What is the name of a window cleaner? Unusual profession: window cleaners. - It turns out that the latter do not need care at all

The profession of “window cleaner” does not seem very attractive: dirty, hard, probably low-paid and not at all promising work. But a skyscraper window cleaner is a different matter entirely. This is also dirty and even more difficult work, but with a high salary - after all, professionals in this business have to literally risk their lives every time, washing windows at enormous heights. This profession has been included in the list of the most dangerous in the world, the mortality rate among skyscraper window cleaners is the same as among firefighters, miners and police officers. And although insurance methods and technologies are constantly improving, accidents still occur regularly. Therefore, specialists receive huge amounts of money, but still, not everyone will agree to such work - not everyone has enough composure to thoroughly clean a window while hanging at a dizzying height above the entire city. Of course, window washers in high-rise buildings undergo special training and acquire rock climbing skills. They must be dexterous, strong and fearless, otherwise effective work will not work. And also thin, since extra pounds create unnecessary risks when working.

The most amazing thing about this profession is that there are no differences in the height of the work performed. Anything above one and a half meters is called high-altitude work: the risks at a height of five meters and one hundred meters are the same. Therefore, no matter on what floor the windows need to be washed, the cleaners are given double safety ropes, helmets and equipment. But window washers at heights prefer not to talk about risks and accidents. Work is carried out only in ideal weather: washing windows during strong winds, thunderstorms, rain, and snow is prohibited. Safety precautions among professionals are very strict, and everyone follows them impeccably.

Window cleaners wear special, water-repellent, lightweight suits, safety belts with various tool clips, rubber-coated gloves, and lightweight, comfortable, soft shoes. Safety ropes are installed at the top of the building, along which the washers go down and begin work. As a rule, they work at a height of no more than two hundred meters - after all, there are not many record-breaking skyscrapers. But sometimes you have to wash windows at a height of three hundred and even five hundred meters, but it’s even harder to imagine what window cleaners have to do in Dubai, where skyscrapers reach a height of eight hundred meters. Beginners at such heights simply fall into a stupor and cannot work - even those who claimed that they were not afraid of heights. There are times when only trained and inexperienced window cleaners are left hanging at heights in shock and have to be taken down by colleagues.

Perhaps in the future the need for such a dangerous profession will disappear - technologies are already beginning to be developed with the help of which windows will clean themselves. American researchers are working on the problem of creating special glasses that wash themselves with the help of rain and sun - for this they coat the glass with titanium oxide, which absorbs ultraviolet rays. As soon as water gets on such windows, it will spread on its own across the glass and wash it.

But for now, skyscraper window washers are a sought-after and highly paid profession. It is perfect for extreme sports enthusiasts who lack thrills in life and who do not like routine and quiet work. You just need to accept the risk of death or not think about it, although this is difficult - after all, accidents happen everywhere. Typically, the majority of skyscraper window cleaners are men, but there is a small percentage of intrepid girls who, as their male colleagues admit, clean windows more thoroughly.

But there are many interesting and funny incidents associated with this work. Sometimes window cleaners are hired for completely different purposes - for example, giving flowers to a girl through a window located on the one hundred and twentieth floor. And in Shanghai, all the window cleaners recently donned Spider-Man costumes to work in one hotel to surprise and amuse guests.

EVERYTHING ABOVE A METER WITH A CAP

For such a responsible job as washing windows at height, special training is required. Preferably climbing.

But high-altitude work is called everything that is higher... 1.5 meters. There is almost no distinction made here regarding whether work is being done on the 5th floor or on the 25th. In any case, the risk of falling is fatal.

But industrial climbers don’t like to talk about this. They are real professionals: they have a double safety rope, a helmet and the required equipment. They do not carry out work when wind gusts are already 15 meters per second, and there is no need to talk about thunderstorms, rain, fog and icing of buildings - work in such conditions is prohibited by safety regulations.

But, according to the general director of the Alpin Prom company, Yuri Evsyukov, in recent years, industrial mountaineering, like any other type of activity, has had its own guest workers: they have everything like ordinary “guest workers” - and the prices are lower, and the insurance is worse, and there are no job guarantees.

Professional window cleaners charge more than migrant workers, but understandably their prices are not comparable to their counterparts elsewhere in New York. Although the salary of industrial climbers is considered one of the highest in Kazakhstan, it will not reach Forbes. On average, about 70–80 thousand tenge per month.

HOTEL “KAZAKHSTAN” AND OTHERS

Among the sites that are often serviced by industrial climbers are the high-rise Kazakhstan Hotel, the House of Officers, the Nurly Tau complexes and the new 165-meter Marriott Hotel on Al-Farabi Avenue. And new residential buildings - if residents are willing to pay.

– But not everyone agrees. And you have to work in “stains” - I washed here, I didn’t wash there...

More often than others, owners of buildings lined with shell rock, such as, for example, the House of Officers, turn to high-rise workers. Shell rock quickly absorbs all the dirt and soot of the streets, but it is difficult to wash off; you have to use sanding.

Industrial climbers, like no one else, can evaluate the suitability of a building for further maintenance. According to Yuri Evsyukov, until about 2004, many buildings were built on the “one day” principle.

“Nobody thought about how it would be serviced in the future.” For example, a building lined with glass is covered with a long canopy on top - only God knows how and what to cling to for a climber who needs to wash the windows. You can, of course, use suction cups, but the further you are from the wall, the stronger the amplitude of the swing, so you can squeeze out the glass.

By the way, once, while working at heights in the Kazakhstan Hotel, the climbers noticed that some of the tiles on the hotel were “floating” and were barely holding on. We reported to the hotel management. This may have saved someone's life...

FOR THE THIN AND ROMANTIC

Washing windows and industrial mountaineering in general is an activity for the thin and dexterous. Extra pounds at altitude create additional risks.

We watch as the guys prepare to wash windows in one of the new skyscrapers. Konstantin Astakhov and Oleg Bugrov first go upstairs, install safety ropes there and go down along them, put on helmets... and go up again.

The equipment of window cleaners consists of a lightweight, water-repellent suit, a safety belt with many clips for tools. There are two pairs of gloves on the hands: rag on the bottom, rubber on top. The most important thing is to wear light and soft shoes so as not to accidentally squeeze out the glass.

Washing the windows in the largest skyscraper, where ten climbers worked on an area of ​​almost five thousand square meters, took almost a week.

It can take longer if the weather is bad. By the way, high-altitude workers say: this is why it is unprofitable to work in Astana. The winds blow all the time, and it is cold nine months of the year.

– Are there any funny things at work?

– Curiosities usually happen to beginners. Many come, beat themselves in the chest: yes I can, yes I can, get up, hang... and can no longer do anything. They are paralyzed by fear. At the same time, they cannot do anything; they have to hang around and take them off.

– Were there any romantic job offers?

– Yes, one day a guy came to us, he wanted to give flowers to the girl with whom he had quarreled in an unusual way - through the window. He wanted to do it himself, but the instructions didn’t allow it, and then one of our guys did it for him. The most interesting thing is that it worked! The girl was conquered!

- Do you go to the mountains?

– It’s enough for us to climb the city’s skyscrapers. True, the heights here are small, the highest point is 200 meters!

– Are there women in the profession?

– Yes, there are fearless girls, but not in our company.

– How are they fundamentally different from male window cleaners?

- They probably wash it more thoroughly...

Facts on the topic

In a couple of years, American windows will not be washed by washers or even robots: the windows will be able to wash themselves. Already at the end of this year, glass will go on sale that will use rainwater and sunlight for self-cleaning. The constant washing process provides a titanium oxide coating that traps ultraviolet rays. These windows do not need to be touched with a rag. If there is no rain, just spray them with water and they will smear it themselves...

One of Russia's famous billionaires, Mikhail Fridman, began his entrepreneurial career in 1988 as the founder of a window cleaning company. A year later, he created the Alfa Capital investment group in Moscow. As of May 2008, he ranked 20th in the ranking of the richest people in the world (his fortune was estimated at $20.8 billion).

The management of the Sheraton Hotel in Shanghai dressed all the window cleaners on staff in Spider-Man costumes so that they would not frighten guests with their unexpected appearance outside the room window.

Zhanar KANAFINA, Tahir SASYKOV (photo)

Along with the appearance of the world's tallest buildings in New York, the question of cleaning their windows also arose. After all, it’s one thing to wash the windows in your apartment, and quite another in a 50- or even 100-story building with thousands of them. And we need to wash them much more often than we are used to doing at home.

Empire State Building window washer, 1936.

In the world-famous New York skyscraper Empire State Building, there was a special division in which eight people worked on a permanent basis. All of them were responsible for the cleanliness of 6514 windows of the tallest building in the world at that time. According to the standard adopted by the management company, each window had to be washed inside and out at least once every two weeks. During this time, some windows became more dirty than others, some less, but everything had to be washed without exception. In addition, a grandiose office building, the view from the windows of which was one of the main competitive advantages, could not afford to have dirty stains and smudges interfere with this beautiful view.

The washers were divided into twos, each of which was responsible for 25 floors. The two who finished their work first received the right to wash the uppermost floors and some free time on the observation deck of the skyscraper. Pairs were needed so that workers would look out for each other and could come to the aid of a friend if something happened. Due to the increased danger, it was forbidden to work during very strong winds, rain or snow, although the workers themselves considered rain to be the best time for washing, since everything was easier to wipe off and there was no need to carry a lot of water with them. While waiting for good weather, the workers entertained themselves with card games in the locker room.

The window, regardless of the floor, was washed as follows. First inside. And here everything is simple, since it seems to me that everyone has done this at least once in their life. The difficulties began further. The washer opened the bottom sash, climbed out (on the 80th floor, for example), hooked a thick leather belt to a special hook on the outside of the frame, closed the window, hooked the second belt to the second hook and stood with his feet resting on the window sill, the width of which was only 4 cm. After that, he began washing the outer surface. Despite its primitiveness, the design was quite reliable and held a person even if one of the belts broke.

Illustration from Modern Mechanix magazine, September 1934.

The most dangerous thing was in winter, when there were sub-zero temperatures outside and a piercing icy wind was blowing. The frames often jammed, and the outside window sills and windows were covered with a layer of ice and snow. If a worker for some reason could not open the window while outside, his friend from the team or one of the office workers who were inside the room came to his aid. If suddenly there was no one to help the poor fellow stuck at a height, then the only way out was to break the glass with his foot.

A rag in your pocket, chamois for wiping on a belt around your neck, a washcloth in a bucket and a copper scraper with an elastic band fastened with a chain to your belt. The bucket was left inside so that, God forbid, it would fall on someone’s head. For the same reason, brushes could not be used. Only soapy water was used for washing. No ammonia or miracle cleaning products that are so popular today. It took four minutes to clean one window. Three if you're in a hurry. Then go back to the room and repeat everything again. And so from morning to evening every day with breaks for bad weather. Each worker had to clean 75 windows a day. One of the disadvantages of this technology was that the washer, with his work and presence, paralyzed the work of the office for some time. Some were simply distracted by a stranger, some were curious to look at the man hanging outside the window, and some had to vacate their place at the window so that the washer could climb out.

In 1934, the head of the Empire State Building cleaning crew, Richard Hart, in an interview with the American magazine Modern Mechanix, spoke about his 65-year-old employee, who had worked only on windows all his life and finally decided to retire. A day later, he asked to return, saying that he really missed the dizzying heights and breathtaking views to which he was accustomed. Over the years, the altitude gets into your blood, Hart said, and you can never work the ground again. The work of washers was considered quite prestigious and was well paid. According to Hart, the average income for a washer was $30 a week, or $1,560 a year. This was more than what a factory worker ($430 per year) or a typical construction worker ($907 per year) earned, and was roughly equal to the income of a qualified electrician ($1,559 per year). But here you didn’t need to have an education, and the work, unlike a plant or factory, was much easier, it took place in the fresh air and with good views. The downside was the risk of falling down, as well as difficulties with insurance. Most insurance companies considered their work incredibly risky and refused to sell the policy. In those years, about 3,000 window washers worked in New York, and despite the fact that about 10 people died annually, there was no shortage of people willing to learn a new profession.

A short video of the Empire State Building cleaners filmed by British Pathe in 1938.

In the 50s of the last century, with the advent of fully glazed facades, washing technology changed and the leather belt with hooks was replaced by hanging cradles and mechanical scaffolding. Today, hooks on frames can only be found in some pre-war houses, where they have been preserved and are sometimes still used.

During the reconstruction of the Empire State Building, all windows were replaced with so-called swing-in windows. And this is a pretty convenient design when it comes to washing. These windows fold inward and you don’t have to climb out and risk your life to clean them.

The only but significant minus in all this is time. It will not be possible to deal with them accurately in four minutes. The design is interesting and I even dedicated an entire post to cleaning such a window at one time. Now only 4 people monitor the cleanliness of the windows of the Empire State skyscraper. It takes them about 2 months to clean all the windows in the building, after which they start all over again.

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A window cleaner is a rather exotic and unusual profession for Russia, which is widespread in the West. It may seem that window cleaning is a primitive process accessible to everyone, but this is not so. Try hanging from the 70th floor tied to nothing but a rope while cleaning someone's window!

This is a job for real professionals with special training, preferably as a mountaineer. We will talk about them today.

The huge windows of skyscrapers are mesmerizing. Their inhabitants often prefer not to curtain their windows. And behind this city life behind the glass there is a whole army of window cleaners. (Photo by Reinhard Krause | Reuters):

If you think about it, cleaning windows outside is one of the most difficult services. In fact, each of us can clean the apartment or wash the floor independently and without any additional training. Another thing is washing windows at height. This is a job for professionals - industrial climbers. (Photo by Vincent Kessler | Reuters):

Window Cleaners in Seattle:

A special platform with window cleaners at the CCTV television headquarters building in Beijing / (Photo by David Gray | Reuters):

Typically, high-rise work is defined as everything above... 1.5 meters. There is almost no distinction made whether work is being done on the 3rd floor or on the 30th. In both cases, the risk of falling is fatal. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao | Reuters):

Urban district in the USA Arlington. (Photo by Steve Fernie):

Spider people. (Photo Tripp):

In addition to the skills of working at height, a window cleaner must also know the technology of this work, since glass is not so easy to wash.

On the 101st floor in Shanghai. (Photo by CDIC | Reuters):

Requires professional use of equipment and knowledge in the field of detergents. Poorly organized washing often leads to cracks, scratches, chips, and damaged frames. (Photo by Guillermo Granja | Reuters):

In this unusual profession, funny things happen. So, beginners come, beat themselves in the chest and say: “Yes, I can, yes, I can,” then they get up, hang... and can no longer do anything. They are paralyzed by fear. We have to resort to the help of industrial climbers to remove them from a height.

Window cleaner on a residential building in central Beijing. (Photo by Jason Lee | Reuters):

Hotel in the center of Sofia. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov | Reuters):

You shouldn’t forget about the weather conditions, because the higher the altitude, the stronger the wind that will blow you from side to side.

Window cleaner from Brazil. (Photo by Ricardo Moraes | Reuters):

Washing windows and industrial mountaineering in general is an activity for the dexterous and slender. Extra pounds at altitude create additional risks.

Bangkok. (Photo by Sukree Sukplang | Reuters):

Window cleaners at a hotel in Warsaw. (Photo by Kacper Pempel | Reuters):

Houston, Texas. (Photo by Anvar Khodzhaev):

Window cleaners from Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Sean Gallup | Getty Images):

(Photo by Jianwei):

Window cleaner from Seoul, Korea:

Interesting fact: the management of the Sheraton Hotel in Shanghai dressed all the staff window cleaners in Spider-Man costumes so that they would not frighten guests by their unexpected appearance outside the room window.

Along with the appearance of the world's tallest buildings in New York, the question of cleaning their windows also arose. After all, it’s one thing to wash the windows in your apartment, and quite another in a 50- or even 100-story building with thousands of them. And we need to wash them much more often than we are used to doing at home.

Empire State Building window washer, 1936.

In the world-famous New York skyscraper Empire State Building, there was a special division in which eight people worked on a permanent basis. All of them were responsible for the cleanliness of 6514 windows of the tallest building in the world at that time. According to the standard adopted by the management company, each window had to be washed inside and out at least once every two weeks. During this time, some windows became more dirty than others, some less, but everything had to be washed without exception. In addition, a grandiose office building, the view from the windows of which was one of the main competitive advantages, could not afford to have dirty stains and smudges interfere with this beautiful view.

The washers were divided into twos, each of which was responsible for 25 floors. The two who finished their work first received the right to wash the uppermost floors and some free time on the observation deck of the skyscraper. Pairs were needed so that workers would look out for each other and could come to the aid of a friend if something happened. Due to the increased danger, it was forbidden to work during very strong winds, rain or snow, although the workers themselves considered rain to be the best time for washing, since everything was easier to wipe off and there was no need to carry a lot of water with them. While waiting for good weather, the workers entertained themselves with card games in the locker room.

Illustration from Modern Mechanix magazine, September 1934.

The window, regardless of the floor, was washed as follows. First inside. And here everything is simple, since it seems to me that everyone has done this at least once in their life. The difficulties began further. The washer opened the bottom sash, climbed out (on the 80th floor, for example), hooked a thick leather belt to a special hook on the outside of the frame, closed the window, hooked the second belt to the second hook and stood with his feet resting on the window sill, the width of which was only 4 cm. After that, he began washing the outer surface. Despite its primitiveness, the design was quite reliable and held a person even if one of the belts broke.

The most dangerous thing was in winter, when there were sub-zero temperatures outside and a piercing icy wind was blowing. The frames often jammed, and the outside window sills and windows were covered with a layer of ice and snow. If a worker for some reason could not open the window while outside, his friend from the team or one of the office workers who were inside the room came to his aid. If suddenly there was no one to help the poor fellow stuck at a height, then the only way out was to break the glass with his foot.

A rag in your pocket, chamois for wiping on a belt around your neck, a washcloth in a bucket and a copper scraper with an elastic band fastened with a chain to your belt. The bucket was left inside so that, God forbid, it would fall on someone’s head. For the same reason, brushes could not be used. Only soapy water was used for washing. No ammonia or miracle cleaning products that are so popular today. It took four minutes to clean one window. Three if you're in a hurry. Then go back to the room and repeat everything again. And so from morning to evening every day with breaks for bad weather. Each worker had to clean 75 windows a day. One of the disadvantages of this technology was that the washer, with his work and presence, paralyzed the work of the office for some time. Some were simply distracted by a stranger, some were curious to look at the man hanging outside the window, and some had to vacate their place at the window so that the washer could climb out.

In 1934, the head of the Empire State Building cleaning crew, Richard Hart, in an interview with the American magazine Modern Mechanix, spoke about his 65-year-old employee, who had worked only on windows all his life and finally decided to retire. A day later, he asked to return, saying that he really missed the dizzying heights and breathtaking views to which he was accustomed. Over the years, the altitude gets into your blood, Hart said, and you can never work the ground again. The work of washers was considered quite prestigious and was well paid. According to Hart, the average income for a washer was $30 a week, or $1,560 a year. This was more than what a factory worker ($430 per year) or a typical construction worker ($907 per year) earned, and was roughly equal to the income of a qualified electrician ($1,559 per year). But here you didn’t need to have an education, and the work, unlike a plant or factory, was much easier, it took place in the fresh air and with good views. The downside was the risk of falling down, as well as difficulties with insurance. Most insurance companies considered their work incredibly risky and refused to sell the policy. In those years, about 3,000 window washers worked in New York, and despite the fact that about 10 people died annually, there was no shortage of people willing to learn a new profession.

In the 50s of the last century, with the advent of fully glazed facades, washing technology changed and the leather belt with hooks was replaced by hanging cradles and mechanical scaffolding. Today, hooks on frames can only be found in some pre-war houses, where they have been preserved and are sometimes still used.
During the reconstruction of the Empire State Building, all windows were replaced with so-called swing-in windows. And this is a pretty convenient design when it comes to washing. These windows fold inward and you don’t have to climb out and risk your life to clean them. The only but significant minus in all this is time. It will not be possible to deal with them accurately in four minutes.