Man on a ledge worries downtown workers

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A worker standing on a ledge above the eighth floor at City Hall had people doing double-takes Wednesday.

That is because by all appearances he wasn’t wearing a harness.

The man was rigging up a platform to clean the windows on a high-rise 107 feet up.

Now investigators want to know if he was wearing anything to keep him from plummeting to his death.

The city distanced itself from the situation saying it wasn’t their employee.

“The person in the picture you provided is an employee of Citywide Professional Window Cleaning, contracted to clean the windows of the building,” said Breanna Anderson, deputy communications director for the city of Albuquerque. “As such, the city is not liable.”

The owner of Citywide Professional Window Cleaning told KRQE News 13 the employee was wearing a harness. He called it a half harness and said it went around the waist and thighs.

A photo was sent to KRQE News 13 that appeared to show a worker with nothing around his thighs. That’s when the company declined to comment further.

Now OSHA , the government agency in charge of investigating workplace safety issues, is looking into the matter.

“The photo that was provided to us indicated the potential for a high gravity hazard. A fall from that height would obviously be very severe,” said Bob Genoway, bureau chief for New Mexico OSHA.

OSHA says it is possible the city is not off the hook.

“When OSHA does inspections, we look at all employers on site to determine who has responsibility for different aspects of safety,” Genoway said.

Multiple sources say the city’s risk management group has already met with the window cleaning company.

OSHA says if it finds wrongdoing, the penalties can be up to $70,000 per violation.