Fast Forward to Progress – A Personal Reflection
By Gus Strats – Summit Anchor Company, Inc. March 25th, 2022
Edited by – Keisha Winston
30 Years of High-Rise Window Cleaning Safety
I needed something to help me make it through the monotony of spring window cleaning. I had upwards of 20 buildings contracted for interior and exterior window cleaning and I was working alone. So I inserted my Dire Straits cassette into my Walkman and got to work on The Washington Post building, then at 15th & L Street NW in Washington, DC.
As I was plugging away, a Post reporter approached and asked to take my picture for an upcoming article on the Walkman’s popularity in 1991 – “In your ear“. Later, a reporter asked to take my Walkman for a few hours to check it out. I thought it was a ruse to see if I was a spy instead of a window cleaner, but agreed to it. Now I had to clean in silence.
For the younger generation: The Sony Walkman was one of the first portable music devices. Users inserted cassette tapes into the small rectangular device and pressed buttons to control play. Sony sold over 200 million Walkman from 1979 to 2010.
As we’ve gone from the Walkman to advances in portable listening devices like iPods and smartphones, we’ve seen many window cleaning safety advances over the last three decades. For example, in 1991, OSHA started requiring use of an independent fall protection system for workers using rope descent systems and the training for workers using it. Another is OSHA’s 2017 requirement for building owners to provide certified anchorages for rope descent systems. I’m grateful for these advances that keep workers safe.
Progress can elevate us, whether it’s in the way we entertain ourselves or in the way we work – or even if we like to do both simultaneously.
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