6.5 Window Cleaning Requirements

General Statement

Windows and skylights usually need to be cleaned periodically and systems must be in place to ensure that this work can be done safely and without risk to health. The major hazard of window cleaning is falling from height, which can be fatal. Working at height is considered in code of practice 6.4

Requirements For Safe Window Cleaning

Any person in control of window cleaning or undertaking window cleaning , whether they are a BSU employee or an employee of a contractor, have legal duties placed on them to ensure that the job is done safely.

Risk Assessment

Employers are required to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the tasks undertaken by their employees at work.

Window cleaner contractors must carry out a written risk assessment for the cleaning of the appropriate BSU location or buildings before the work is carried out. This should be completed in conjunction with the University College contractor liaison officer, who needs to be provided with a copy of the completed assessment.

Safe System Of Work

The employer of the window cleaning personnel must operate with a safe system of work that takes account of all the hazards identified in the relevant risk assessment.

The major hazard of window cleaning is falls from window ledges/sills, from ladders, from suspended scaffolding or boatswains' chairs, through fragile roofs or from parts of the building being used as handholds or footholds. The following precautions should reduce the likelihood of accidents occurring:

• Selection of suitable plant, equipment and system of work;
• Checking plant and equipment before the start of window cleaning;
• Prompt reporting of defective equipment or lack of anchorage points etc;
• Removal without delay of defect equipment from service;
• All employees trained and competent to use of the safe systems and to carry out the work;
• Careful storage of plant and equipment between operations;
• When cleaning the exterior side of a window can be done from inside, ensuring that there is no risk of the window cleaner falling through the open window;

Personal Protective Equipment

The employer of window cleaners must provide their personnel with suitable personal protective equipment as identified in the relevant risk assessment and provide suitable training in the use of the personal protective equipment , for example:

• Sill pads or special slippers when working from polished or slippery interior sills or ledges;
• Safety belt/ harness, ropes and clips.

The employee should check his/her personal protective equipment before use and report any defects promptly.

Access To Windows

Where windows can be cleaned from the inside, the window cleaner should ensure that there is no risk of falling through the open window. The window cleaner should not step on to the outside sill.The equipment used by a window cleaner must comply with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations(PUWER) and Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations(LOLER):

• The equipment provided must be suitable and safe for use;
• It must be maintained in an efficient state with the appropriate certification;
• Employees must have adequate information, instructions and training in its use.

Equipment used to clean windows from the outside may include: suspended scaffolds, mobile tower scaffolds, travelling ladders, boatswain's chairs and safety harnesses. Guidance on the correct use of these and other equipment is given in HSE Guidance Note GS25: Prevention of Falls to Window Cleaners. See also 6.4 Working at height.

There may be circumstances when it is not reasonably practicable to use the access equipment described above. In such instances the use of a safety harness or a belt attached to an anchorage may be used, provided that all other methods have been considered and ruled out as reasonably practicable. If anchorage points are required they must be certificated to be capable of sustaining the anticipated shock.

When the need arises to use a ladder above 6 metres height and there are no ladder tie bolts fitted to which the ladder could be lashed, a suitable proprietary ladder stabilising device is to be used. The maximum height to which a portable ladder can be extended is 9 metres.