News story that aired tonight in Minneapolis, MN
good story but,not tying back your mule and not putting the weights on the mule is pure stupidity. duh!
I’d be happy to answer any questions regarding the news report, or rope access technician certification.
hi Jeff,why was that one kid not tied back and why did the weights not get put on the mule? did they just forget? were they racing or something? how can this happen? clearly, anyone can see that this needs to get done window cleaner or not. that’s just tragic .
and what happened to Jake? how did his line slip from its anchor? did he tie a backwards bowline ? was he not tied back also? or did he just fall off the roof? there are so many unclear facts when i hear these stories.
I was doing high rise work when I was 19, I thought our boss was safety concious, but when I look back on the things we did they were dangerous. Once I was working by myself and forgot to put the weights in the pan on the beam (no roof anchors), I slid over the edge in the chair, and at the last second when it slid, I was able to grab the ledge of the building and pull myself up. Got lucky.
These days I just do residential and I minimize any ladder work my employees must do.
I don’t know why these people did or didn’t do what they did. The liability falls half on the employer, and half on the property owner. The employer would not be liable if they could prove the employee was trained by an OSHA defined qualified trainer. To do this the training has to be documented. The property owner is also responsible unless they can prove they have provided a safe working environment. Without ducumentation nobody knows if the employees were properly trained. I agree these are all foolish mistakes. But whos??? The employers for not training properly, or the employee’s for disregarding instruction. One has been fined and the other is dead.
good question, still unclear what happened to jake though, my best guess is he tied a backwards bowline ,and was not tied back… bowline came undone when he got in the chair and down he went,i seen it happen to one guy years ago,but he was tied back thank god. I have been doing this the last 20 years with out one lesson,ok well i was trained by other window cleaners. but I have never seen an osha defined trainer… were are they?,how do i get my guys osha certified? the other companies here do there training in house also. many buildings have no anchors, some have drilled 1/4 in eye-bolts which are sketchy. most buildings do not want to pay for that,they don’t seem to care about us out here.
we got together with mike from honolulu window cleaning this weekend to help him on the ala moana building,he asked me whats with the full body harnesses,i told him i was worried about getting fined and i actually feel more secure in it. lots of guys in other companies don’t want to wear the full body also,so since there haven’t been any deaths here in the last 20 years nobody seems to be raising any eyebrows about it.
You may be right? What I have been told… So this is third hand. Is that one person was doing a drop with both lines tied to one anchor. He used the same anchor for both of his lines. Instead of clipping in to the anchor ring, he tied over or around it. That’s the best I can do for you. The rest is speculation on third hand info.
An OSHA defined Qualified person is someone who can demonstrate their credentials through a nationally recognized certification such as SPRAT or IRATA, or can prove their knowledge through industry experience. The first is a slam dunk, the second is harder to prove and not definitive.
The thing with anchors is that the property owner is supposed to provide assurances they have been inspected by a PE. However a competent person is able to approve structure that is able to support 5000 lbs.
Full body harnesses are now required by OSHA.
And all training must be documented.
thanks for trying to answer my question.
Guys. Notice how all the deaths happened on short buildings or at a short height (the atrium of IDS). It only takes 15 feet or less to kill you. Don’t pretend none of you has ever said “oh it’s just 50 feet” and wung it without a safety or done a harness drop without a safety. I once instructed someone to anchor both their lines to the building and not use a parapet clamp because I did not like the way it looked. The building was only a hundred feet or less and it was stain removal being done only on the third floor. But you think the clamp tie back would hold the shock of a chunk of stone parapet breaking loose? I don’t think so. And what’s your safety gonna do when there’s 500 pounds of steel and brick on your head? Everyone knows shorter buildings are the biggest pains in the ass. Charge accordingly, make it worth your time, and stay alive.
PS Happy Holidays everyone. It’s 82 and unseasonably humid here. 
When I first started chair work, the training I got was similiar to what the guy gave the female reporter, but mine was real. 10 minute instruction and the dude left me on the 7 story building. I’m definately lucky nothing happened to me and he was Definately wrong for not giving me proper training. Looking back at it I thank my lucky stars.
The example they give of the deaths I experienced something close to that. The same building I was by myself on - He had a dolly with weights on it layed over, which you tie to an anchor. I tied everything off and went over. When I start to drop down to the first set, my line drops me 3 extra feet. I recognize it’s wrong and repell down. I get back up to the roof and realize I didn’t tie the dolly off “YIKES” the ledge was appx 4 feet high and lucky for me that’s what kept the dolly from going over it.
I was dumb for letting this happen, but being totally new to it. I just figured he knew what he was doing and 10 minutes of training was normal.
wow justin that was a close call. I’m glad that you were able to walk away from that. So heart breaking to see the photos of the guys who died. You can’t help but feel for their families. Their kids that will grow up w/out daddys. 
i watched the video. we do thing a lot different over here window cleaning. we use anchor points using stub points drilled into the building itself. ive never heard of a mule before. well here if there isnt any anchor points i dont do the job untill the facilities manager has ordered anchor stubs.
