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News & ArtsThursday, November 19, 2009
Death / Sports Almost Freefalling
Posted by Grant Brissey on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 3:36 PM
SEATTLE - A window washer plunged eight stories down the side of a building Thursday in downtown Seattle, but was stopped by a safety rope just inches before hitting the ground, officials and witnesses said.Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said the rope saved the man's life by catching at the second story and softening the impact when the man reached the pavement below.
Okay, I'm glad the guy is alright, of course, but quickly: The idea of that safety gear isn't that you fall six stories and have the equipment catch that close to impact. What if he'd only been five stories high? If you're self-belaying, you should have a belaying device that auto-locks in the event of a shock load, and that only works if you keep the rope fed through it on the way up. Just sayin'.
h/t: Komo
5
If you have to fall 8 stories before the safety line kicks in, then a diaper should probably also be included in the gear requirements. Cuz I would have no doubt pooped myself.
6
The story I read earlier today made it sound like the poor guy fell as he was going *over* the side of the building; that he wasn't actually hanging yet. And this seems like a good explanation for the very fucking long fall. I have seen window washers go over the side of a building probably hundreds of times and I'll tell you - watching them straddle the ledge as they double check everything and then just kind of hop over the side... well, it seems tricky (not to mention terrifying to watch, but I never manage to look away).
8
Window washers tie in hard to the rope and descend from the roof using a rap rack on the same rope They also typically use a prussik below that as a backup and have a second prussik chord they can use if they need to lock off and rerig the rack. The ultimate safety point is the hard tie in on the same rope. The rope is supposed to be set up so the guy can't deck. In this case that worked.
9
This guy fell off the building I work in. I waved to him about a half hour before the fall while he was washing our kitchen window. ::shudders:: He should NOT have been out there. It was pouring and windy. Poor guy. I hope he gets better soon. I hear he got pretty banged up and broke a window.
11
I had a dumb temp filing job at an office that was eye level to the top of the new Seattle Public Library. When those guys would clean the windows they would slide down the entire roof. It was frightening to watch, I couldn't get anything done because I felt like I had to call 911 at any minute. They had harnesses and all, but I was getting vertigo just watching them.
12
Kinaidos, real window washers use TWO ropes. A "drop" line (no pun intended,) to which the ladder-style rappel rack and boatswain's chair is attached. The second is a safety back up. The backup is either attached to the worker by a prusik knot, or a self-arrest device. The only time weight is ever applied to the safety would be in the event of a fall. I worked as a window washer in Seattle. Any fenestration maintenance worker worth their salt has no problem going over the edge safely and confidently. This guy was either an idiot or high. Or both.
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