Supporting the window cleaning industry

PRINCIPLE WAS established in 1989 and its window cleaning division was set up in 2013 with four employees from East London Business Alliance - a non-profit making organisation, which gives local people the opportunity to get back to work. It now has IRATA accreditation and directly employs 100 full-time staff including IRATA-trained abseilers. 

The Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC), established in 1947, is a registered professional trade association, which represents the Window Cleaning industry through active participation on the HSE Cleaning Industry Liaison forum and affiliation with the British Cleaning Council (BCC).

According to the FWC, which has around 770 company members and growing, there are estimated to be around 277,000 window cleaners working in the UK and, in truth, there are probably more who combine their window cleaning with other tasks, for example, gutter cleaning and minor maintenance tasks.

Today, new issues are arising for window cleaners on a regular basis. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected most businesses in one way or another and the window cleaning industry is no exception.  As well as the obvious risks to health and wellbeing of our workers, the commercial threat has also been ever present and frequencies of cleaning have been reduced and sometimes cut altogether, giving rise to financial uncertainty and stress.

Thankfully the Covid outlook is becoming brighter and the windows, frames and gutters need cleaning again, so window cleaners are back in demand. The requirements for window cleaners are mainly unchanged and relate to commitment, focus and hard work but the world is likely to be changed post Covid and this will bring the opportunity to be more competitive and offer something better. Part of the solution will be better conditions for window cleaners.

Safety, risk reduction and teamwork

Safety is covered by current legislation dating back to the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974 and the subsequent Management Regulations and there should be no window cleaner working unsafely in today’s workplace.  However, window cleaners often work at height and encounter hazards and even if they are competent and trained, they are not exempt from the risk of having an accident. 

Most of the risk reduction is covered by risk assessment and this has helped the industry enormously in improving its safety culture since the early 1990s but it is still possible to have an accident if you are in an ‘unconsciously competent’ state, i.e., where you have received all the training, have the experience and competence and are carrying out a repetitive task at height, which might lead to an absent minded error with serious consequences. 

Teamwork in safety, working in pairs and taking breaks should all be part of risk assessment but complacency can be round the corner especially for experienced window cleaners and need to be supported as much as anyone else.  Also, there are a number of excellent courses becoming available to the industry dealing with behavioural safety and offering window cleaners and employers techniques to eradicate the risk of an accident, especially a fall, or a falling object from height.

In 2013, FWC executives developed a tailor-made Safety Accredited Member Procurement Scheme (SAM) to help clients find reputable and compliant window cleaning companies and enable members to demonstrate their compliance and give not only their own company's assurance of health and safety, but to all potentially new and existing clients too.

Through the Federation, members have early access to each and every national window cleaning tender and in order to be considered for these contracts, companies applying must demonstrate that they can meet health and safety standards. SAM is a pre-qualification scheme that allows local authorities and other organisations to identify that a company or self-employed window cleaners have the minimum standard required under the scheme.

Mental health and wellbeing may change over time as we ride with the waves of change in the demographic of our workforce. The vast majority of window cleaners are men and according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) around three-quarters of registered suicide deaths in 2020 were men (3,925 deaths:75.1%), which follows a consistent trend back to the mid-1990s.

Mental health first aiders are becoming more prevalent and available in companies and the stigmas around mental health are reducing, particularly for younger people. However, more can be done, and clients may well be sympathetic to and be on board with the cost and benefits of having a well-supported, happy and motivated team of window cleaners. Areas, which can immediately be considered, include:

●     Wellbeing allowances

●     Personal development days

●     Additional holidays

●     Reward and recognition scheme

●     Communication via newsletters

●     Assistance with technology so that it is an asset not a burden

●     Better quality and more sustainable uniforms.

It’s also important to be kind and appreciate your window cleaners. They are often unsung heroes doing a tough job in all weathers sometimes for little reward.

Understanding the environment

No organisation can avoid the responsibility that we all have to help protect the environment where we can. This need not involve a dramatic shift but procurement teams are particularly interested in this, and it can help to differentiate when quoting for work. The first step is to understand how your activities are affecting the environment. Take account of travel, methods and distances and include any suppliers. Also think about the equipment you use and how it gets disposed of.  Finally, water in the UK has been purified using power and, as a result, minimising its usage will help reduce your carbon footprint. Think about ways to recycle water wherever you can. Above all, put the environment on the agenda with clients, keep data on what you do and use, and set a target on how you can improve it in any way you can.

Technology is another key area for vertical cleaning. At Principle, we continue to develop bespoke, real-time reports for window cleaning activities including BMU, drop-marking and fabric reporting. Cleaning at height using specialist equipment also features regularly in Principle’s work as well as minor maintenance tasks at height including gutter cleaning and repairs, and the installation of pest control equipment. Technology also allows us to monitor trends such as the weather, equipment and productivity, in real time. Drop marking technology, which is owned and was developed by Principle, allows us to mark the top and bottom of building facade ‘drops’ with or without installing a tag and a graphic of the building recorded within a client’s bespoke online portal, shows the progress of ongoing work using colour, which can change, again, in real time. 

Looking to the future

The post COVID-19 era will provide many challenges and opportunities for well-run window cleaning operations and the fittest and the best will prosper as they have always done. Principle opened a Centre of Excellence for its window cleaning division, which has a training and classroom area for the high-level access team, secure and dry storage facilities for rope access equipment and state-of-the-art reach and wash filtration tanks. It has a five-strong management team with a manager devoted to rope access activities and a technical lead and full-time safety and administrative support. 

The FWC provides information on all aspects of the Window Cleaning industry and circulates this information to all its members. It assists in an advisory capacity wherever possible and represents the industry in discussions with government and municipal bodies on all aspects affecting the industry.

Window Cleaners have access to people's properties more than any other trade, and the FWC strongly encourages the public and property managers to use a bona-fide window cleaner, therefore improving safety, efficiency and status of the cleaner. By selecting a registered member of the FWC to clean their property, they can be sure they have liability insurance in place and that they are encouraged to work to its code of good practice.

There are numerous benefits to being part of an accredited body such as the FWC and some of these are listed below:

●     Representation of a government recognised trade association;

●     Business investment into an independent non-profit organisation;

●     Risk Assessments/Method Statements & Policy Statement guidance;

●     Subsidised, accredited safety training courses for window cleaners;

●     Trade specific procurement scheme;

●     Close working relations with HSE's Cleaning Industry Liaison Forum; and

●     Affiliations with the BCC’s Cleaning and Support Services.

In the modern world, where media and social media are more prevalent and the demands of clients are more immediate, it is vital for window cleaners to be able to seek advice about new equipment, safety legislation or situations they have come across, and the FWC can provide this either via its quarterly members’ newsletter or by making direct contact and seeking advice.

David Saville is operations director of Principle Cleaning Services’ Window Cleaning division and executive committee member of the Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC).

For more information visit www.principleclean.com 

For further information about the FWC please visit https://f-w-c.co.uk/