windows from a swing stage is an economical but dangerous way to go about the job. Doing so without being clipped off to a safety line is just dumb.

So you have a tall, slab-sided building in a downtown area occupied by more tall buildings of various shapes. You get the bright idea to hang what is essentially a wing over the edge of the building by means of two cables, one at each end. You persuade some guys to take water and squeegees and go stand on the wing, in the wind, while you raise, lower and move the wing around the building until all the windows are clean. Several times a year the failure of this approach makes the evening news. These reports do not cover all such events.

Cables rarely “fail” but attention to detail and sensible work practices often do.

There are better ways and a lot of them still allow guys with water and squeegees to get the job done with a much higher degree of safety. From personal experience I recommend the single bosun’s chair with block and tackle.

I’m continually amazed at the things I learned while reading the comment on Neatorama. Thanks Crudely Wrott!