Complacency can kill no matter how cautious people think they are.
In my case after loads of near misses and close calls if there is a safer way to do a job without the need to be using ladders then I'm all for using those methods as reduces the risks involved of taking a fall.
However if I do need to use ladders now on the odd occasion then will use the most suitable ladders for the job with safety devices fitted so the ladder don't move at all. After saying that if I was still trad window cleaning via ladders the safety devices I use now on double & triple ladders would be not practical to use on each ladder set on a window cleaning run time wise.
Some trad window cleaners will never change over to more suitable safer methods than using ladders. The ones that do like me would never go back out of choice that's for sure. If anyone insisted I trad their property top floor windows using ladders now I politely tell them no as is not worth the risk for the reward.
Each to their own 
Agree each to their own, just like some would call you a fool for working with a gas appliance in the back of a van others
will call somebody working from a ladder the same.
Sometimes the safer method isn't always the best method so I understand fully why a successful traditional guy with a good
reputation would be reluctant to change over.
Pure water no longer cleans, Hot pure water no longer cleans, Hot pure water with an additive no longer cleans, Hot pure water
with an additive and an xtreme brush no longer cleans, doesn't fill you with much confidence in the method does it. lol
