30 years ago this would have been normal ,i have been on much smaller ledges at far higher than that and thought nothing of it at the time . basically the thought process was how long would it take and how tireing would it be to get the 60ft ladder out and clean each window when I can just walk along the ledge. Fortunately I never fell and you would not get a second chance if you did
It was my dad who took me with him doing work like this and I would definately not like to see my kids working this way but I suppose back then it was the norm either that or he did not like me very much
In the late 60's/early 70's I worked for a firm doing all the London schools. The only ladders we had were small double pointers for use on ground floor windows (Victorian school windows were up to 14 feet high). It was the accepted way on a building like that to climb out and walk the ledge, we would even step across the gap from window to window.
If anyone on the crew said anything about being nervous, he would be laughed at and have comments like: "I could ride a
bike along that!" shouted at him.
As to the height, when we were trained we were told that it didn't matter how high you were, you would be just as dead falling 20 feet as falling 100 feet.
In 1978 I fell when a sill broke under me, I was 18 feet up and survived (obviously!) - I still walk with a bad limp. Maybe if the sill had been another 2 feet up I wouldn't be here
