Other Cleaners and Laundry Workers
This unit group covers Cleaners and Laundry Workers not elsewhere classified. It includes Carpet Cleaners, Roof Gutter Cleaners and Window Cleaners.
A windy day on the ladders
You are a window and gutter cleaner working a full day alone, with a ladder, a van and a list of homes and shops. It is 8am and the wind is picking up from the west. You have six jobs booked, including a two-storey house and a shopfront with a high awning. Each customer has an opinion about how and when it should be done.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I want the upstairs windows and the gutters done today, and I won't be here next week. I know it's a bit blustery, but the ladder looks sturdy. Surely you can make it work? I've paid the deposit already.
Do the upstairs windows and gutters from the ladder, taking extra care and keeping a firm grip because he has paid already
A gust catches the ladder as you reach for the far corner. You grab the gutter in time, but the ladder skids on the paving. A deposit is not a reason to work at height in unsafe conditions.
Explain the wind is too strong, offer a day that suits, and do the ground floor now
Mr Nowak grumbles, then agrees. You return when the wind drops, and the upstairs is finished safely. He tells his neighbour you would not take a risk with your own neck.
Do the gutters first from the ladder, then see how the wind feels before deciding on the windows
The wind is a problem for the gutters just as much as for the windows. You get partway through and have to stop, leaving half a job and an unhappy client.
The awning over my entrance is filthy, and I have a delivery of new stock tomorrow. You can reach it with the ladder from the footpath, can't you? The ground slopes a bit, but I'll hold the ladder myself for you.
Say yes and have her hold the ladder, since she is happy to help and the job would only take a few minutes
Ms Okeke is not trained to steady a ladder and the slope makes it shift. She lets go when a customer walks past, and you come down fast. Nobody is hurt, but it is a scare.
Suggest a safer way to reach it, or come back with a second person
You come back the next morning with a colleague and the right equipment, and the awning is done before her delivery. A shopkeeper holding the ladder is not the same as a safe set-up.
Say you will do it, but only the parts you can reach from the lowest step
You do the parts that are safe to reach, but the top edge stays dirty. She is pleased by the care but disappointed by the result.
Oh dear, there is a crack right across that bedroom window. It definitely wasn't there before you came. I'm sure you didn't mean it, but I'll have to ask you to pay for it. Can you see it?
Look at the crack, take photos, tell her what you see and offer to talk to your boss
The crack is an old stress crack, the dirt in it giving it away. Your photographs show it. Mrs Gallagher is relieved and apologises. Looking carefully and calmly settles it.
Tell her it was already there, since you know your work, and carry on without a record
Without a photograph, it is her word against yours. She disputes it with your boss, and you cannot prove anything. Your confidence did not protect you.
Apologise and agree to pay for the pane, since it is easier than arguing
She is pleased, but you have paid for a pane you did not break. Apologising for something you didn't do isn't the same as being fair to yourself.
How it went
Six jobs were finished, two were rebooked for calmer weather, and you went home safe. Cleaners of windows, gutters and carpets work with their hands and their judgement, often alone and often at a height. Would you like to be your own boss, choosing when it's safe to go up?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The rug with a story
A fictional case set in a small property-care business that cleans windows, gutters and carpets for homes and shops in a fictional hill town.
The situation
Ines, a carpet cleaner, was booked to steam clean the lounge room carpet of an older couple, the Lindqvists. At the end of the job, Mrs Lindqvist brought out a small woollen rug that had belonged to her mother and asked if Ines could just run the machine over it as well. It had a dark stain in the corner. It was on no one's list, the couple were kind, and there was time before the next job, so the request seemed small.
What they did
Ines looked at the rug closely and checked the back for a label. She told Mrs Lindqvist that steam and water could cause the dyes to run, and that she was not sure how this rug would react. She offered to test a small hidden patch with a gentle method first and to let Mrs Lindqvist decide what to do after seeing the result. She wrote on the job sheet what she had agreed.
How it turned out
The test patch showed a little colour lifting, so Ines did not use the machine. She treated the stain by hand with a gentle product, and it faded to a pale mark. Mrs Lindqvist said she would rather have a faint mark than a ruined rug. Ines said later that saying no to the steam was the best thing she did that day.
What would you do?
- How would you handle a request for something you were not sure about?
- Why is a small test patch a good idea before cleaning something precious?
- What did writing on the job sheet help protect?