From the point of view of an employer or a local authority (town halls, communities, schools ...), the horror vision must be to imagine having to visit an employee’s relatives to inform them that their father, mother, brother, or sister has had an accident at work and will not be coming home again. With a professional window fall protection system like MFS from INNOTECH, facility managers provide their team with maximum protection from dangerous, often fatal, accidents when cleaning windows and blinds. In addition, this modular system takes just a few steps to assemble and install in the window frame. If the MFS users are then also appropriately trained and have absorbed all the necessary actions, then everyone involved feels more secure. This sense of security transfers to the whole team and, all told, results in an excellent, positive working atmosphere.
Healthy employees thanks to window fall protection
Apart from the individual human tragedy associated with an industrial accident, injured or sick employees can also become a big problem from the employer’s point of view. This is above all the case if the accidents accumulate, and the team is decimated and weakened by further seasonal illnesses. The benefit of a dependable fall protection system for facility managers is therefore evident. It means that employee accidents caused by falls can be avoided, and this in turn creates increased planning certainty for current and future work. In addition, news of dangerous incidents gets around very quickly in any industry. In contrast, operations with a good reputation in this regard are viewed as good, secure employers. And of course these employers are at the forefront when it comes to the ability to recruit qualified personnel.
Modify working processes – eliminate threats
In some operations, it may be necessary to implement new work processes which the employees might perceive as changes. And, as is well known, the human race views change – at least at first glance – as something threatening or unpleasant. However, in these circumstances, as the employer you hold a trump card, because these “changes” are what eliminate existing threats. In other words: the change isn't the threat, but rather the previously experienced circumstances within the organisation. If you as the employer manage to communicate this decisive advantage to your employees, then they will also join in, and will even be grateful to you in the end.
Costs of injury-related absences
As well as this, from the viewpoint of the organisation, every industrial accident prevented saves costs enormously. But the following is also true: An industrial accident is not just an industrial accident. For example, if a chef cuts his finger, the immediate and long-term consequences for employee and employer can in no way be compared with those which can be caused by a fall from an open window. Particularly in the area of window and blind cleaning, the injuries may turn out to be extremely severe, and the employees affected may be removed from the work process for a very long time. Therapy over many years may be necessary, and this may mean only partial availability for work following an initial recovery. The best way to minimise this risk is appropriate prevention in advance – through the use of a professional window fall protection system, and the appropriate training of all users.
Responsibility – training
This is where we return to the rights and responsibilities of an employer with regard to his employees. In the end, he has to take appropriate safety measures to ensure that the life and health of his employees are not at risk or put at risk. And these measures can also include training.
Principles of risk prevention
- Responsibility for employee protection (rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, information and instruction, responsibility and liability)
- TOP principle (Technical, Organisational, and Personal measures in employee protection)
Relevant documentation
- ASchG [Austrian law on occupational safety and health at work for employees] including activity-specific implementation regulations (e.g. PPE regulation, ...)
- Case-specific legal foundations (e.g. BauV, [Austrian building worker protection regulation] ...)
- DGUV [German statutory accident insurance organisation] Rule 112-198 “Use of personal protective equipment against falls from a Height”
- DGUV Rule 112-199 “Rescue from height and depth using personal protective equipment”
- Risk assessment/evaluation
- Documentation for later tasks
- Instruction manual for anti-fall PPE/RA
Although the use of the MFS from INNOTECH does not require personal protective equipment, solid training is certainly advisable in terms of assembly, dismantling, and installation, and in the specific parameters of the system. There is also no doubt at all that employee training brings numerous benefits, because trained employees are more productive and efficient than their less trained equivalents. In a meta-analysis (Cerasoli et al., 2018) one of the conclusions was that informal learning activities increased efficiency by 32 %.
Knowledge makes falls SAFER
In addition, ongoing new technical developments in all areas of life and work create a permanently increasing need to acquire new skills and proficiencies. Against this background, the only way to develop and improve processes, services, and products in terms of quality is through employees who are expert, qualified, and knowledgeable. When it comes to the deployment of window fall protection systems, the cleaners’ well-founded knowledge in handling the respective system also creates security, which reduces the individual risk of an accident as well. A high level of safety at work, combined with individual satisfaction, also strengthens the employees’ commitment to their employer, in whom they then have significantly greater trust. These are therefore the best prerequisites for an excellent relationship between employers and employees. And your customers of course sense that too!
Summary
In working life generally, and particularly for cleaning windows and blinds, the subject of safety is of central importance. After all, it’s not just a case of reducing personal distress, but also of ensuring that employees are not subject to long-term, accident-related absence. In addition, well-founded measures for protection of personnel create numerous additional benefits for the employer: mutual trust and loyalty, with all the associated positive effects, such as employee commitment, optimum working atmosphere, and an excellent reputation as a good employer. And training plays an important role here.
Simply contact us if you want to know the best window fall protection systems to use to cradle your employees in safety. They will thank you for this through additional motivation! Link to our factsheet! You’ll find all relevant facts there about window fall protection, summarised compactly.
