WORKING AT HEIGHT (WAH) AWARENESS DAY A GREAT SUCCESS : Cleaning News

WORKING AT HEIGHT (WAH) AWARENESS DAY A GREAT SUCCESS

The newly formed Clean Safe Partnership recently ran a very successful Working at Height Awareness Day at their Commercial Offices and Training Room in Boston, Lincolnshire.


Over twenty High Level Window Cleaners attended and took part in a carefully-constructed Management Style Course. This included:

1 Theory, Law and Best Practice for Ladder Selection and Controls
2 Theory, Water-Fed Pole, Selection and Controls
3 Commercial Property Safe System of Work

Attendees had either recently completed their City and Guilds NVQ Level 2 Qualification, or were in the process of doing so. This unique WAH Training Day was designed to give additional knowledge of the industry to some already experienced and certificated window cleaners. The focus was on how the three training types listed above relate to Commercial Window Cleaning – with particular reference to large commercial properties.

Andrew Willis, Working at Height Consultant with Time Consultancy and Senior Partner with the IMPACT43 Group, was one of the three trainers involved. The others were Mark Gillman, Health and Safety Director with Emprise Group and IV Assessor with City and Guilds NVQ Level 2 South Thames, Merton College, and Bryan Dolby, of Dolby Cleaning Services.

’The Clean Safe Partnership Training Day launched a new facility designed to enhance the commercial training we can offer to already qualified operatives,’ said Andrew. ‘For those without training in place, it gives sufficient qualification as all those attending have already shown they have practical experience through the NVQ process.’

Window cleaners from several companies - Cadens Window Cleaning, Clear Magic, The Clear Group, Arrow Cleaning, and Professional Cleaning Services (PCS) – were shown the nuts and bolts of practices that are all-too-often overlooked. These included:

• Examples of Setting up a Safe System of Work Area
• Examples of Why Signage Wordage is Important
• Demonstrations of the Negative Effects of Accidents

‘Imagine a window cleaner using a water-fed pole, and consider what can happen if this is dropped from height and injures a member of public,’ said Andrew. ‘It’s simply not good enough to have a sign in place saying Men Working Overhead! We demonstrate the correct and most efficient way of setting up the work area, with all the required safeguards, PPE and correct signs.’

The Clean Safe Partnership, which recently introduced a 5 level training matrix for the Window Cleaning Industry at the FWC show in Blackpool, acts as an umbrella for training-experience providers. In conjunction with Competency Checker, an online website that allows window cleaners to log their certification and ongoing training plans,

Clean Safe will enable property owners and managing agents to access a window cleaner’s training records to ensure they are competent.

Andrew, who is also the trainer and A1 Assessor within the City and Guilds NVQ2, said: ‘Training like this is the way forward. During my High Level Consultancy Work, and throughout the City and Guilds NVQ, I will always actively promote training, and direct window cleaners to attend recognised providers registered like The Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC) and The British Window Cleaning Academy (BWCA).

Bryan Dolby, who in addition to his role within Dolby Cleaning Services is the current Chairman of the Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC), said: ‘The Clean Safe Partnership Day was excellent, and I was delighted to deliver the ladder and water-fed pole practical training. As chairman of the FWC, I sit on the FWC committee with Andrew, so I was well aware that Andrew and Mark have exceptional experience in modern High Level Window Cleaning. The training they provided on the day was cutting edge stuff, and it’s excellent news that the Clean Safe Partnership are planning one training day every month during 2010. As Andrew said, this has to be the way forward for our industry.’


(image shows a recent working at height awareness training day at Bristol for NVQ2 Candidates)