Any slippery surface is a risk where ladders are concerned, you have to evaluate each situation as you come across it. Somethimes there is no safe way around the problem so you have to leave that window alone.
Or of course you clean a patch for the ladder to go on using a scraper and washing said patch down with a relavent moss/algae remover. You can always put down some rubber matting on patio's too.
I know you can always charge for this, but if it is just an odd window, by doing this you will have made it safe for yourself on subsequent visits.
If patio in a right state, offer to pressure wash it for them...at a price of course
I generally agree with Lionheart, but statistically window cleaning IS one of the most dangerous jobs you can do.
You are working off ladders all the time, it may well be human error or misjudgment that causes the accidents, but the longer you are working off a ladder, the greater the eventual chance you will have an accident.
I'm 48 and have worked off ladders my entire working life, 21 of them as a window cleaner, any accidents I have had have been relatively minor. But even when you think you have taken all proper precautions you can still be caught out.
On one occasion while on a second floor window in the centre of my local town, the bottom of the ladder went from underneath me.
I thought I had done everything correctly, the ladder was not out too far at the bottom (quite the reverse actually) but the paving slab was slightly loose and also smoother than I had realised, as the slab moved very slightly the bottom went out, now it only went about a couple of feet to the other edge of the paving slab where the bottom of the ladder caught on the raised edge of another poorly fitting slab, so I only slipped about a foot at the top of the ladder.
Apart from experiencing the interesting taste of raw heart once I had realised how close I had come to a real 'biggy', no harm was done.
You cannot remove completely the human element, and (androids not withstanding) we are all human and liable, no matter how careful you may consider yourself to be, to making a tiny mistake (which is all it takes) that leads to you being very badly damaged.
The above incident only happened about 12 months or so ago, and coupled up with lots of other 'tiny' little incidences over the years really did prompt me into going for WFP, which I did back in April. Best move I ever did, and one that really makes you appreciate just how dangerous it is to work off ladders.
Having said that, I have had to do the odd job off ladders, but these are always of the initial clean type job. WFP absolutely useless for getting off putty, paint, silicone or compo.
Ian
