Laws on window cleaning UK?
Every window cleaning business has to adere to the health and safety rules. These laws also apply to self-employed window cleaners too as their work may expose other people to risk. These guidelines fall under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Which requires:
“Employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees. They must also ensure that those affected by their activities are not exposed to risk.”
Working at height. It is often unavoidable to work at height when cleaning windows as most houses have a first and sometimes second floor and commercial window cleaning can be even higher. In these situations it is important to plan and organise the job ahead of time so you don’t run into any potentially risky problems. Extra measures are required in the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It states than height work must be properly planned, supervised and done by competent people. It also issues further guidelines saying to avoid work at height where it’s ‘reasonably’ possible. This is why telescopic water fed poles are now the most common practise amongst window cleaners.
Ladders. In the UK you may only use a ladder to secure your access to windows that are higher than 4 meters. Any platform on heights above 4 meters (13 feet) you are not allowed to use ladders. As previously mentioned, this is why most window cleaners utilise water fed poles as the are great for cleaning difficult areas to access as they offer a safe reach of about 20 meters from the ground. In Britain there is no restriction for using a water fed pole at height, just the restriction on the use of ladders.
You do not need any special education to work as a window cleaner in the United Kingdom. It is still advised to undergo training, in particular if you will be using scaffolding on your jobs but this would be more targeted to large commercial window cleaning projects. There are many window cleaning training courses offered throughout the UK.
The reason it is so important to plan every job is because so many buildings provide different challenges. Modern architecture tends to have a lot of glass surfaces, often in high and difficult to access areas such as in shopping centres. Then older buildings like schools and farm houses can have many smaller windows that are more spread out. It is key to visit each property prior to starting the work as its usually the location that decides the window cleaning method.
Here at Pro Window Cleaning Tunbridge Wells we follow these guidelines for every job we take as the safety of our staff and clients is our top priority. We constantly stay up to date with any new regulations and we install them into our working procedures as soon as possible.
“Employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees. They must also ensure that those affected by their activities are not exposed to risk.”
Working at height. It is often unavoidable to work at height when cleaning windows as most houses have a first and sometimes second floor and commercial window cleaning can be even higher. In these situations it is important to plan and organise the job ahead of time so you don’t run into any potentially risky problems. Extra measures are required in the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It states than height work must be properly planned, supervised and done by competent people. It also issues further guidelines saying to avoid work at height where it’s ‘reasonably’ possible. This is why telescopic water fed poles are now the most common practise amongst window cleaners.
Ladders. In the UK you may only use a ladder to secure your access to windows that are higher than 4 meters. Any platform on heights above 4 meters (13 feet) you are not allowed to use ladders. As previously mentioned, this is why most window cleaners utilise water fed poles as the are great for cleaning difficult areas to access as they offer a safe reach of about 20 meters from the ground. In Britain there is no restriction for using a water fed pole at height, just the restriction on the use of ladders.
You do not need any special education to work as a window cleaner in the United Kingdom. It is still advised to undergo training, in particular if you will be using scaffolding on your jobs but this would be more targeted to large commercial window cleaning projects. There are many window cleaning training courses offered throughout the UK.
The reason it is so important to plan every job is because so many buildings provide different challenges. Modern architecture tends to have a lot of glass surfaces, often in high and difficult to access areas such as in shopping centres. Then older buildings like schools and farm houses can have many smaller windows that are more spread out. It is key to visit each property prior to starting the work as its usually the location that decides the window cleaning method.
Here at Pro Window Cleaning Tunbridge Wells we follow these guidelines for every job we take as the safety of our staff and clients is our top priority. We constantly stay up to date with any new regulations and we install them into our working procedures as soon as possible.