News Archive

​IRATA International would like to take this opportunity to welcome its newest members who were appointed in April 2019:

The long-awaited draft of BS 7883 is now available for public consultation.

The draft is a major revision of the 2005 edition and complements BS 8610, EN 795 and CEN/TS 16415.

​In an effort to combat non-IRATA Operator Member companies using the below ‘Trained to IRATA Standards’ logo, and other similar logos used to mislead the general public and their perspective clients, IRATA have enlisted the services of a specialist firm of solicitors in this field.

Further to our ‘IRATA Logbook Signatures’ article (link opens on new page), IRATA rope access technicians are reminded to follow an IRATA logbook (signing) policy at all times. The logbook signing requirements can be summarised as follows:

We are delighted to announce our first member company in Côte d’Ivoire, Global Energy Ventures, who recently joined our Association. We contacted Global Energy Ventures CEO, Ben Stanley, to ask him about Global Energy Ventures’ experience of becoming an IRATA member company.

​IRATA International would like to take this opportunity to welcome its newest members who were appointed in March 2019:

IRATA is delighted to announce that we now have over 500 members internationally spanning across 65 countries and 6 continents.

This milestone could not have been achieved without the tireless efforts of many people and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our Members, Technicians, Assessors, Instructors, Auditors and volunteers for their continued efforts in promoting the Association which has helped to grow IRATA to be the most widely recognised professional global authority in industrial rope access.

Our most recent UK RAC meeting was held on 19 March in Hailsham, East Sussex. The event was kindly hosted by one of our local Associate members, Marlow Ropes.

Jon Mitchel, Marlow Ropes’ Managing Director, welcomed the attendees and gave a history of the company, which was founded in 1807 by Thomas Burfield, where to the present day, Marlow Ropes still manufactures on Burfield’s original site.

IRATA International’s annual Work and Safety Analysis (WASA) is essential reading for rope access managers, rope access safety supervisors, training companies and technicians. It provides some insight into accident causation for anyone working in rope access. WASA 2018 is available as a free download: https://irata.org/uploads/documents/Work_and_Safety_Analysis_2018.pdf. Areas where improvements in safety could be achieved are identified. Importantly, these are dominated by the need to prevent rope damage and severance.

We are delighted to announce our first member company in Latvia, IQTC Management, who recently joined our Association.

The addition of IQTC Management will bring our member companies in the Eastern European RAC region to a total of 33 and will help to improve and promote safety awareness in industrial rope access throughout Eastern Europe.​

Anar Goyushov became the first qualified IRATA instructor in the Azerbaijan/Caspian Region.

Since getting involved in Rope Access in 2007, Anar has personally benefitted from the IRATA system and has embraced its safety culture. He has worked extremely hard to achieve level 3 status and is keen to pass on his knowledge to others in his community. ​

​IRATA Associate Member, Rope Sure has recently renewed their exclusive arrangement with an ‘A rated’ Lloyds syndicate, to provide insurance solutions to IRATA members. Rope Sure are one of the few, established providers of this specialist cover.

The IRATA Chairman, Jonathan Capper, and IRATA General Manager, Rodney Marage, attended the Houses of Parliament for the unveiling of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Working at Height (APPG) report, Staying Alive: ‘Preventing Serious Injury and Fatalities while Working at Height’. The event, was attended by many of the major working at height organisations and a host of MPs passed by to offer their support for this worthy cause.

Our IRATA South East and Far East (SEA & FE) Asia RAC meeting 2018 and an Assessor and Instructors’ Workshop was held on 2 November in Banchang, Thailand. The event was kindly hosted by one of our local members, Dacon Inspection Services Co., Ltd.

IRATA is not an investigating authority. However, as stated in our Bye-laws, we seek to ‘provide a forum for the free and informal exchange of information ’. IRATA member companies must report all accidents and incidents to IRATA within seven days of the event. If an accident is ‘Over-7-days’ (i.e. injury results in 7-days or more away from work) it must be reported to IRATA immediately thereafter. IRATA members are also expected to report their concerns regarding potential issues with rope access equipment. These measures enable an exchange of crucial information that serves the best interest of all members, with the purpose of protecting our health and safety.

An IRATA Level 1 Technician presented a fraudulent IRATA certificate to an IRATA member company in an attempt to obtain a logbook replacement.

We are pleased to confirm that our 2019 IRATA Technical Event and Conference (ITEC), which celebrates IRATA’s 30th year anniversary, will take place from Tuesday, 8th October to Thursday, 10th October 2019

​An article by IRATA on ‘Rope Access for Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Industrial Structures’ has been published in the December issue of the Journal of Protective Coatings & Linings (JPCL).

​An article on IRATA is shortly to be published in Rail Professional’s 2019 Industry Reference Book and Supply Chain Directory. Rail Professional is the UK’s market-leading publisher for the rail sector. The directory is designed as a reference point for all senior professionals working in the rail industry, providing indispensable information for anyone who has to take on the challenges of the modern rail world.

​On 9^th and 10^th October 2018, IRATA was present at the Health and Safety North exhibition at EventCity in Manchester, UK, alongside fellow members of the Access Industry Forum (AIF).

Following the success of this year’s London Work at Height Seminar (LWAHS) 2018, IRATA is pleased to announce that a short promotional video, comprising a compilation of highlights from the days events, is now available to view and download on our website and the LWAHS Facebook page.​

Click here to view the LWAHS (2018) video.

We are excited to announce that following the positive impact of IRATA’s “Edge and Rope Management” safety video, the production of a follow-up film entitled, “The Impact”, is now underway.

An IRATA Technician showed no consideration for the health and safety of his colleagues by acting in an extremely dangerous manner, which led to a serious incident on a work site.

The respondent made the decision to drop his kit bag from a height of approximately 25 meters in a brazen attempt to land it on the back of a utility vehicle in which he and his colleagues were travelling. Regrettably, the bag did not land on the tray of the utility vehicle, but on the cab in which four other rope access technicians were sitting, waiting for the respondent to retrieve his kit. As a result of this act, one of the technicians sustained a back and neck injury.

The National Qualifications Framework governs all education and training in South Africa, it is managed by the South African Qualifications Authority. Adult Vocational Training is regulated through accredited quality assurance functionaries grouped into industry sectors. The local work at height standards are housed within the Service Seta. ​

​Essential reading for rope access managers, supervisors, training companies and technicians; and insightful information for anyone working in rope access, this year’s Work & Safety Analysis (WASA) is now available for free download

The IRATA Technical Event and Conference (ITEC) 2018 and IRATA’s Annual General Meeting were hosted last week in the home town of the IRATA Head Office, which is based in Ashford, Kent, UK.

We were delighted to welcome over 300 of our members’ representatives to this year’s event, many of whom had travelled from around the world to participate, creating a true representation of our international community.

​Our ITEC 2018 Annual Awards ceremony took place prior to dinner at Lympne Castle, with its medieval architecture located in a picturesque setting on the south-east coast of the UK.

​After many years of exceptional service to the rope access industry, particularly with IRATA, Paul Seddon OBE has unfortunately reached the stage of his planned retirement.

Our 2018 ITEC will take place between Monday 10 and Wednesday 12 September at the Ashford International Hotel, Ashford, UK which is based in the home town of IRATA Head Office. ​

​Stretching improves flexibility, which increases the ability of a joint to move through its full range of motion; in other words, how far it can bend, twist and reach.

​The first ever meeting of the Eastern Europe RAC (EERAC) took place on the 22nd of June in Brazov, Romania.

​The British Airways i360 is a moving observation platform situated on Brighton beach on the south coast of the UK. A glass pod designed and built by cable car manufacturer Poma, rises from sea level to 140m where the passengers can enjoy panoramic 360-degree views of the city of Brighton and the surrounding countryside, all whilst enjoying drinks from the onboard bar. At only 3.9m wide, the tower is a monumental feat of engineering in itself and has won numerous awards for its design.​

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the new data protection law that takes effect on May 25, 2018. GDPR embodies the privacy principles of transparency, fairness, and accountability.

IRATA International are proud to be holding the 2018 London Work at Height Seminar (LWAHS) 2018 at the prestigious Guildhall, London, with the support of ‘The City of London Corporation’.

The testing of the ‘Rope Access Manager Rope Access Safety Supervisor’ (RAMRASS) ‘eLearning’ platform commenced 16th March 2018.​

Further IRATA Safety Bulletins and topic sheets have been released aimed at raising awareness of hazards within the rope access industry.

​On 10th – 12th April, IRATA were present at the ‘Health and Safety Exhibition’ at the NEC in Birmingham, alongside fellow members of the Access Industry Forum (AIF). The event was very well organised by Western Business Exhibitions, who kindly invited all AIF members to exhibit their access systems.

A technician raised a complaint regarding a Nigerian based non-IRATA training company claiming to provide certified IRATA training.​

An IRATA Technician attempted to use fraudulent certificate to obtain work.

Upon request to provide proof of his qualifications, the technician presented a copy of the fraudulent certificate to a member company.​

We are delighted to announce that our International Code of Practice (ICOP) has been translated in Japanese. We would like to express our gratitude to our Japanese member, Toasu Inc, for undertaking this valuable work. Please click here to download it.

If you are able to assist with the translation of our ICOP or TACS (Training, Assessment and Certification Scheme), please get in touch with Muriel Le Henry at [email protected] We currently have our ICOP translated in French, Japanese, Korean and Turkish and our TACS translated in German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.

As part of our Assessor Selection, Training and Certification scheme (ASTACS), the IRATA International Training Manager, Ben Eke, has recently completed an enduring Assessor recruitment programme in regions where IRATA Assessors are most urgently required, being: Brazil, North America, the Middle East , and South-East Asia & Far East.

An IRATA Assessor used an email address depicting his association with IRATA to communicate, what the adjudicating panel termed as a “vulgar, threatening, abusive and racially toned email ” to an international airline to complain about their services provided.​

​Please note that the IRATA Head Office will be closed during the holiday festivities from 24 December, 2017 to 1 January, 2018.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for this holiday season and a Happy New Year 2018!

IRATA International was delighted to be invited to present at the inaugural International Occupational Safety and Health Congress (IOSHC) in Istanbul held on 6th and 7th December 2017. The event was very well organised by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and the hospitality afforded to the IRATA Chairman, Jonathan Capper, and IRATA Secretary, Rodney Marage, was exemplary.​

The IRATA Chairman and Secretary were invited to attend the inaugural ‘All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Working at Height’, held at 1 Parliament Street, Palace Of Westminster, Houses Of Parliament, Tuesday 12th December 2017.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has just published BS 8610:2017 Personal fall protection equipment – Anchor systems – Specification

The IRATA Chairman and General Manager have been invited to present at the inaugural International Occupational Health and Safety Congress (IOHSC) in Istanbul, Turkey. They will provide talks and presentations on the regulatory work that IRATA do in order to provide a safe system of work for their technicians and member companies.

The Science of Occupational Health and Safety serves to ensure the occupational health and safety of employees in a personal sense and to improve the occupational health and safety culture in the whole society in a general sense. With this purpose, this international congress to be held by İBB will address in detail the general issues of occupational health and safety in a national and international scale. Additionally, occupational health and safety regulations and practices of local governments will be discussed separately. All subjects will be discussed by occupational safety experts, workplace physicians, academicians, representatives of the public and private sector and other experts and researchers in the field.

For a full list of the speakers at the event, or to register your interest in the event please click here.

​IRATA International’s ITEC 2017 was held in Cape Town, South Africa between 23 - 25 October 2017…

Further IRATA Safety Bulletins have been released aimed at raising awareness of hazards within the rope access industry.

Safety Bulletin No. 44: Rope access main rope failure

This safety bulletin summarises the findings of a main rope failure. The rope access technician was undertaking non-destructive testing and fell when a hot plug on top of the pipework melted through both the rope protector and the main rope to the point of failure. The technician fell until arrested by their back-up safety system.

For the full bulletin click here.

Safety Bulletin No. 45: Fall from height - aid climbing

This safety bulletin summarises the findings from two non-fatal falls from height which occurred during the de-rigging of safety nets whilst using aid climbing techniques. The accidents took place on two different sites, with different specialist netting contractors. Primary causes included the potential for an equal and opposite horizontal reaction not being recognised and work that was taking place in an area away from that planned as the original area was not available.

For the full bulletin click here.

Safety Bulletin No. 46: Fall from height – major injury

This safety bulletin summarises the findings of a fall from height accident which occurred during work to clean the external windows of an office building, the fall resulted in significant injuries. Following an investigation by the employer and local enforcing authority, several underlying causes were identified as contributing factors of the incident. Issues included equipment selection and training.

For the full bulletin click here.

Safety Bulletin No. 47: Working in a bunker – dangerous occurrence

This safety bulletin summarises the findings of a dangerous occurrence that took place whilst two IRATA Level 2 rope access technicians were cleaning the internal walls of a limestone bunker. Following the incident, the method of work was changed to prevent a recurrence.

For the full bulletin click here.

All new and existing safety bulletins are freely available here.

Following the release of the ICOP Annex P edge management poster in November 2016, we are pleased to announce that a further two posters have been translated into other languages by our member companies.

Please be aware that amendments to Annex O: ‘Protecting rope access technicians against environmental conditions’ have now been incorporated within the ICOP which can be downloaded from our website ​

A Level 1 Technician admitted allowing a Level 3 Technician to enter fraudulent hours into his logbook, thereby breaching the following provisions of TACS.

Level 3 Technician admitted knowingly entering fraudulent hours into a Level 1 Technician’s logbook, thereby breaching the following provisions of TACS

Our Annual Awards took place at a unique African restaurant in the heart of Cape Town. We were honored to have Mrs. Deborah Burnett as an invited guest to receive the Awards on behalf of her late husband, Graham Burnett​

Our Committee Election results were announced at our Annual General Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, 25 October 2017. We have now updated our Key Personnel page

Rope-Sure, the insurance brand established to provide specialist policies to members of IRATA International, has released an updated product along with a revised web site (www.rope-sure.co.uk) and online quote and buy facility to support its customers.

We are delighted to announce that, on 7th August 2017, Jonathan Capper was appointed by the Executive Committee to the esteemed position of IRATA Chairman, until the forthcoming elections in October 2017.

Jonathan has over 30 years’ experience in the work at height industry and has been involved with IRATA since its inception, he is currently the Managing Director of Lyon Equipment Limited. His work on behalf of the association is widespread and includes significant contributions to the development of the ‘IRATA International Code of Practice (ICOP)’, the ‘Rope Access Manager Rope Access Supervisor Scheme’ (RAMRASS) and representation on national and international standards boards.

Jonathan’s new appointment created a vacancy for the Equipment and Standards Committee (ESC) Chairman’s role and we are also delighted to announce that, current Executive Committee and ESC member, Allan Davies was appointed as the ESC Chair.

Allan has over 21 years’ rope access experience both as a Rope Access Technician and Senior Manager, complimented by his mechanical engineering background and is the ‘Group Operational Development and Technical Authority’ at Cape PLC. Allan will hold the position until the forthcoming elections in October 2017

The Executive Committee would like to thank both Jonathan and Allan for their extended commitment to our Association and have every confidence that they will prove to be excellent Committee Chairmen.

Our biennial committee elections will commence Friday 22 September and run until Thursday 12 October.

Our ITEC is fast approaching and we have invited all of our members to nominate their candidates for our annual awards

If you have not seen our Edge Management Video please take a moment to now!

Independent and objective assessment of candidates, who have completed an IRATA rope access training course, is a fundamental part of the IRATA certification scheme. It is important that we set high standards when recruiting and training new Assessors to ensure that candidate’s rope access skills and knowledge are examined appropriately. ASTACS was designed to set out the criteria and skill sets required to be an IRATA Assessor and is open to all who meet that criteria.

As an expanding International organization, selection and training is regionalized and based on need analysis (number of assessments/number of locally based assessors). Those regions that have the highest ratio of assessments relative to Assessors are prioritized.

Annex O – ‘Protecting rope access technicians against environmental conditions’ has been updated.

The text affected by this update can be viewed within the Annex O ‘contents page’.

We trust that our members will find this latest version of the ICOP to be of assistance whilst planning a safe system of work for all technicians working within difficult environmental conditions as part of their rope access operations.

Annex O can be found within the ICOP which is available to download here.

Our first, IRATA SEA and Far East RAC Meeting and Technical Workshop for 2017 was held in Tianjin, China, which was kindly hosted by our local member, Shenzhen Fairness, who form part of the Fairness Group.

This was new ground for our local RAC with it being the first time we have managed to have such an event in mainland China and with an unprecedented success and an overwhelming attendance of over 100 attendees.

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural London Work at Height Seminar, this year’s event took place on 10th July, and was once again held in the prestigious venue of London’s Guildhall building. As working at height continues to be a key part of the construction industry, making the workplace a safer place was and, continues to be, the overarching theme of the London Work At Height Seminar.

On the morning of Friday 30th June, we received the devastating news that our Chairman, Graham Burnett, sadly passed away on Thursday 29th June. In order to allow Graham’s family time to share this tragic news, as they deemed appropriate, we delayed making this announcement until now.

As of 1st July 2017, the Replacement Document Request Form became interactive and can now be submitted through our website. This makes it easier and more convenient for Technicians to order lost or damaged documents.

As well as helping to run the global organisation that is IRATA, and speaking on behalf of rope access throughout the world, many of our representatives are also involved in important national and international standards committees; contributing on the behalf of rope access for the good of us all.

In the UK, we are represented on the British Standards Institution’s (BSI) Technical Committee, PH/5, ‘Personal fall protection’. This committee is responsible for personal fall protection equipment standards and codes of practice and, in the past, has contributed to and published important rope access documents, e.g. BS 7985, ‘Code of practice for the use of rope access methods for industrial purposes’. PH/5 is currently writing the much anticipated BS 8610, ‘Personal fall protection equipment - Anchor systems - Specification’, which IRATA members have recently been invited to comment on.

We are delighted to announce that after lengthy discussions and exchanges with the office of the ‘Construction Skills Certification Scheme’ (CSCS), an agency of the CITB, we have managed to get Industrial Rope Access recognised as skill in itself. What does this mean?

Level 3 Technicians

CSCS now accept our Level 3 certificate as the equivalent of a NVQ level 2 qualification and therefore current (in date) Level 3 technicians can apply for the CSCS ‘Blue Skilled Worker Card’. Click here to apply and then click the ‘Search by occupation’ button; and enter the text ‘IRATA’ in the space provided. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your application.

Level 2 Technicians

Level 2 technicians, working towards achieving their Level 3 qualification, are now able to apply for the CSCS ‘Trainee Card’. In order to do so, you will need to contact IRATA Head Office (01233 754 600) and complete a declaration confirming that you are working towards achieving your Level 3. After completing and returning the form (FM193ENG) to IRATA, you will receive a confirmation letter containing a unique reference that you will be required to present to CSCS in order to complete your application

IRATA are committed to evaluating the industrial rope access profession. This includes continually reviewing and enhancing our syllabus and assessments and the support we offer members and technicians. A course specifically designed to provide technicians and rope access managers with effective rope access specific supervisory and management skills is planned to be launched in 2018. Here we provide some insight into our Rope Access Manager/Rope Access Safety Supervisor course (aka RAMRASS).

RAMRASS

When work is to be carried out at height, good management and supervision are essential to ensure a safe system of work. Rope access worksites, therefore, should be properly managed and supervised to ensure the safety and health of those involved in the rope access project.

IRATA’s Health, Safety & Technical Advisor, David Thomas, was delighted to be invited to give a presentation at the DROPS Forum on 27th April held in Aberdeen. Following David’s presentation, Drops representative, Greg Reid, stated:

“Our Steering Committee and Management Team agree that IRATA membership and support for DROPS would bring added benefit and provide opportunities for us to work together in the continuous review and alignment of our best practice recommendations. As our organisations are both established globally, we anticipate many more opportunities for IRATA representatives to share lessons learned in the pursuit of improvements in dropped object prevention performance. It would be our pleasure to share the elements of our Best Practice Recommendations with regard to Training and Awareness and trust you may find relevant information and resources that may be suitable for your candidates”

The IRATA Executive Committee will meet in June 2017, and will discuss opportunities for collaboration with the Drops organisation.

​ISO/IEC 17024 provides a global benchmark for personnel certification programmes to ensure that they operate in a consistent, comparable and reliable manner worldwide, thereby allowing individuals to have skills that translate across national lines.

Following on from the success of the Edge Management poster (as found here: provide hyperlink to poster) the team at IRATA have been busy creating a safety awareness video aimed at furthering the safety critical knowledge of edge management in rope access.

The objective of this short film is to educate rope access workers to the dangers to their ropes found on-site and the care needed from all workers to safely manage such hazards. The hierarchy of: remove, avoid, protect (RAP) as found in Annex P of the ICOP (hyperlink ICOP download page) is outlined, together with the importance of all technicians working together as a team.

This film is in its final stages of development having been shown at recent RAC meetings, and shall be released shortly with the aim of it being used as part of a safety meeting or toolbox talk. The film contains a set of questions for discussion in the meeting, and is intended to be an interactive learning experience for all attendees.

Our 2017 ITEC will take place between 23 and 25 October 2017, in Cape Town, South Africa. We are currently finalising the programme of events and will provide full details as soon all details are confirmed.

IRATA Instructors are now able to revalidate their Instructor status for 2017/18.

​IRATA International (IRATA) are pleased to announce that our new Assessor Selection, Training & Certification Scheme document, has now received approval from the IRATA Executive Committee.

IRATA appoints Assessors to provide independent and objective assessment of candidates who have completed an IRATA rope access training course. The competence of persons engaged in industrial rope access activities is a fundamental component of IRATA’s rope access system. It is paramount that the Association uses its best endeavours to maintain high standards and therefore, selects the most competent individuals for the role of Assessor.

The IRATA Edge management poster is an excellent reference tool for Technicians when considering rope protection and edge management methods.

Technicians should always ensure precautions are taken to prevent damage to anchor lines when they are in use. Hazards such as sharp edges, abrasive surfaces, corrosive substances and heat sources are common in the workplace and may damage ropes which may come into contact with them or close proximity.

Our ITEC 2016 was held in the Bavarian Capital – Munich City, Germany. Over the course of the event, we hosted our Committee meetings, Technical day in the picturesque mountain town Bad Tölz, product demonstrations, and closed the event with our Annual General Meeting and Dinner.

IRATA Auditors were put through their paces during their audit software training course at our 2016 ITEC held in Munich, Germany. The new audit software is to due be introduced early 2017 in order improve Member audit processes and to provide analytical benefits for IRATA Head Office.

Auditors will soon be recording and completing their audits on mobile devices and it is expected that the switch to digital data recording will provide many key benefits including:
IRATA Quality Manger, Dr Sheila Kondaveeti, was particularly complimentary of the new system, stating that she was “delighted with the commitment shown by the Audit team and that the full implementation of the software will be a fundamental step change towards improving the IRATA audit process”.

The latest revision of Annex O has now been completed and is available for download, this annex covers protecting rope access technicians against environmental conditions.

Annex O is intended for rope access managers, rope access safety supervisors and rope access technicians who may be called upon to plan and carry out work in any or all of the environmental conditions covered by this document.

We are delighted to confirm the formation of our Mediterranean and Scandinavian RACs, consisting of our members in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We take this opportunity to wish the Chairs, namely Fernando Pinheiro (Mediterranean) and Nigel Craig (Scandinavia) every success with their efforts to further the growth and sustainability of the IRATA system, within their regions.

The examination to take trainee Instructor to full Instructor status, has been extended from 45 minutes to 4 hours – the exam will remain a multiple choice, closed book test.

Our ITEC 2015 was held in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Over the course of the event our committees presented their work undertaken over the past year and their plans for the year ahead.

We have now installed a Technician Search feature onto our website.

Our ITEC 2014 was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over the course of the event our committees presented their work undertaken over the past year and their plans for the year ahead. Meetings were held at the Windsor Guanabara conference centre and our Technical Day at the Cidade Do Samba. The event was closed with our AGM and Annual Dinner.