In the early days of skyscraper window cleaning at the turn of the 20th century, workershungout the window anchored by nothing more than a leather belt. These days there are more safety measures in place, but why take the risk when there are robots that can do the job?

The company Sky Prohas four different types of robot window cleaners that range from 4to 12 feet long. They look like a giant Roomba. About100 robots have been sold in 47 countries,including to the Wynn casino in Las Vegas but the tallest building they're used on isonly 30 stories. One World Trade Center climbs to 104 stories.

Also,while window cleaning seems like a dangerous job,nation-wide, only two window cleaners died on the job last year, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Far more truck drivers were killed in the line of duty.

There's also the issue of quality.

"The human arm and the human eye are still very competent in doing this work and actually by the way, it's quite efficient," according toIsrael Berger the Chairman of Vidaris, an architectural consulting agency. Berger would put his money onJohn Henry a human window washer. For him,arobots can't beat a window cleaned by hand with a fresh squeegee. "It may sound silly to describe this in those terms, but it's truly so," he said.

So, it comes down to elbow grease.

Berger saidthe best window cleaners use an old fashioned mix of Joy dish soap, hot water and a dash of ammonia.

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A Modern John Henry Case: Window Cleaning Robots vs. Humans

Washing skyscraper windows remains a perilous profession, requiring workers to have the reflexes of a trapeze performer high above city streets. The dramatic rescue Wednesday of two New York City window cleaners stranded nearly 70 stories off the World Trade Center tower has put a fresh spotlight on a high-risk job that often begins with modest pay.

And the practice of putting men and women aloft to scrub windows isnt expected to change any time soon, as the use of labor-saving robots to replace workers has yet to gain a foothold across the industry, experts say. I guess with our modern technology, we can put people on the moon, but we cant develop the equipment that can work across the board, Mark Reinhart, the president of the International Window Cleaning Association, said Thursday.

One product on the market for homeowners operates like a robotic vacuum cleaner, moving up and down the surface of the windowpane. There are other unmanned machines that scrub larger buildings, typically around 10 stories or lower but theyre only useful on a handful of structures, said Stefan Bright, the International Window Cleaning Associations safety director. They have to be all glass because brick and windows can really mess things up, Bright said.

Despite the inherent dangers involved in the industry, it can take a while before a window washer sees a soaring salary. A window cleaner washing storefronts or homes might only earn $12 to $15 per hour, Reinhart said. But someone doing larger commercial properties, including skyscrapers, could earn $15 to $25 per hour. In New York, where the risks are presumably higher because of the dizzying heights, its not unheard of for veterans with all the know-how to reach $29 to $35 per hour. Getting paid top dollar, however, requires months and years of experience with equipment and certification.

With an emphasis on safety training a top priority, there is a silver lining: Deaths remain rare in the industry. There has been one high-rise fatality per year in the last four years in the U.S., according to the International Window Cleaning Association. Thats with an estimated 1.5 million exposures when workers are on the sides of buildings a year.

Window washers who spoke with NBC News said theyre in no rush to see their jobs taken over by new technology. This work is demanding but steady, said Brent Weingard, whos washed skyscrapers in Manhattan as tall as 60 stories. Some of us think theres an art to what we do, he said. Ive seen the machines, but I still believe a man on the glass washing windows does it best.

First published November 13 2014, 12:47 PM

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What Window Washers Are Paid For Death-Defying Work

HughPickens.com writes "Patrick McGeehan writes in the NYT that the image of a pair of window washers clinging to a scaffold dangling outside the 68th floor of 1 World Trade Center have left many wondering why robots can't rub soapy water on glass and wipe it off with a squeegee relieving humans of the risk of injury, or death, from a plunge to the sidewalk? The simple answer, several experts say, is that washing windows is something that machines still cannot do as well as people can. "Building are starting to look like huge sculptures in the sky," says Craig Caulkins. "A robot can't maneuver to get around those curves to get into the facets of the building." According to Caulkins robotic cleaning systems tend to leave dirt in the corners of the glass walls that are designed to provide panoramic views from high floors. "If you are a fastidious owner wanting clean, clean windows so you can take advantage of that very expensive view that you bought, the last thing you want to see is that gray area around the rim of the window."

Another reason for the sparse use of robots is that buildings require a lot more maintenance than just window cleaning. Equipment is needed to lower people to repair facades and broken windows, like the one that rescue workers had to cut through with diamond cutters to rescue the window washers. For many years, being a window cleaner in Manhattan was regarded as one of the most dangerous occupations in the world: by 1932, an average of one in every two hundred window cleaners in New York was killed each year. Now all new union window cleaners now take two hundred and sixteen hours of classroom instruction, three thousand hours of accredited time with an employer and their union makes sure workers follow rigorous safety protocols. In all, there are about 700 scaffolds for window washing on buildings in New York City, says union representative Gerard McEneaney. His members are willing to do the work because it pays well: as much $26.89 an hour plus benefits. Many of the window cleaners are immigrants from South America. "They're fearless guys, fearless workers."

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Window Washing a Skyscraper Is Beyond a Robot's Reach

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(RNN) First responders have rescued both men from the window cleaning crew who were trapped and hanging precariously from 1 World Trade Center in New York. The two window washers are not injured, and suffered only mild hypothermia.

Firefighters cut a hole into a window at the bottom of where the scaffolding was hanging, which is still hanging from one cable around the 68th floor on the south facing side of the building.

"Firefighters went to the roof and the 68th floor. From the roof, they dropped rope down to secure - additionally secure the members that were the workers on the scaffold. They dropped a radio down, so they could communicate and they began cutting the glass," said Daniel Nigro, FNDY commissioner.

The FDNY had difficulty cutting the window because of the thickness of the glass; the windows had three layers of glass.

The workers were clipped into the basket, so they did not fall when the cable snapped.

The two window washers had trouble at about 12:45 p.m. ET. Initially, rescuers thought a cable had broken, but it had not. It's unclear why slack developed in cables on one side of the basket.

The Fire Department of New York tweeted "Man all hands 1 World Trade Center, high rise (World Trade Center) scaffolding emergency." Not only are officials concerned about the safety of the workers, but the building's security.

The area around the building was closed off during the rescue, and the September 11 memorial was closed.

Rescuers began to send another scaffolding from the top of the building down to the workers, with the concern that the cables don't tangle with the stranded rig. However, now that the two men are safely inside, that scaffolding has been removed.

The two men were on the perilously hanging basket for about an hour and a half.

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2 window washers stranded, hanging perilously at 1 World Trade Center

Kendall Morris, WBIR 12 a.m. EST November 13, 2014

2 workers rescued from 69th-floor scaffold at One WTC(Photo: Visit Knoxville)

(WBIR- Downtown Knoxville) Window washers gave the Sunsphere a cleaning this week.

Rex Richardson, assistant to the owner of Apex Window Cleaning, said it's one of the most difficult buildings their team washes.

"It's a challenge," Richardson said. "This one's much more difficult than any other building we do by a long shot."

The crew finished up Wednesday afternoon after national news broke about two window washers left dangling for two hours from the 69th floor of One World Trade Center before firefighters rescued them.

RELATED: 2 workers rescued from 69th-floor scaffold at One WTC

Shane Thornton, a window cleaner, said safety is a top priority for their team, especially when cleaning the curved surfaces of the Sunsphere.

"I was a little scared," Thornton said. "It was different than any other buildings that I've done. I've done higher, but I've never done a circle before, a sphere."

Thornton said the Apex employees use ropes to repel down the sides of buildings, which he said is safer than the swing stage or scaffolding that was used in the New York incident. He said the ropes can handle a lot more weight than what most of the employees weigh, and there is a primary line and a safety line.

Continued here:
Window washers brave cleaning the Sunsphere

(RNN) First responders have rescued both men from the window cleaning crew who were trapped and hanging precariously from 1 World Trade Center in New York. The two window washers are not injured, and suffered only mild hypothermia.

Firefighters cut a hole into a window at the bottom of where the scaffolding was hanging, which is still hanging from one cable around the 68th floor on the south facing side of the building.

"Firefighters went to the roof and the 68th floor. From the roof, they dropped rope down to secure - additionally secure the members that were the workers on the scaffold. They dropped a radio down, so they could communicate and they began cutting the glass," said Daniel Nigro, FNDY commissioner.

The FDNY had difficulty cutting the window because of the thickness of the glass; the windows had three layers of glass.

The workers were clipped into the basket, so they did not fall when the cable snapped.

The two window washers had trouble at about 12:45 p.m. ET. Initially, rescuers thought a cable had broken, but it had not. It's unclear why slack developed in cables on one side of the basket.

The Fire Department of New York tweeted "Man all hands 1 World Trade Center, high rise (World Trade Center) scaffolding emergency." Not only are officials concerned about the safety of the workers, but the building's security.

The area around the building was closed off during the rescue, and the September 11 memorial was closed.

Rescuers began to send another scaffolding from the top of the building down to the workers, with the concern that the cables don't tangle with the stranded rig. However, now that the two men are safely inside, that scaffolding has been removed.

The two men were on the perilously hanging basket for about an hour and a half.

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2 window washers rescued from hanging perilously at 1 World Trade Center

Jake Pearson, The Associated Press Published Wednesday, November 12, 2014 1:22PM EST Last Updated Wednesday, November 12, 2014 10:45PM EST

NEW YORK -- Two window washers were trapped on a dangling scaffold nearly 70 stories up the new 1 World Trade Center tower for nearly two hours on Wednesday before firefighters sawed through a thick double-layered window to reach them.

The dramatic rescue, coming a little more than a week after the nation's tallest building officially opened, was followed by throngs of New Yorkers on the ground and many more around the world watching on live TV.

The window washers, Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, were working on the lower Manhattan building's south side when one of the platform's four cables abruptly developed slack, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The open-topped platform tilted sharply and swayed slightly between the 68th and 69th floors, he said.

"It suddenly went from horizontal to nearly vertical," he said.

A fire department photo shot from inside the building shows the scaffold platform hanging precipitously, with the Statue of Liberty appearing tiny in the distance.

About 100 firefighters rushed to the skyscraper, some of them lowering ropes from the roof so the workers could secure themselves and a two-way radio for them to communicate, Nigro said. The workers, who have more than 20 years of experience between them, also were harnessed to the platform, and the building's owner said they had all the requisite safety gear and training.

Firefighters used diamond cutters to saw through part of a two-layered, inch-thick glass window on the 68th floor, which is still under construction. They shattered the glass in place, then carefully pulled the broken pieces into the building.

Firefighters also began inching another scaffold down the building as a backup rescue plan, but they were able to bring the workers to safety through the roughly 4-by-8-foot window hole.

"It was a fairly straightforward operation," said Battalion Chief Joseph Jardin, who oversees the fire department's special operations.

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Workers rescued from dangling WTC scaffolding

Last Updated Nov 12, 2014 4:25 PM EST

NEW YORK --Two window washers needed to be rescued after becoming trapped on scaffolding near the 68th floor of One World Trade Center Wednesday.

CBS New York reported the incident began at around 12:45 p.m. on the south side of the building. Initial reports suggest the washers were done cleaning the windows and were about to ascend to to the top of the tower when the cable that pulls the scaffold up became loose.

Images from the scene showed the scaffolding dangling at a precarious angle as emergency responders from the Police and Fire Departments along with the Port Authority tried to get to the workers.

Members of the FDNY cut through two layers of glass with a diamond saw and pulled the workers to safety around 2:10 p.m.

The FDNY was in communication with the workers throughout the entire ordeal, CBS2 reported.

Workers look out at a broken scaffolding that had stranded window washers earlier on the side of 1 World Trade Center in New York November 12, 2014.

REUTERS

The workers, identified by their employer, Upgrade Services, as Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez, were taken to a hospital with mild hypothermia, CBS Radio station 1010 WINS reported.

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High-rise rescue in NYC

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