Is there an argument here for window cleaners wearing helmets whilst using a ladder?
The tragic story of the pensioner window cleaner who died as a direct result due to multiple head injuries after falling from a ladder at first floor height.
Years ago people felt silly wearing protective head gear for cycling, now its the norm. This was after many deaths caused by head injury to cyclists.
Should we be wearing head gear for ladder work as a norm now in the window cleaning industry? This man had spinal injuries but the cause of death was due to the head injuries. Could this man be alive today if he was wearing head protection?
What do you think? Here is the story:
Michael Corlett, described by friends as ‘colourful’ and ‘cheerful’, refused to give up his traditional beat but only charged customers a nominal fee.
A 73-year-old retired window cleaner fell off his ladder and died after keeping up his rounds for ‘pennies’.
Michael Corlett, described by friends as ‘colourful’ and ‘cheerful’, refused to give up his traditional beat in the heart of Cheetham Hill but only charged customers a nominal fee.
Tragically he plunged to his death in December last year while cleaning windows at the house of good pal Charles Daly.
A coroner’s inquest heard how two passing binmen saw the pensioner fall from the first floor window of the Kenford Walk property on December 12 and raced to his aid.
Binman Paul Lyons and a colleague, along with Mr Daly and a neighbour, tried to revive the stricken pensioner.
He was raced to Salford Royal but died later that evening. Piyali Pal, a consultant pathologist at Salford Royal, said the pensioner had suffered significant head and spinal injuries.
Although Mr Corlett, who lived in Harpurhey, was on blood-thinning medicine warfarin, the doctor added there was no evidence he had suffered a stroke or heart attack while on the ladder.
Coroner Nigel Meadows said the veteran window cleaner’s death was the result of an accident.
He added: “Sadly they were serious head injuries which weren’t survivable.”
Speaking after the inquest, friends of Mr Corlett, a single man who was not believed to have children, paid tribute.
Mr Daly said: “I know he did the windows cheap after he retired. He was an obliging chap, but he’d just surprise you by popping up in your back yard. You’d turn around and he’d just be standing there.”
And another friend Jim Bradley, 85, a retired hospital porter, said: “He’d come and go as he pleased.
“He was a bit of a romancer, always telling you tall tales. You were never sure what to believe.
“Even after he got his pension, he’d still turn up and just charge a couple of quid, pennies sometimes.
“I don’t think he cared about the money”