Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Window cleaner Mick Tate is retiring after almost 40 years

Ravensthorpe window cleaner retiring after almost 40 years

Window cleaner Mick Tate is retiring after almost 40 years. (d30051214)

Published on Wednesday 20 June 2012 07:00

A WINDOW cleaner is winding down after almost 40 years.

For almost all of his working life, Mick Tate has been cleaning the windows of houses, shops and factories in Ravensthorpe.

But now, at the age of 67, he has decided to cut down on the amount of work he takes on and ease his way into retirement.

“When you get to my age, you can’t fly up and down a ladder like you used to at 27,” he said.

Mr Tate, of Queen Street, Mirfield, first took over the window cleaning business from a family friend, Walter Barker, in 1974.

“He was a wonderful character,” Mr Tate said.

“He was retiring and said, would I like to take over.

“I worked at ICI at the time, and I didn’t particularly like it, so I worked with Walter for 12 months and the rest is history.”

Mr Tate grew up in Ravensthorpe and is still known to many of the children who live on his window cleaning round as ‘Mr Mick’.

He spent many years playing football and rugby with amateur teams in the area and still goes crown green bowling in Lower Hopton.

He hopes to use his retirement to spend more time travelling and visiting his son, Daniel.

“My son recently moved to Canada,” Mr Tate said.

“My wife Brenda and I have just been out there, and I would like to go back.”

Mr Tate still plans to work occasional shifts, but he will be winding down over the next few months.

“I’m still fit enough to work a couple of mornings a week, which I intend to do, but a lot of my work has now gone,” he said

Source: http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/local/more-local-news/ravensthorpe-window-cleaner-retiring-after-almost-40-years-1-4650468

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Winnipeg window washer who fell eight storeys in good spirits

A window washer works on a highrise in Coquitlam, B.C. A Winnipeg window washer is considered lucky to be alive after an eight-story fall this week0

Photograph by: Kevin Hill , Coquitlam NOW

WINNIPEG — A window washer is lucky to be alive after falling eight storeys and smashing through a glass solarium, said a witness who saw the man minutes after the workplace incident Wednesday.

The window cleaner is 27-year-old Chris Piper.

Piper had been working with his uncle, an experienced window washer, at the site when the fall occurred.

Patricia St. Godard, with Clean A Service, said Piper was due to have knee surgery. She said Piper had a safety net and a safety harness when the fall happened. She said she was very grateful Piper survived the fall.

The company is in its 25th year and hasn't had a similar incident, she said.

Piper has been upgraded to stable condition after being taken to hospital Wednesday after the fall from Cambridge Gardens at 850 Cambridge Street.

A statement was released by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Thursday afternoon confirming he was in stable condition.

"He is in good spirits and thanks everyone for their concern," said the statement.
"He does not want to speak with media at this time and has asked that his privacy and that of his family please be respected."

James Warren said he was leaving his grandmother's apartment when he saw Piper inside the building shortly after the fall.

Emergency crews had yet to respond to the scene.

"He was covered in blood and glass. He was awake and he was sitting up but he was obviously in shock," Warren said. "His co-worker said he'd crushed a leg. He was bleeding profusely from the head and mouth."

Warren said Piper just missed being impaled on a picket fence around the plants in the solarium by the foyer.

"If you were inside, you would have seen the picket fence and he probably missed it by half a foot. He's lucky to be alive."

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca

— With files from Gabrielle Giroday

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Job Opportunity Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA

Solicitation Number:

Notice Type:

Synopsis:

Added: Jun 14, 2012 12:55 pm

VA Portland, OR and VA Vancouver, WA are looking for a contractor to furnish all labor, supervision, management, management support, transportation, supplies, equipment, and materials to complete window washing services and cleaning of insect and energy conservation screens, cleaning of window frames, sills and sashes, and replacement of component elements of window units damaged during accomplishment of contractual service. Services are to be performed once per year at each facility. This solicitation is 100% set aside for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOSB). Bid Opening will be on or about July 24, 2012. NOTE: SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.

Chicago Firefighters Rescue WC'rs

Firefighters Rescue Workers Dangling From Scaffold On Downtown High-Rise

Firefighters rescued two men from a window-washing ledge that tipped on the side of the Garland Building downtown. (Credit: Greg Davis/WBBM Newrsadio/CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) — Firefighters made a daring rescue high above the Loop Thursday morning, as two workmen nearly fell off their scaffolding at a high-rise office building downtown.
The two workmen were on a window-washing platform on the 16th floor of the Garland Building, at 50 E. Washington St. across Garland Court from the Chicago Cultural Center.

Something went wrong, and they were left dangling.

But firefighters quickly rushed in to help.
“Apparently one of the motors did not stop when they came to the floor that they wanted to work on. Fortunately, they were close to a window, and we were able to secure our firefighters and get them through a window,” said Chicago Fire Battalion Chief Steve Little.
Both men were successfully pulled through the window, and no one was hurt.

Source: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/06/14/firefighters-rescue-workers-dangling-from-scaffold-on-downtown-high-rise/

Window washer probe could take longer than expected (Calgary)

It could take six months to get to the bottom of what caused the platform holding two window-washers to fail Monday morning.

Occupational Health and Safety will begin speaking to witnesses of the accident as well as the company who employs the men who were left dangling in harnesses from a downtown building.

The Calgary Fire Department's high angle rescue team freed both men who were taken to hospital and suffered no injuries.

OHS says the interview and investigation process typically takes three to six months.

Source: http://www.660news.com/news/local/article/372759--window-washer-probe-could-take-longer-than-expected

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Window washers rescued from downtown Calgary building (Photos)

Two workers rescued after hanging by ropes from downtown Calgary office tower

A worker is taken away in an ambulance after firefighters rescue him and another worker after their platform gave way while working at the 12th floor of the Elveden Centre building on 7th Avenue and 7th Street S.W. on Monday June 11, 2012 in Calgary.

Photograph by: Dean Bicknell , Calgary Herald

A dramatic rescue of two men left dangling 10 stories in the air off of a downtown high rise captivated the attention of hundreds of office workers Monday.
Fire crews were called to the Elveden Centre in the 700 block of 7th Avenue SW. around 10:30 a.m. to rescue two workers who had been left stranded, clinging to their life lines, after the platform beneath them collapsed.
Both men were successfully lowered into the bucket of an awaiting fire truck shortly before noon.
From a south-facing window on the 17th floor of Sun Life Plaza, Shovik Sengupta watched this morning’s harrowing scene unfold.
The data analyst said he looked out the window shortly before 11 a.m. to see two men dangling from ropes.
“At the first they weren’t moving. They were staying very still. I don’t know if it’s because they are injured or because they don’t want to mess up their safety harness,” said Sengupta.
Sengupta watched as a rescuer lowered himself to the men who were clinging to ropes approximately 10 stories above the ground.
Below where the men had been dangling, the ground appears to be littered with debris, including buckets and window washing equipment.
“We missed the fall but we heard the sirens and we all came to the window,” he said. “At first it was pretty jarring to see two guys hanging from the building who aren’t moving.”
“It’s never a comfortable thing to see first thing on a Monday morning and you hope for the best.”
A spokesperson with the Calgary fire department said both workers were wearing lifelines when the platform collapsed.
No injuries have been reported and investigators are looking into the cause of the accident.
mpotkins@calgaryherald.com