What Goes Up Must Come Down

On my way to work in the morning, there are always a bunch of tall buildings that are cleaning their exterior windows. The setup consists of two guys standing on a rectangular platform hoisted up the height of the building. What I find funny is that they section off a portion of the ground that's exactly the same size and shape as the platform they're standing on. So if they drop something or fall, it means that they'll fall straight down? This isn't the cartoons! It doesn't work that way! While we're on Earth, the wind, air and shape of falling objects need to be considered. If window cleaners are working, the whole are needs to be closed off... not just a shadow of the space they're taking up! If only more people passed high school physics!