Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: lee_dewing on May 31, 2013, 09:39:50 am
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I'm w.f.p before anymore said.
Using ladder to access flat roof, thought angle off ladder was o.k and used rojak as on decking.
But ladder slid, cut and bad bruises, luckily grabbed flat roof for split second which must have helped.
drove to hospital and they xrayed knee shin and ankle.
I know stupid being w.f.p and still using ladder!
It's surprising looking at my round how many jobs i use ladder to access unreachable window(s)
So leave ladder at home but at a guess as haven't gone through whole job list but guessing 20-30%
of customers will have missed window(s) to no ladder policy.
Once i tell these customers do you think i'l lose them all?
Anyone had similar experience.
Just thankful not to have both my legs in plaster working a bit today and see how i feel.
Been told that bruising could cover whole shin and foot (black possibly) not happened yet.
Thanks everyone.
Lee
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bad luck mate, hope your fit soon.
20-30% of work needing a ladder seems a heck of a lot, I dont think I have more than about 1% and thats from 3 vans working.
Maybe its down to the style pf properties in your area?
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For the 20-30% of your customers that have inaccessible windows, write and print off a letter to each custy that states what has happened to you and because of this, you will not be using a ladder again. You could offer to do the houses at a slightly cheaper rate if you are worried about losing them.
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Take a photo of your leg when it bruises up add a picture of my friend Darron Motherby who fell from a ladder and is now paralyzed from the neck down.
Put both pictures in a letter to any customers with an explanation about how both came about.
Offer to knock 50p off for each window missed.
Throw the Rojak away and sell the ladders.
Consider yourself lucky that we are not doing a whip round for your grieving family
Have a good weekend and take it steady.
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Hi Neil.
Maybe 20-30% is panicing abit but upto about 15 custies scanning through george that would mean missing windows.
I have 220-ish custies. (i do a quite a few custies with extensions, perhaps i've picked up alot of windies, cast off work ::)roll
I went out for abit today-sore but hopefully won't get much more bruising.
Rg1 will do just that i'l send letter's out explaining the situation and alter price for missed windows will lose some no doubt, i'd imagine some will be grudgingly keep me for now til they find someone else.
Some of the extensions are pitched not flat roof.
So maybe using 30ft+ fish pole i can reach from the safety of the floor, bit of trial and error.
On the plus side got off pretty well.
Windy near me had similar fall and broke both legs now has pins in bones and he's still trad!
At least i'l get asked less for do me a favour jobs with no ladder on roof rack ;)
Thanks for your replies guys.
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Thanks Sunshine.
SO sorry to here of your friend.
I did consider a pic of my leg; not that bruised yet (luckily!)
Wake up call.
I did panic waiting in A&E. what if ankle or shin fractured :'(
Thanks everyone.
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I have customers with windows that are inaccessible with wfp and haven't lost any of them so don't fret too much Lee ;)
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rubber never grips on outdoor decking NOR damp ground NOR dusty ground.
anybody MAKING OR selling rubber mats of any sort as a safety product is a total charlatan
i know this as i had a ladder slip out on me on a laddermat about 3yrs ago / i have since done a little research and now know that rubber mat/s should not be used outdoors.
i posted on here about my own fall at the time ,and had no end of other windies reply how they had fell or had near misses when rubber suddenly lost its grip
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rubber never grips on outdoor decking NOR damp ground NOR dusty ground.
anybody MAKING OR selling rubber mats of any sort as a safety product is a total charlatan
i know this as i had a ladder slip out on me on a laddermat about 3yrs ago / i have since done a little research and now know that rubber mat/s should not be used outdoors
Quite true, rubber and wet decking is lethal.
If it was me that had fallen 3 years ago I would have found another method of cleaning windows by now.
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Thanks Sunshine.
SO sorry to here of your friend.
I did consider a pic of my leg; not that bruised yet (luckily!)
Wake up call.
I did panic waiting in A&E. what if ankle or shin fractured :'(
Thanks everyone.
One of the most overused sayings after disaster is "I never thought it would happen to me" when it does we should see it as you have as a wake up call.
All the best Lee
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rubber never grips on outdoor decking NOR damp ground NOR dusty ground.
anybody MAKING OR selling rubber mats of any sort as a safety product is a total charlatan
i know this as i had a ladder slip out on me on a laddermat about 3yrs ago / i have since done a little research and now know that rubber mat/s should not be used outdoors
Quite true, rubber and wet decking is lethal.
If it was me that had fallen 3 years ago I would have found another method of cleaning windows by now.
shortly after that time i learnt that spikes fitted to a ladder / or using a trad pole are both good methods and i use these now
the point im making is that these rubber products are lethal in a lot of situations
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Thank you Sunshine.
Rg1 Thanks for that.
Unreasonable custies can be replaced.
My life/legs can't :o
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Just went onto george and drag all affected work onto sundays onto diary view so made it easier to see and tot up whats and who's affected.
It's 20% of my work will lose a bit; I hope 10% or less.
But as said thankfull that just cuts and bruises.
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Sorry to hear about your fall mate, give yourself the weekend off and count your blessings.
Steve
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Its quite ironic the whole wfp thing and still having to use ladders now & again. Though a lot of us still have to do it.
A good friend of mine has cleaned windows 27 years, and he came off the ladder in February gone, broke a bone in his back and his right shoulder.
He is still having physio on shoulder and has to have an operation this month to staple the tendons.
He will never get back to windowcleaning, and it has changed his life, healthwise and financially.
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I use the ladder for a few flat roofs, since going wfp I've been more conscious about where I put the ladder.
Now I find a place where I can wedge the ladder such as a wall.
Do any of these houses have somewhere safer to place the ladder?
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A few have the wall to foot ladder DG, not many to be honest.
Some of the customers are only having the back done a couple of times a year also.
I'l write to some and see what i can do on the day with others using longer fish pole if that doesn't work then i can other to come in and get out of upstairs window onto flat roof if not too akward; my experience is most customers don't want you inside their house ::)roll
Having said that i do have a few regular inside jobs so i can't look too scarey :D
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i would never use ladders on decking even with a ladderstopper.
take it easy lee.ive fell off twice now and landed on my heels both times from 1st floor height.it defo shakes you up a bit.
i do still use ladders a few times a week but very few flat roof jobs left now.normally there used for opening a locked gate or climbing over them.
take the weekend off lee and rest.
very best wishes mate
dazmond
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http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=169167.0
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I use a l a d d e r m a t e and its a great bit of kit. Impossible to slip,very stable. Worth a look before you drop your customers.
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bad luck mate,
i aways worry about decking and ladders i always get my lad to foot the ladders on decking. don't think there is any safer way than this.
get well soon and i hope the legs don't itch to much LOL
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Fell off mine today too ::)roll
lucky for me the ladder is only five foot long anyway so not far to fall when the bottom kicked out.
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rubber never grips on outdoor decking NOR damp ground NOR dusty ground.
anybody MAKING OR selling rubber mats of any sort as a safety product is a total charlatan
i know this as i had a ladder slip out on me on a laddermat about 3yrs ago / i have since done a little research and now know that rubber mat/s should not be used outdoors
Quite true, rubber and wet decking is lethal.
If it was me that had fallen 3 years ago I would have found another method of cleaning windows by now.
shortly after that time i learnt that spikes fitted to a ladder / or using a trad pole are both good methods and i use these now
the point im making is that these rubber products are lethal in a lot of situations
And I agree rubber under ladders is very unsafe. However, the point of health and safety is first to eliminate the risk and then control whatever remains. By going up a ladder no matter how well anchored you still risk falling off. This is especially important if you employ. Many know of a way to eliminate falling off a ladder yet refuse to do it.
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Thanks everyone ;)
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Thanks everyone ;)
If you want any help putting the letter together I'm more than happy to help. Email on website
Stuart
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Fell off mine today too ::)roll
lucky for me the ladder is only five foot long anyway so not far to fall when the bottom kicked out.
A customer of mine fell from no height and bust his hip. He now has one leg shorter than the other due to bad repair of it. No joke!
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I would go round and personally visit every one of the customers you are concerned about. I am fully confident that once you explain to them what has happened they will appreciated that you shouldn't be risking your life/health to clean a window.
You will no doubt discuss finding a way round any windows that cannot possibly be reached with a pole (which in reality should be very few). Anyone who, after hearing your reasons, still wants you to risk life and limb to clean their precious window should be dumped on the spot.
Good luck mate
Tom
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Agree Tom.
Will write to some and just tell others that are usually in.
Thanks Stuart I'l make something up over the weekend and email you a copy.
I take it you've been a windie a while; got a few stories their ;)
Just thought of a custie i did about 7years ago; when i swapped over to wfp she wasn't keen.
She told me her husband use to climb massive heights on ladders and off them with no safety eqipment and "HE NEVER HAD AN ACCIDENT!"
There is no begining to some peoples knowledge :D
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Very lucky and I bet your heart was in your mouth on the way down. I'm glad you're ok. :)
While you want to avoid ladders and wfp together, the lesson to be learnt here is not with ladders, it's about footing them on decking.
Everywhere else they can be used safely. Just not on decking.
What size pole do you currently use?
If 10 - 20% of your customers require ladder for access then keeping them will pay for a longer pole soon enough.
You may not need to lose any.
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I'm w.f.p before anymore said.
Using ladder to access flat roof, thought angle off ladder was o.k and used rojak as on decking.
But ladder slid, cut and bad bruises, luckily grabbed flat roof for split second which must have helped.
drove to hospital and they xrayed knee shin and ankle.
I know stupid being w.f.p and still using ladder!
It's surprising looking at my round how many jobs i use ladder to access unreachable window(s)
So leave ladder at home but at a guess as haven't gone through whole job list but guessing 20-30%
of customers will have missed window(s) to no ladder policy.
Once i tell these customers do you think i'l lose them all?
Anyone had similar experience.
Just thankful not to have both my legs in plaster working a bit today and see how i feel.
Been told that bruising could cover whole shin and foot (black possibly) not happened yet.
Thanks everyone.
Lee
hi lee,
sorry to hear about your accident.
we have never used ladders for any cleaning and we have a reasonible sized WFP round.
i think you will be suprised how many windows you can clean from the ground once you get used to it being the only option.
i think on our houses there may be once house in 30 that we to have miss a window, maybe less than that.
sometimes you just have to get the right angle from the ground, sometimes you need a longer pole, sometimes you can clean them from next door's drive, and sometimes you can't see the whole window, but you can see enough to get your brush on it and feel your way through the clean.
you will get better quickly at these sort of windows when your only option is to clean it from the ground.
also, customers dont seem to mind at all if you say you cannot clean a window, as they can see themselves that it's awkward.
good luck
R
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I used to be 'trad' with ladders. Never fell off them although they did slip once, but re stuck.
Last year I changed to WFP. I no longer carry my ladders on the van.
If I can't do the window with a pole, I don't clean it. Haven't lost a customer because of it.
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i very rarely use a ladder these days, once or twice a year.
but this is what ive done in the past on decking
(http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z295/dune19670/007-6_zpse88708d7.jpg) (http://s195.photobucket.com/user/dune19670/media/007-6_zpse88708d7.jpg.html)
there 3-4 inch wide paint scrappers, just slot them in the decking gaps to stop the Rojak slipping
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For the 20-30% of your customers that have inaccessible windows, write and print off a letter to each custy that states what has happened to you and because of this, you will not be using a ladder again. You could offer to do the houses at a slightly cheaper rate if you are worried about losing them.
+ 1 - customers can't really argue with that!
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Thanks everyone.
Back to it monday.
Really surprised that bruising hasn't been worse.
Sore but not on painkillers now.
Jackie w and richard thanks.
Steve ainger good if that works for you mate, but not for me.
I think walking on decking is bad enough now on.
Stuff should be banned got a custie who's decking is quite greasy; haven't used a ladder on that.
Think i'l take a leaf out of you guys who leave the ladder at home.
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i very rarely use a ladder these days, once or twice a year.
but this is what ive done in the past on decking
(http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z295/dune19670/007-6_zpse88708d7.jpg) (http://s195.photobucket.com/user/dune19670/media/007-6_zpse88708d7.jpg.html)
there 3-4 inch wide paint scrappers, just slot them in the decking gaps to stop the Rojak slipping
I have drilled four holes in mine in the corners, so I can fit T shaped tent pegs.
Roy