At our recent IRATA Technical Event and Conference in Kraków, Poland, the Chair of IRATA’s Equipment and Standards Committee announced the publication of new annexes to IRATA’s International Code of Practice (ICOP).

Newly released ICOP Annex R: Rescue and Evacuation Planning, and Considerations offers guidance on the key factors to consider when planning rescue and evacuation protocols for industrial rope access operations.

The document presents a step-by-step approach for creating a comprehensive rescue and evacuation plan, covering all aspects from arrival at the site and transporting materials to the work area to effectively communicating with the emergency services during a rescue.

While Annex R does not provide technical instructions on physically conducting a rescue, it offers a process and an adaptable template to assist in developing an effective plan. It provides guidance on identifying and evaluating the risk factors leading to the need for rescue, and the hierarchy and appropriate application of different rescue types to address a range of potential scenarios

Continue to strive for safety at the highest level, and download your copy of Annex R from ‘publications’ now.