Recently, the Federation of Window Cleaners has come out to comment on the Coronavirus pandemic, and spoken specifically about how window cleaners can help with the fight against the virus. They believe that thousands of commercial window cleaning companies have the facilities and equipment needed to disinfect and protect public areas all over the UK.
Andrew Lee, Chairman and Safety Officer at the FWC and MD at J A Lee, said: “I think this is a great idea and a great opportunity for FWC members and the industry to contribute to the country’s response to COVID-19. I know my own company has these resources.”
Paul Thrupp, FWC Executive member and Director for Retail Destinations at OCS, said: “A national sanitisation programme employing window-cleaners could play a major role in defeating Coronavirus and saving lives.
“Other countries have launched sanitisation programmes and we strongly believe that the UK should use this approach as well.
“The army does not have the equipment to spray disinfectant in the quantities needed and neither do local councils, but thousands of the nation’s window-cleaners do.
“With the country in such a crisis, we have to think outside the box and use all the resources at our disposal to fight Coronavirus."
With the second wave rapidly rising in infection and death rates, the fight to slow and eventually stop the spread of coronavirus is a responsibility we must all taken on and in the window cleaning industry we have the ability to have an impact on that.
The FWC is putting forward proposals to the government to fund local councils to employ and co-ordinate commercial window cleaners with the capacity and equipment to serve the purpose of disinfecting key public areas, like parks, outside pubs and restaurants, retail areas, hospitals, car parks and underground transport stops.
Paul Thrupp, FWC Executive member and Director for Retail Destinations at OCS, said: “A national sanitisation programme employing window-cleaners could play a major role in defeating Coronavirus and saving lives.
“Other countries have launched sanitisation programmes and we strongly believe that the UK should use this approach as well.
“The army does not have the equipment to spray disinfectant in the quantities needed and neither do local councils, but thousands of the nation’s window-cleaners do.
“With the country in such a crisis, we have to think outside the box and use all the resources at our disposal to fight Coronavirus."
The World Health Organisation has repeatedly suggested that the virus could be persisting on surfaces for prolonged periods of time up to a few days, so the sanitisation of public areas could be a critical element to slowing the spread where large numbers of traffic pass through daily.
There are as yet to be large scale outdoor disinfection programmes put in place in the UK, but after many countries have successfully done so with high effectiveness, we expect the UK to follow suit. The window cleaning industry could play an integral part in the disinfection processes if this was to be considered by the UK government, and is something that should be considered by every window cleaning professional with the facilities to participate in.
