Life on a wire for UAE skyscraper window washers

Window washers who work for the company that cleans the facade of the world's tallest building must have love for the job, its managing partner says.

Workers wash windows at Gate Towers on Reem Island in Abu Dhabi. Christopher Pike / The National

ABU DHABI // Throughout the week on calm, sunny days, you will often find members of the public gazing upwards from the foot of a skyscraper, focused on a troop of red figures keeping the shine on the country’s postcard cityscapes.

“These guys are daredevils,” said Alain El Tawil, managing partner of Gecko Rope Access Specialists, which cleans hard-to-access places, including the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Mr El Tawil, who is also director of sales and marketing, was a former advertising executive before starting the business in 2004.

“I’ve been here for close to 15 years. It was always in my mind, that every time I was driving to and from work, I was looking at all these towers being built, and I said, ‘I’m sure this would be a good business’,” he said.

Geckos – small lizards, prolific climbers and the namesake of Mr El Tawil’s company – are considered signs of good luck in some cultures.

But the company has to rely on more than just good fortune to be able to continue to boast a clean track record on safety.

“With our type of job, we cannot just go out and get anybody, we just can’t,” he said. “Our guys are hand picked.”

The company recruits in Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“When we interview them, we go through a process of understanding how much heart they have,” he said.

“At the end of the day, these guys want a job. Some of them are desperate, unfortunately, so they will say ‘yes’ to anything. “We show them a video, and we don’t really show them a nice one. We show them one with height, with wind, so they can actually see the worst of it.

“From there, a lot of the people that come in for the interview will leave.”

Those that stay are shown another harrowing film, he said. “We give them two chances to think about this.”

Successful applicants then undergo multi-stage training, at Gecko’s headquarters at Dubai Investments Park.

A typical day for a fully-trained window washer on a site such as Reem Island’s 65-storey Gate Towers starts at 5am.

As the washers don their red coveralls, prepare their gear, and check their harnesses, support workers fill dozens of plastic containers with water and detergent. On the ropes, each climber will have about 20 litres of soapy water with them, plus their bucket, sponge and squeegee.

A site manager checks knots and each harness to ensure everything is in order, offering adjustment tips when needed.

The washers then shuffle confidently along the narrow parapet of the roof, as if a misstep will be a slight inconvenience and not the 283-metre drop that awaits, were it not for two robust ropes.

When given the signal, they start their slow descent, washing off a few weeks of dust and dirt, one window at a time – first applying soap, then using a squeegee to wipe it down. The desert heat will dry the window almost instantly. Once their bucket is empty, they will refill with one of the four refill bottles they carry with them, slowly lightening the load.

It takes three weeks to completely scrub down a building such as Reem Island’s Sky Tower, said Pieter van der Walt, a project manager with Gecko.

Each building will get a full wash about five times every year.

Dinesh Thapa, is a level-three climber, and works in a supervisory role. “In Nepal, I worked in rock climbing,” he said. “I’ve never been scared of heights.”

He said the early morning hours and heat – compounded when it hits a building’s glass facade and is reflected back – makes the job tough.

“It’s much better when we’re working on the shadow side,” he said.

Despite the drawbacks, Mr El Tawil said there is a cachet that comes with this line of work, particularly for the special few who make the Burj Khalifa sparkle.

“Believe it or not, we had more people wanting to do this job. Why? Because they will be cleaning the tallest tower of the world,” he said. “You need to have the heart to do this.”

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Read more about the UAE’s window washers:

■ Safety a priority for UAE window washing company

■ UAE window washers sometimes see more than a nice view

■ Fearless UAE window cleaners look forward to the views

■ Don't look down: The high-rise window washers of Reem Island - in pictures