[DASERVICES]

I know you can get cheep insurance etc... which is good but the one main function that would get me to join is a recognised body that Mrs Jones will tell
everyone about.

Only one to date that is recognised is Corgi. very legit householder wil use a Corgi worker.

What will it take for each householder to use a recognised window cleaning association.

Thats what I would like to see, what would you.

Doug

[poleman]

Reason gas fitters are Corgi reg is because they can kill there customers

And for a trade association to have a house hold / commercial brand would cost millions 

Andy 

[ducky]

d.a.i wouild like them to show us they are worth the money we put in to there company

[Roy Harding]

An organization that trully has the interest of window cleanners at heart.

My gripe with the fed is.

With many members you should have more buying power, ie if I would expect them to offer insurance a lot cheaper than I coulld purchase it on the street. Also equipment, but this is not the case.

To organiize course's for people to go on, [abselling, opperating cherry picker, foundation course's for new window cleanners, wfp courses, accountantcy,] the list goes on.  I'm sure even if they had just a few days a year were you could attend they would bennefit us.

I would be willing to take a course on the basic window cleanning technique's.

Roy

[Steve Lowe]

Hi Thomas
                The fed do a corporate advert in all the yellow pages and i think it is £130 ish.

Steve

[Pat Purcell]

I dont work over there yet but having participated in this forum for a while I cannot understand why some window cleaners association or federation is not fighting the proposed ban on ladders
Whether your completely wfp or still use ladders for most of your work I would take it as a direct insult to my work practices and my intelligence to be told how to do my job by anybody including a government agency or insurance co.
It (and this is an outsiders view) would appear to me that the proposed ban is being driven by insurance co,s not with the view to making window cleaning a safer profession but with the idea of giving them a legitimate reason to deny insurance to any ladder users(somewhat like health insurance co,s only offering insurance to healthy people)
 in this global economy if the proposed ban was defeated then a federation worth its salt could seek out insurance thruogh any number of co,s willing to insure ladder users at a reasonable rate and offer this to their members
wfp is still in its infancy over there and you can bet that after a few incidents have occured the insurance co,s will invent some reason to hike rates on wfp users as well and as there will be no alternatives available it will be pay up and shut up
i have read all the reasons that Wfp is a better safer way to wash windows most of which I agree with and have seen numerous analogys used to show that this is the way forward like a carpenter using a skill saw as opposed to a hand saw but sometimes a hand saw is a better way to do the job and you would have a public outcry from any carpenters federation if a ban on hand saws was proposed
When the car was invented it was a wonderful new way to travel but bicycles and horses were not banned and are still used by millions today
  This is not a rant against Wfp which I dont use (did use pure water for years)as I believe it is a fantastic tool for a large proportion of jobs, but I think any federation of window cleaners should first and foremost be fighting for the right of its members to work in the most efficient  and safe manner they believe possible and not what insurance co,s find to be the most profitable for them

[Roy Harding]

Hi Thomas
                The fed do a corporate advert in all the yellow pages and i think it is £130 ish.

Steve

Hi Steve

Would it not be better to have just one addvert for the fed, and one free phone number. Then when people ring the number a member who covers that  area is given the details.

As at the monment in the Cardiff yellow pages there are 4 - 5 fed members all paying.

Roy

[Roy Harding]

I do think the Assocication of proffesionall window cleanners are heading the right way.

As for the Fed it wants a  complete new board at the top and replaced with people that is interested in window cleanners and not there own interest's.


Roy

Ps:  you know what I mean.

[Roy Harding]

I wonder if Im' black listed from rejoining now. 

Roy

[Steve Lowe]

Hi Thomas
                The fed do a corporate advert in all the yellow pages and i think it is £130 ish.

Steve

HI Steve

I think what Thomas is on about is that the new BT style book takes business classifications now, why do the FED not extend the corporate advertising into this publication as well as Yellow Pages?

Tam K

Hi Tam
          Sorry i see what you mean now I will look into this and see what can be done

Steve

[AuRavelling79]

Openness and honesty. (A chap can dream!)

[Paul Coleman]

Openness and honesty. (A chap can dream!)

I was going to call it transparency but I guess that's what you mean.

[DaveWilkinson]

Also remember it is breaking the law to work on gas/heating appliances unless you have corgi membership, this is slightly different to a association in my book.

[Londoner]

With all these things it comes down to who is prepared to do all the work when everyone else just sits on the fence and criticises all the time.

Its not something I would want to do. Its a load of work and no thanks.

[Terry_Burrows]

I think thats quite true,been there done and the T shirt

[Trevor Knight]

I dont work over there yet but having participated in this forum for a while I cannot understand why some window cleaners association or federation is not fighting the proposed ban on ladders

 but I think any federation of window cleaners should first and foremost be fighting for the right of its members to work in the most efficient  and safe manner they believe possible and not what insurance co,s find to be the most profitable for them

Interesting points, my call on this is that unfortunately due to the number of serious if not fatal accidents happening due to the use of laders this directive was always inevitable.

Insurance companies will take a harsh look at people who wish to use ladders as there is no doubt that an accident up a ladder could prove very dangerous. Hence why they are looking and pushing for WFP options which is without doubt a safer alternative, lets not get into the results discussion, lets keep this about saftey.

What grounds would you see that a FED or ASSC have to justify an argument with the WAHD or government regarding going up a ladder? Lets be honest, we have all taken risks on ladders, I know I have , it's par for the course!

At the end of the day we just have to face it, previous miss-use of ladders has resulted in accidents which have resulted in claims and government awareness as to the risks involved! Had we all been footed, tied on at the top, secured at the bottom perhaps this WAHD would never have been an issue? Guess we have ourselves to blame 

[Paul Coleman]

I dont work over there yet but having participated in this forum for a while I cannot understand why some window cleaners association or federation is not fighting the proposed ban on ladders

 but I think any federation of window cleaners should first and foremost be fighting for the right of its members to work in the most efficient  and safe manner they believe possible and not what insurance co,s find to be the most profitable for them

Interesting points, my call on this is that unfortunately due to the number of serious if not fatal accidents happening due to the use of laders this directive was always inevitable.

Insurance companies will take a harsh look at people who wish to use ladders as there is no doubt that an accident up a ladder could prove very dangerous. Hence why they are looking and pushing for WFP options which is without doubt a safer alternative, lets not get into the results discussion, lets keep this about saftey.

What grounds would you see that a FED or ASSC have to justify an argument with the WAHD or government regarding going up a ladder? Lets be honest, we have all taken risks on ladders, I know I have , it's par for the course!

At the end of the day we just have to face it, previous miss-use of ladders has resulted in accidents which have resulted in claims and government awareness as to the risks involved! Had we all been footed, tied on at the top, secured at the bottom perhaps this WAHD would never have been an issue? Guess we have ourselves to blame 

I had a couple of near misses myself early on Trevor due to inexperience.  I got lucky a couple of years ago too. The early near misses were learnrd from and the much later one was something that I hadn't envisaged.  Some people do not get the chance to learn from their near misses.
Having said that, I still believe that compulsory training in ladder usage would have been a better route to go down - especially one that collates how real life accidents do happen and uses them on the training course.

[Londoner]

I don't think its a question of training. Any trade organisation would have to campaign for safety and best practices within the industry it represents.
I would like to see how anyone can argue in favour of ladders when there is a viable alternative. Whether we like being told what to do is another matter.

 

[Steve Lowe]

I think thats quite true,been there done and the T shirt

Hi Terry
           I have lost your number mate : can you e mail me with it as it would be good to speak again

[jeff1]

Good shout Trevor.
 
I personally would like to see the public made more aware of the WAHD that affects WC, This may be of benefit to the trad user aswell, if you wish to stay trad, then I'm sure your more than willing to pay the extra premium for insurance,  the same goes for any wfp wc who uses his ladders.

Once the public are aware of the WAHD they may start asking to see our insurance policy's, this will benefit all of us and not just the wfp guy's, I can't see the beer brigade wanting to splash out on insurance.