Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: gaza on June 18, 2005, 10:00:27 am
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In light of simonds accident why dont we post on here a list of does and donts. YOU KNOW THOSE NEARLY ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY SILLY MISTAKES YOU GOT AWAY WITH.if it only saves one newbies life [plus a proffessionals life] it would be worth sharing knowledge
STARTING WITH: 1/. TREE BARK COVERING A PLASTIC SHEET.
THERES MANY MORE ODD ONES.
LIKE THOSE BLUE BRICKS USED IN BACK YARDS WHEN WET THERE DEADLY.
IVE STARTED SO LETS CONTINUE.
I could fill in loads but then you would call me a know it all,and theres one or two I would miss because having not come across them yet.
GAZA
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ladders on wooden decking i slipped , ladder twisted .. fell about 8ft but was ok just bruised
shawn
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damp moss covered patio slabs are the worse in my opinion, they only need to be slightly damp and are like a ice rink
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yes i have had that just walking on them and have slipped :-[
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Flagstones around older buildings are very slippery when wet, even with a ladder stopper.
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Wet pitched roofs, covered with green algae. Solution, leave them!
Slippery patios. Solution, thick beach towel under rungs of ladder, OR a garden wall as a stopper.
We decking. Solution, beach towel again and make sure your ladder is fairly upright, and not at an angle.
Or to solve all the above...WFP!! ;)
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HERES ONE : Very strange one not very often come against.
Newly laid tuft ,put ladder on it because it haddent time to grow roots, it slid out of place only about 4 inches until it made a stop with the tuft behind it,relayed it and counted my blessings.
GAZA
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Those small red exterior floor tiles (the glazed ones) had a serious brown trouser moment about 2 weeks ago with them.
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Pebbles put down over concrete are just like ball bearings.
The one that led to me coming off was a tilt and turn window that had been installed upside down. It was closed but the catch was off. I was over reaching to detail a corner, put my hand on the framw to keep my balance and the window opened out from the top. It pushed me out and away from my ladder. The stabliser on the ladder did it's job, the ladder never moved. I was lucky to land on my feet. I broke one of them and was off for 3 weeks. Dai
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damp moss covered patio slabs are the worse in my opinion, they only need to be slightly damp and are like a ice rink
Moss covered patios, flagstones etc can be lethal. What I have found is that a damp, heavy duty oven cloth under the ladder works just great - much better than ladder stoppers etc. I kid you not. I would not joke about such a thing. It's too important. If in doubt though, I just use an extension pole.
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cleaning open windows with wfp whilst the customer is looking out of it to watch you at work, the only do it once!
Jay
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A few years ago I was doing a front room window and the owner had planted one of those big huge yukka type tropical plants that has the spikes on the end of the leaves right next to the wall and it was half across the glass.
I was mopping behind it stretched out as you do and somehow a spike from the end of its leaves went through the side of my nose. Boy oh boy was it painfull.
Had it been a little to one side and a bit higher it would have been my eye.
I had to go down the local A & E to get the spike removed. It was 7mm long and the point of it is still in the bone in the side of my nose. I can still feel it when I wear glasses.
I am now very very very wary of plants, bushes, etc of any desription right next to where I am working.
It's not quite in the same league as falling from a ladder but a potentialy serious injury none the less.
Also, a few days ago one of the others I work with while getting down from a 15ft high flat roof had the ladder slip from under neath him and he ended up hanging from the roof. That was because of wet decking and no one footing the ladder.
His injuries were minor thankfully.
Cheers
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Dog muck.... apart from being smelly vile stuff to get off ladder rungs and hoses, it can cause serious health problems including blindness.
First sign of the stuff and the place gets left.
Dennzle
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ROSS :PLANTS ARE DANGEROUS,TOMATO PLANTS ARE AT LEAST. last year bent down to wet my mop only when I stood up did I realize how close my eye had been to a bambo stick supporting it.
returning to the issue putting ladders on pvc sills is a deff no no.
GAZA
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ROSS :PLANTS ARE DANGEROUS,TOMATO PLANTS ARE AT LEAST. last year bent down to wet my mop only when I stood up did I realize how close my eye had been to a bambo stick supporting it.
returning to the issue putting ladders on pvc sills is a deff no no.
GAZA
Ladder mitts work fine in those situations Gaza.
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LADDER mits for wfp were do u get them from shiner?having a lauff ;D
know what you mean they are very good saves having to explain scratches on painted walls as well
gaza
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wise they had ladder mitts 15 years ago
was cleaning windows in this road (allday) and time was never on my side to get this road done, so was working fast, got to one house and was asked to clean the frames, thought well dont have time but did not like to say no, put the ladder up on the UPVC front cladding and as I was cleaning the frames & windows I over reached the ladder went one way and I fell on my back on hard concret, was winded luck but could have been in a wheel chair.
One time went round the back of a house with the ladder over my shoulder and sliped on the wet floor, and twisted my ackle and was in a lot of pain, customer came out and said what are you doing on the floor, ::) I siad I am in pain, she said so Iam not going to get my windows finiashed then. ::) ::) ::) ::) but then it was the 80s?
Andy
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LADDER mits for wfp were do u get them from shiner?having a lauff ;D
know what you mean they are very good saves having to explain scratches on painted walls as well
gaza
Well, to quote your previous post, you did write:
"returning to the issue putting ladders on pvc sills is a deff no no."
It seemed reasonable to assume you were referring to ladder work. :)
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Another one to do with plants that IS ladder related :o
Some years ago I did a large building in a local town (Monmouth) It has an ancient Virginia Creeper all over the one elevation.
One of the lads who was working for me at the time was 3rd floor window, this had to be done off a balcony with fibreglass floor (the old lead floor had been replaced with the fibreglass).
So the ladder is on the balcony, fully extended.
He hadn't realised that the Virginia Creeper was dropping its seeds, ergo; these were like ball bearings-Jon at top of ladder=Jon at bottom of ladder....very quickly :-\ His leg went through the rungs, one end of the ladder had smashed through one of the first floor windows, and all in front of a new thoroughly entertained (if slightly shocked) crowd of people who were sat at tables on the cobblestone yard below sipping cups of tea or munching on buttered scones ;D
I've related the full story of this elswhere on the forum, so I won't go over it again.
The point is of course beware of seeds or any other type of vegetation lying on patio floors/paths/driveways/decking and so on. Even when dry they can still present a danger.
A good thread Gaza, also makes you realise how many of us have had close shaves doesn't it? Broken bones, twisted ankles, and only Ross could try to get his nose pierced on the cheap! 8)
I would say that most of us who have put these examples of what can catch you out, have done so because of personal experience.
Thank god I am WFP now ;D
Of course I could end out fusing my hands to the pole if I come in contact with a power line :-\
Or trip over loose flagstones/uneven flagstones or any other obstacle I don't see as I am looking up at the 3rd floor winodws I am cleaning!
Regards,
Ian
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ANOTHER ONE FROM ME:Standing on top of wheelie bins ,they tip up hence my window cleaner has a shattered hip nearly 18months of work,luckly he has lads working for him.
GAZA
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I've just remembered one that Wor Lass did that really made me laugh.
When she first started working with me, she actually placed her A Frames onto a front door to clean the window above it.
The door opened and Wor Lass squealed as she fell forward, but luckily enough the customer was a hefty girl who saved Wor Lass from damage by using her ample 'chest' to halt the forward momentum of 'my better half'.
Luckily enough there was no serious injuries or civil lawsuites and stangely enough; she's still a customer; albeit a wary one.
Wor Lass first said that she didn't think anyone was in, so felt safe leaning the A Frames against the door. Later, after a copious amount of ribbing, she changed her story to 'My A Frame slipped from the 'door frame' when the door was opened'.
Liar, liar pants... etc! I would say the fault lay with me for not instructing her in some basic safety rules; but I thought I'd covered the obvious stuff. I'm sure there's an old army saying that if it's possible that something can be done incorrectly, like trying to put ammunition into a rifle the wrong-way-round, someone will do it in that way. When teaching squaddies stuff, you have to instruct at the level of the thickest recruit.
But putting your A Frames on a door... I would blame it on her Welsh genes, but Ian_Giles will only delete this line.
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I nearly had an odd-accident that could've been very nasty this morning.
I climbed a ladder to a bedroom window which was open. As I closed it I saw just underneath the window, on the bedroom floor a baby with a mother on her knees changing its nappy.
As the window closed it pushed a large mirror from the inside window sill forward - and it was about to fall directly onto the childs face.
I screamed like a little girl, but luckily enough the kids mother managed to catch the mirror before it smashed down onto the childs face.
She said it was her fault for placing it there; but it gave me a fright.
I don't care who was to blame; it could've been nasty for the little lass.
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The Welsh have thick skins, they are used to insults, can't be worse than Anne Robinson....can it?
I had an amusing one today, I had to clean inside and out for a squaddie at our local barracks who was being posted elsewhere today.
This isn't an accident for the window cleaner though, this one is for the unwary customer 8)
He was in and out, along with the removal men, I had just done the inside of the patio door, and had started on the outside of that side with the WFP.
I had let the customer (A 6ft 2in Squaddie) back in through the patio door.
2 minutes later there was a hell a BANG! On the patio door.....the squaddie had tried to walk out through it without opening it first ...sn****r ;D
There was a big greasy spot where his forehead had walloped the glass, I could hardly work for laughing.
He came out muttering and calling himself a right t(rest of word censored by myself with modertor hat on 8))
He did see the funny side though....so did the 2 removal men and his neighbour who was waiting for him at the garden fence lol lol
If it was a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and he had been Elmer Fudd, his ears would have grown and his head would have turned into a Jackass's head.
Sigh.....made my day that did ;D
Regards,
Ian
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A few years ago I hada very lucky escape.
One day my triple aluminium extension blew over in the wind. I had left it propped against the wall while I did the bottoms. [it was not extended at the time], I examined it for damage and was relieved to see I had got away with it appart from a small dent in the middle of bottom section.
Several months later I was coming down the ladder and something didn't feel right.
I examined the ladder and was horrified to find that it had cracked all the way round where the dent had been, it was only attatched by one thin strip. I went cold, I had used it on 3rd floor work the day before.
Another wc told me that he had an alloy ladder break on him and he was lucky to escape unhurt. He carried his ladders on a trailer with a ladder bar. He had not padded the bar so that every time he hit a bump his ladder was rattling against it.
Eventually this had caused a weakness, it was at this point that the break occurred.
It tought me a lesson, don't ignore small dents, examine your ladders regularly,
If in daubt throw it out.
I have used wooden ladders with alloy rungs ever since. I have one big alloy triple that I only use on one commercial job, but not for long, I'm switching to WFP. Dai
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I do the ground floor window because I'm so short at 5 ft 7 odd. I use an 8ft pointed ladder.
Today we were doing a place that we've been doing for 3 years but last week they'd had the front garden dug over.
I put my pointed ladder carefully in between the plants, the groove at the top located what I thought was securly, and grabbed hold of the uprights as you do, stepped up 5 or 6 rungs and one side sank in the loose earth and my fingers on one hand got squashed between the ladder and the corner of the bricks because the top of the ladder moved due to the soft earth under one leg of the ladder..
I havn't explained that very well but the end result of putting a ladder with one leg under loose earth and the other under compacted earth was a cut to two knuckles on two fingers down to the bone which were trapped between the ladder and the corner of the bricks. I will wait till the morning to see if I need to see the A & E.
The problem was my weight on the ladder meant I couldn't get my fingers out from behind it. The other two who I work with were round the back and I couldn't just watch the blood going down the wall so in the end all I could do was pull my fingers out. It hurt. What a daft situation to get stuck in and how obvious was it in retrospect.
Very painfull.
So be carefull of soft earth even if you have a pointed ladder with that groove bit at the top to stop the ladder moving. It can still move.
Cheers with very sore knuckles on my left hand
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Ross, You're right about soft earth.
I was up on the second tier once doing a straightforward window when one side decided to sink.
Luckily it all happened so slowly that as it went over I just stepped off onto the ground.
Might not be so lucky next time though!
Roger.
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Money ............. what money?
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What?
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Got a bit careless extending the double pointers this morning and looked away when suddenly the top section, which hadn't lock on, came down a bit quick - a Norman Wisdom moment but could have broke my skinny wrists :-[
thanks to earlier input form shaun and gazza - i think - re: timber decking and
the crafty 'plastic-under-bark' ( I think I used to go there for my holidays)
it wasn't bark but chippings, that nearly caught me out the other day - even though I have laid stuff like this before, I never gave it a thought until I suddenly remembered the posting
THANKS :D
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Davindo : YOU SOUND AS THOUGH YOUR AN ACCIDENT LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAPPEN. ;D
you owe me and Simon a pint at this bash if the forum can get it together 8)
GAZA
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That's a done deal Gaza - you'll be able to recognise me, as I always have a couple of people to stand front and back holding up warning triangles ;D
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no plaster of paris and crutches ave you heard of this new thing that peeps are on about wfp? apparently it cuts down accident rates ? the onlyway to ave an accident with it is if you drop your wage packet on your foot
GAZA