Is a Certified Window Cleaner a Better Window Cleaner?

In a word: Yes! Whether you’re looking at it from the perspective of the company, the employee or the customer … yes, yes and again, yes!

When you think safety you think “avoiding injury”. That’s certainly the most important reason to ensure it; however, when you think of everything that can be either positively or negatively impacted by the presence or lack of safety … everything from production, quality, customer relations and profitability is affected as well.

Look at it this way: If an employee incurs an injury which requires lengthy medical absence he will need to be replaced. The replacement doesn’t know the jobs as well and will require closer supervision which will take from the supervisor’s production and/or in the event he is replaced by an inexperienced employee may also result in poor quality work. By the time you factor the expense of the BWC claim, lost production, potentially oversighted quality issues and, quite possibly damage to the customer’s property (depending on the nature of the accident) … the company, the employee and the customer are all likely to be losers in the situation … and that’s just a medical leave injury … it could have been worse.

Make no mistake, from any perspective, a certified window cleaner is a better window cleaner. Does being certified mean an employee won’t have an accident? No, certainly not. It does; however, ensure that he is better prepared to recognize safety hazards and knows the proper procedures for all the tools and access equipment he uses which makes such an accident much less likely.

Safety certification for window cleaners is not yet a legal requirement in the United States and, unfortunately, until it is required; most companies will choose to avoid the expense unless customers force their hand by using only certified window cleaners. For the good of the industry and all the employees who take the risks, let’s hope it works out that way.