Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: cockney rebel on December 08, 2009, 08:24:02 pm
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I used to clean windows the traditional way until the ladders slipped from under me & i fell 20ft. Broke my arm & foot. Bloke in the bed next to me in hospital was a WC too. Same happenend to him but he shattered his pelvis, poor bloke. I was lucky & still alive to tell the tale. Has anyone else had a fall. :o
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had a few near misses, i know dave morris, sliped on a small set of ladders and bust his shoulder
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Yes in 2005,
I broke my ankle in 3 places, snapped my shin and broke both of my heels in the process,
I had a year off work and ive still got 5 pins keeping my ankle together,
Happy days.
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Fell off a ladder in 1983 and fractured my skull :o
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Ladder slipped out from me about a week or so ago for the first ever time, head was about 15 foot, ladder headed backwords, I rode it down and jumped backwards. Styled it out luckily.
Not funny but made me chuckle, two mins before was speaking to my mate about the Wfp Setup I have invested in.
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Ladder slipped out from me about a week or so ago for the first ever time, head was about 15 foot, ladder headed backwords, I rode it down and jumped backwards. Styled it out luckily.
Not funny but made me chuckle, two mins before was speaking to my mate about the Wfp Setup I have invested in.
always nice to do it with style ;D
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Had similar a few years ago, ladders were on gravel and slid away, felt like it was all happening in slow motion and landed on my feet!
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gets yr heart racing dat falling m8 ov mine 03 fell on terraced fronts he ad to av his left leg amputated below the knee .
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gets yr heart racing dat falling m8 ov mine 03 fell on terraced fronts he ad to av his left leg amputated below the knee .
Wheres he from gav?
Theres a bloke in longton whos had that done and is still cleaning trad...seriously.
Its unbelievable.
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i fell once , ended up stuck in the ladder rung both legs dangleing , had to get the gardener to get some steps to get me down .
i thought i was going to meet my maker. still here ;D
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iv fell of a few times but not from any serious hight,my bro fell of tho and broke his ankle,and bout a year ago he fell down his ladders but ended up gettin his leg caught in one of the runs,so he was dangling upside down off his ladder and couldnt unhook himself lol dont think iv laffed so hard in my life wen i saw him lol
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I used to clean windows the traditional way until the ladders slipped from under me & i fell 20ft. Broke my arm & foot. Bloke in the bed next to me in hospital was a WC too. Same happenend to him but he shattered his pelvis, poor bloke. I was lucky & still alive to tell the tale. Has anyone else had a fall. :o
wonder what the odds of 2 window cleaners being next to each other in hospital are
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iv fell of a few times but not from any serious hight,my bro fell of tho and broke his ankle,and bout a year ago he fell down his ladders but ended up gettin his leg caught in one of the runs,so he was dangling upside down off his ladder and idiot unhook himself lol dont think iv laffed so hard in my life wen i saw him lol
glad i dont work with you it must be like the chuckle brothers ;D
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was really funny,me and one of the customers had to help him down lol he was soaked aswell coz his belt bucket tipped all over him...but we are completly profesionals...honestly ::) lol
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wonder how many breakages were reported to RIDDOR
idealrob
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Mine was reported to Riddor, no problem with it though.
I fell 3 ft and broke my shoulder.
worst thing about it is sleep or the lack of it, I just cant get comfy with the pain.
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Alchohol makes a great pain killer. Get well soon, Dave!
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wonder how many breakages were reported to RIDDOR
idealrob
whats that when its at home
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Stan:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/
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looks ok if your employed i wouldnt bother myself
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mine was reported by the building owners i fell on
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In my first year of windows i had a few small incidents but was always ok somehow!
first one the ladder was at a ridiculously steep angle over a porch on tarmac, it just slid away and i slid with it and ended up stood on top of it on ground
then a similar thing again only i ended up clingin to top window sill, and ladder was gone someone had to set ladder up again for me
then a bit more serious i set a ladder up on one of those bays with the sills going round at different angles, one side dug in the ground more than the other as i raced up(last house of day - rushing) the ladder flew off and headed to ground i jumped and landed on lawn , left a imprint in grass about 6 inches deep lol
then on impressed concrete from top of ladder, it just flew out from underneath i came crashing down onto wooden bench came away with a dead leg :)
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Broke heel and tibia when I came backwards off a ladder at only about 6'. Landed on my heels, the right one broke and the right tibia split from the bottom up.
That was in my first month of being a window cleaner.
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In my first year of windows i had a few small incidents but was always ok somehow!
first one the ladder was at a ridiculously steep angle over a porch on tarmac, it just slid away and i slid with it and ended up stood on top of it on ground
then a similar thing again only i ended up clingin to top window sill, and ladder was gone someone had to set ladder up again for me
then a bit more serious i set a ladder up on one of those bays with the sills going round at different angles, one side dug in the ground more than the other as i raced up(last house of day - rushing) the ladder flew off and headed to ground i jumped and landed on lawn , left a imprint in grass about 6 inches deep lol
then on impressed concrete from top of ladder, it just flew out from underneath i came crashing down onto wooden bench came away with a dead leg :)
you sound like Clark Kent ;D
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You should get yourselves accredited with "Safe Contractor" ;)
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safecontractor wont stop you falling, itdidnt stop me
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ive had a couple of ladders slip back on me and luckily they have caught and stopped, ive fell loads of times and always doing bottoms, i guess you dont worry to much when lower down ::) when i got wfp i fell over more than i ever did with ladders, hoses/plant pots/bricks etc. it was always when moving backwards from window.
i remember years ago i was doing a cradle job and my dad turned up on the roof on the friday with blood pouring from his head. he had been on a job and fell and smacked his head but insisted on coming to the job i was on because he had the wages and when i said i would take him to hospital to get checked out he told me not be stupid you cant operate a cradle with two men and the job had to finished that day ;D
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A bloke I used to work with years ago called John, his son died after falling off a ladder. A local window cleaner to me who had been doing windows for years fell while getting back onto a ladder from a flat roof and has never worked since. He would have died if the son of the people who lived there hadn't come home from school in the middle of the day because he forgot his PE kit.
I've heard from many new customers about different previous window cleaners that have given up after falls. I saw a painter fall off a ladder opposite where I was cleaning about two months ago.
I have never really had a bad fall but I had a ladder blow over with me on it a few years back. What I have had however are numerous pants filling moments when ladders have moved or slipped.
Now I'm WFP all of this is a thing of the past.
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ive fell off twice.last time about 10 yrs ago.both times ladder slipped right down and i landed on my heels from first floor.hurt my back with the shock up my spine!heels ok though.i was back at work the next day.scary though!im a lot more careful now and use trad poles a lot esp in winter.even when i go wfp ill still need to use the ladders sometimes.what about flat roofs over garage if their not in?locked gates?first time cleans if really dirty?oxidised frames?kitchen extensions?gutter clearing?conny roofs?i will always need the ladders even with WFP.
DAZMOND
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......with all this going on we still have the trad men having a pop at the WFP, im glad i use it and not ladders, if all those accidents were reported im sure they would be banned by now.
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......with all this going on we still have the trad men having a pop at the WFP, im glad i use it and not ladders, if all those accidents were reported im sure they would be banned by now.
what a stupid comment, there are hundreds of car crashes and deaths every year but they dont ban cars similarly with ladders it is a good tool if used correctly and if ladders are correctly used then they are as safe as many other access tools.
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mine was reported by the building owners i fell on
You fell on the owner of the building you was cleaning. ??? Hope they were ok.
I had a fall in early 2000. Ladders slipped out at the bottom and I fell about 15 ft needing stitches in the back of my head and about a year before a similar thing happened, that time I got a hairline fracture in my left wrist.
Simon.
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oh look my dangling carrot was just bit by trevor, dare anyone mention the word 'banned' and 'ladders' in the same sentence :) ;D
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......with all this going on we still have the trad men having a pop at the WFP, im glad i use it and not ladders, if all those accidents were reported im sure they would be banned by now.
Spot the WFP newbie!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Yes in 2005,
I broke my ankle in 3 places, snapped my shin and broke both of my heels in the process,
I had a year off work and ive still got 5 pins keeping my ankle together,
Happy days.
Join the club, Dean. In 1978 I was working on a pub and put one hand on a window sill. The sill collapsed into a load of rubble and I fell 18' onto concrete. I broke both sub talar (ankle) joints and both os calci (heel bones). Still have a steel staple in my right ankle and walk like a crab ;D Took me 18 months and two operations before I could walk again, but still came back to window cleaning.
How does you injury affect you now?
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......with all this going on we still have the trad men having a pop at the WFP, im glad i use it and not ladders, if all those accidents were reported im sure they would be banned by now.
Notice how many said "the ladder slipped...." that tells me the ladders weren't set properly in the first place.
I still climb ladders, but every time I do I set the ladder, then look at it and think "Could it slide, and if it did where would it go?" If the answer is "yes" and "down to the ground" I don't climb it till I've re-set it safely.
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Only just been going a few months so never had any scary moments, but my dad had a fall from the top of a ladder about 30yrs ago. He was lucky that he landed on something soft "his head" nasty gash that required stitching and concusion. Maybe with that in mind and the horror stories on here I am extra carefull when pitching my ladders and I hope to be wfp before I start getting complacent.
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How does you injury affect you now?
I still have wires in me arm. My arm still hurts but is worse when it is damp or cold.
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I came off just the once, someone had fitted a tilt and turn window upside down.
As I reached over to detail the top right hand corner, I was holding onto the top of the frame by my finger tips just to keep my balance.
The window had been left off the catch and opened out from the top pushing me off.
One broken metatarsal. I ended up on the lawn, managed to get up and hop over to one of those rustic garden seats made from logs, I plonked myself down on it to clear my head, and the bloody thing snapped in half like a carrot. Just wasn't my day, but hey, the ladder never moved.
I have always used stabilizers with my own design feet, never had a ladder slip yet.
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oh look my dangling carrot was just bit by trevor, dare anyone mention the word 'banned' and 'ladders' in the same sentence :) ;D
youve been called a fool by a wfp man so id shut up if i was you ;D ;D
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gets yr heart racing dat falling m8 ov mine 03 fell on terraced fronts he ad to av his left leg amputated below the knee .
Wheres he from gav?
Theres a bloke in longton whos had that done and is still cleaning trad...seriously.
Its unbelievable.
Hes fr adderly green m8 fell near to corner pin pub m8 e also used to play for the vale Andy Shankland
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Ladder slipped on me in 1986, fell 15 feet backwards, broke 2 toes on left foot and tibia and fiblia on right leg, unconscious for a couple of minutes.
Just had the screws out last November and the bloke in the adjoining ward walked through on crutches, he was getting his knee joint replaced through 36 years of windowcleaning.
I,m still cleaning windows now, but invested in water fed pole system last year. :)
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I didn't fall myself,.. but the reason I went WFP was my father in law falling. I was working with him at the time, I was cleaning the back of a house and he was on the front of the next one,.. he stood on the porch roof and slipped,.. landed on the brand new Mini on the driveway below. Not only did he hurt himself, but he had to pay €800 to fix the car!
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I realy should stop reading this thread before I go out, it's a bit like watching the film Alive before going on a plane :-[
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I realy should stop reading this thread before I go out, it's a bit like watching the film Alive before going on a plane :-[
;D
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think i heard somewhere that its best to "ride a ladder down " rather than jump off . i suppose theres only a split second of time to make that choice though
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Seems i did rattle the odd cage around when i said that, it was said in jest and if i caused any offence i apologise wholeheartedly ;D
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think i heard somewhere that its best to "ride a ladder down " rather than jump off . i suppose theres only a split second of time to make that choice though
i found you dont get time for a choice