Health and safty advice

[AEC]

Have a four storey hotel we clean but its on a busy pavement making it difficult to cone off.
Also the ground floor is a busy coffee shop. Cant start working on the job until 8.30am. Any ideas to stop the general thoughtless public walking all over hoses as well as in front and behind where we work.

 

[Part Timer]

Have a four storey hotel we clean but its on a busy pavement making it difficult to cone off.
Also the ground floor is a busy coffee shop. Cant start working on the job until 8.30am. Any ideas to stop the general thoughtless public walking all over hoses as well as in front and behind where we work.

Without seeing how big the pavement is then it's hard to advise. Is it possible to cone and tape off a smaller work area

 

[ched999uk]

You really need to cone and tape off the area but you also need to leave enough pavement to allow anyone (including wheelchair users, and double buggies etc) to pass without having to go in the street.

 

[southcoastkev]

Have a four storey hotel we clean but its on a busy pavement making it difficult to cone off.
Also the ground floor is a busy coffee shop. Cant start working on the job until 8.30am. Any ideas to stop the general thoughtless public walking all over hoses as well as in front and behind where we work.

@AEC exactly like the other lads have said you'll probably need to cone off the area you're working in. I understand about the start time obviously in case they have guests in the rooms fast asleep and then your brush lands on the window and starts scrubbing at the glass lol. On the plus side if you do the job well it will be a great advert for your business. There might be a few videos of similar jobs on YouTube if you have a look. Best of luck with it mate ?

 

[dazmond]

I clean some offices on a busy main road.i don't bother with cones anymore as i had 2 people nearly trip over them!I was forever leaving them on jobs too.i just make sure that my hose is flat on the floor and I take my time.

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

A mate of mine cleans some hotels in London although some aren’t overly high due to the same reason as yours they have to be abseiled.

If not get there early cone it of but you can’t cause an obstruction that would make pedestrians walk in the road.

 

[Robt100]

Rather than trying to do it first thing when the coffee shop is open and hotel guests sleeping, what about tacking it on at the end of a day at 5:30-6pm? Cafe most likely will be closed by then, shops closed too so not as much footfall, and everybody in the hotel will most likely be awake, so no disturbances?

 

[dazmond]

Rather than trying to do it first thing when the coffee shop is open and hotel guests sleeping, what about tacking it on at the end of a day at 5:30-6pm? Cafe most likely will be closed by then, shops closed too so not as much footfall, and everybody in the hotel will most likely be awake, so no disturbances?

I'd find out when the coffee shop is shut,often coffee shops will be shut one week day in the afternoon(usually on a Wed round here).sod going back at 530-6pm as in winter it's dark after 4pm.

 

[ECLM]

Speak with your local council to see if you can get a permit to close the pavement for a period of time to safely carry out the clean. Always worth a try!

 

[AEC]

Without seeing how big the pavement is then it's hard to advise. Is it possible to cone and tape off a smaller work area

No chance as have to stand on the road edge to do top windows . Fire brigade blocked both ends of this area off 3 weeks ago and people still walked through.

 

[AEC]

You really need to cone and tape off the area but you also need to leave enough pavement to allow anyone (including wheelchair users, and double buggies etc) to pass without having to go in the street.

This is not an option as need to stand on edge of pavement to clean. Also the road is a taxi rank which cant be conned off.

 

[ched999uk]

This is not an option as need to stand on edge of pavement to clean. Also the road is a taxi rank which cant be conned off.

If you don't think you can protect the public and your staff then maybe it's a job to say no too. If you do have staff then how did you write your risk statement and mitigate the risks to your staff and the public when carrying out the job?

I'm not having a go, just sometimes there are jobs that are not worth the risk or effort to do safely for the money involved.

 

[Part Timer]

No chance as have to stand on the road edge to do top windows . Fire brigade blocked both ends of this area off 3 weeks ago and people still walked through.

Only other potential option is to have a Banksman on entry and exit to the work area, not for vehicles but for pedestrians, stopping the worker from stepping on to the road when not safe and to stop pedestrians walking into the work area. Will double or treble your man hours but the only way to protect workers and pedestrians. Either that or get rid, by the sounds of it I'd be doing the latter.

 

[ECLM]

Another idea, ask a scaffolding company for advice, just drop the owner a message asking (can't hurt to build relationships).

See what they'd have to do to put scaffolding up, I'm sure it'd be a similar process as they wouldn't be able to have people walking around willy nilly.

 

[Tux]

As most have said above, I suspect this is one to pass by. No sense getting yourself into trouble or potentially putting staff and pedestrians at risk.
Maybe one for a bigger company that have access to a cherry picker or similar access equipment.

 

[Cghwindowcleaning]

If you can’t do it safely from the path and you can’t get a cherry picker in then you’re starting to run out of options.

You could clean them from the inside spinning the windows in or failing that your other option is to get some abseiler’s in to price it and stick 20% on.

 

[matt1458]

This is a large student accommodation site we do that’s city centre and one side is on a major road. Fortunately the path is very wide so it’s doable. If yours is similar, from experience my advice would be (based on what we do):

- Traffic cones (min 750mm) people “can’t see” anything smaller
- Barrier tape - definitely use this to stop people slaloming between cones
- Yellow freestanding signs at each end - ours read “Caution cleaning overhead beware trailing hoses”
- Hi viz for anyone on site
- Make sure you have site and job specific RAMS and have them on-site with you. Where there’s blame there’s a claim

All this stuff is bulky to store so if you don’t do it often you can prob hire it in.

Our vehicles also have chevrons and beacons for situations like this. In the pic you’ll see breaks in the barrier tape for shop entrances, so we always have one person working, another keeping an eye out for pedestrians.

All this only applies if you can safely leave enough pedestrian space between your works and the kerb though - think two way pedestrian traffic / pushchairs / mobility scooters etc. but you also need a big enough work area cordoned to not stack it over your own kit.

If you can’t provide that gap you’re into temporary footpath closures territory.

May seem overkill but in built up areas, people will get in the way and your insurance will take any possible lack of planning to not cover you.

 

[THL4KEL]

Get a Pure Freedom Nano Trolley and a few containers. Then no trailing hose issue and no cones to trip over.

 

[AEC]

Without seeing how big the pavement is then it's hard to advise. Is it possible to cone and tape off a smaller work area

Appresiate your input and will way our options. Many thanks.

 

[Orgasmic window cleaning]

Chapter 8 pedestrian barriers?

 

[AEC]

Chapter 8 pedestrian barriers?

No can do, Major walk way and taxi bus lane to outer pavement.