Clive Swanny
240-volt domestic mains cable survivor
Clive Swanny had been window cleaning for around 12 years, and cleaning this particular house for about 9 years. He was using a Gardiner SLX pole but never had the insulated base section on, due to a shoulder issue, so he broke the pole down to 18 feet to make it lighter. The day before, he had planned to go to Screwfix and buy gloves, but he nearly forgot. On his normal round, he was doing a maintenance clean; after finishing one window, the pole tipped forward, and he heard a crackling sound. He looked up to see the pole getting fried, and he quickly pulled it off, resting it on the customer’s fence. He realized the lines might not have been insulated, so he told the customer, who agreed to get it checked. Clive isn’t sure what stopped him from being electrocuted—maybe it was the gloves—but he shared his story on Facebook to remind others not to get complacent. He hadn’t realized that some homes have uninsulated overhead lines
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