The day elf 'n' safety went out of the window: Daredevil cleaner balances on third-floor ledge without a safety harness

  • Man risks life by climbing around outside of the building to clean windows
  • Footage of the incident shot by a witness has gone viral on YouTube
  • Had he slipped he would have fallen around 40ft to the street below

By Luke Salkeld

PUBLISHED: 07:14 EST, 25 October 2012 | UPDATED: 20:48 EST, 25 October 2012

You might think the photograph shows a burglar caught in the act. Or perhaps a gentleman caller  trying to evade his lover’s husband.

In fact, it’s a snap of Britain’s least safety-conscious window-cleaner.

With no harness or scaffolding to stop him falling on to the busy streets below, he doesn’t seem to hold much truck with the health and safety brigade.

Scroll down to watch

Shocking: A bystander captures the man on camera as he can be seen clambering out of a third floor window and onto the ledge of the building in Bath without a safety harness (top right)

Shocking: A bystander captures the man on camera as he can be seen clambering out of a third floor window and onto the ledge of the building in Bath, Somerset, without a safety harness (top right)

The daredevil rarely looked down as  he nonchalantly carried out his task – seemingly indifferent to the danger.

The workman, whose identity remains a mystery, was spotted by a passer-by who filmed him climbing on to the third-floor ledge of the building in Bath, Somerset.

 

More...

With the poise of a home-grown Batman,  he edged himself around stone balustrades, and along precipitous ledges to reach the glass.

He then made his way to the level below, this time walking along the top of the narrow windows.

The bizarre scene outside the building –  which houses the £85-a-night Milsoms hotel and a Loch Fyne restaurant on the ground floor – has been posted on YouTube.

Risky: He balanced himself precariously on a ledge without a safety harness as he climbed across the building - 40ft up - in order to clean its windows

Risky: The footage showed him balancing precariously on a ledge without a safety harness as he climbed across the building - 40ft up - in order to clean its windows

Precarious: The man crept along the face of the four-storey building in order to clean other windows - as bystanders watched in horror

Precarious: The man crept along the face of the four-storey building in order to clean other windows - as bystanders watched in horror

The flabbergasted witness wrote: ‘I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted this guy. I’m no great advocate of the Health and Safety brigade, but...’

Staff at the building’s ground-floor restaurant said the incident was being dealt with by the chain’s owners Greene King. They have been in contact with the health and safety team at Bath & North East Somerset Council.

A spokesman for Loch Fyne Seafood Restaurants said: ‘We take health and safety extremely seriously and fully expect the same from external contractors. Therefore we were shocked by the footage.

‘When the video was brought to our attention we immediately moved to prevent this from happening again and have launched a full investigation into how this could have happened at all.'

EXTREME Window cleaning... 

Danger: He carries on risking his life by climbing around the outside of the building - using his hands and feet to cling on in the style of a rock climber

Danger: He carries on risking his life by clambering around the outside of the building - using his hands and feet to cling on in the style of a rock climber

Worrying: The man teeters on the edge of a ledge on the corner of the building, which houses the Loch Fyne restaurant

Worrying: The man teeters on the edge of a ledge on the corner of the building, which houses a Loch Fyne restaurant