Two window cleaners have been brought safely to ground from the 15th floor of One Blackfriars in Southwark after their suspended cleaning cradle malfunctioned, with London Fire Brigade using its 64-metre turntable ladder to reach the pair. The Brigade was called to Blackfriars Road at 17:22 on Thursday 8 October and had the incident under control by 18:15. Both men were assessed by the London Ambulance Service at the scene and no injuries were reported.
London Fire Brigade appliance in London. Image: London Construction Magazine. The image does not show the One Blackfriars rescue.
64m ladder used for 15th-floor rescue
Fire crews from Dowgate were joined by the 64-metre turntable ladder based at Old Kent Road. Firefighters extended the aerial appliance to the stranded cradle and brought both workers down safely. The London Fire Brigade incident report records a response lasting less than an hour from the initial call to the incident being brought under control. A Brigade spokesperson said: “Thankfully no-one was hurt and the men were rescued safely and quickly.” LFB describes the 64-metre turntable ladder as the tallest aerial appliance in Europe. It can reach approximately 20 floors and carries an onboard lift that can also be used for rescue operations where conditions allow. In this case, the appliance provided direct access to the suspended workers from street level.
One Blackfriars has a specialist façade-access system
One Blackfriars is a 170-metre residential tower on the South Bank, developed by St George and completed by Multiplex. The 50-storey building was designed by SimpsonHaugh with WSP as structural engineer and is known for its curved double-skin glazed façade. Maintaining that façade requires dedicated permanent access equipment. Integral Cradles' project record states that three building maintenance units were installed at One Blackfriars, with the machines integrated into moving rooftop doors so the equipment can be concealed when parked.
The fire brigade has confirmed only that the two workers became trapped after a window-cleaning cradle malfunctioned. It has not identified which of the tower's access machines was involved or the mechanical, electrical or control-system fault that caused the cradle to stop. No cause should therefore be inferred from the rescue itself. The identity of the window-cleaning contractor working from the cradle has also not been publicly confirmed, and there has been no public announcement from the Health and Safety Executive of a formal investigation at the time of publication.
Safe recovery shows the value of high-rise rescue capability
The incident ended without injury despite occurring well above normal ground-based access. LFB said the rescue demonstrated how specialist equipment is used to respond to the particular challenges created by London's high-rise built environment. Façade-access equipment used to lift people is subject to established inspection and examination requirements. Health and Safety Executive guidance states that lifting equipment used for people must normally undergo thorough examination every six months, unless a different interval is set through an examination scheme.
HSE guidance also provides for further thorough examination following exceptional circumstances that could jeopardise equipment safety, including damage or failure. Whether any additional examination or regulatory action follows this particular incident has not yet been made public. For now, the confirmed outcome is straightforward: both workers were recovered safely, nobody was hurt and the emergency response was completed within 53 minutes of the Brigade being called. Any technical findings on why the cradle malfunctioned will depend on subsequent examination of the equipment and any information released by those responsible for the façade-access system.
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