In 2017, some of the headlines that hit the national press were ‘Window Cleaner Seriously Hurt After Fall From Building’ and ‘The Window Cleaner Who Fell From A Skyscraper and Lives’.
The issue of health and safety when working at height is close to our hearts here at USS because of the industry we are in and as members of the Federation of Window Cleaners since 1996.
There have been massive improvements in safety kits and working at height regulations in the past 40 years and yet people still consider our industry to be ‘high risk’ and the mainstream media coverage focuses on shocking and ‘scandalous’ detail without giving wider context about the cleaning industry being safety conscious.
In fact, our industry has some of the most highly qualified staff in any sector when it comes to working at height and we have rigorous qualifications and standards framework delivered through the IPAF, IRATA and other health and safety platforms. The latest British Cleaning Council research into health and safety in cleaning revealed that as a sector we actually have a very low level of accidents at work when compared to other similar industries.
Many of our staff working at height are IPAF / IRATA qualified and all of our staff are well trained and highly skilled cleaning operatives ensuring not only the safety of themselves but that of their colleagues, our clients and the general public too.
With working at height guidelines, cradle inspection, harness and fall arrest equipment checklists, a window cleaning safety code of working practice and working at height rescue plan in place to name but a few, USS reduce the risks involved with working at height and have over 25 years’ experience in this field.
If you would like to know more about our at height window cleaning services or would like to review any of our accompanying documentation, please do not hesitate to get in touch by calling the office today on 020 8669 4377
