News Archive

Following a survey of certified IRATA member companies based in 65 countries, the decision was made to transfer IRATA’s paper-based logbook into the digital domain. 73% of the 423 global member companies who responded to the survey want only Certified IRATA Level 3 Technicians and IRATA member company representatives to verify logbook working hours. Level 3 (L3) IRATA technicians will be able to verify work hours regardless of whether they work for an IRATA member company or not.

Two IRATA member companies and their IRATA committee representative (Main Respondent but together referred to as Respondents) misused IRATA intellectual property for their own financial gain thereby breaching trust, confidentiality, relevant codes of conduct and IRATA policy. The Respondents used current exam questions, identical to those used and created by IRATA, in their own website mock-exam software which was accessible on their website for a fee.

Following multiple revisions and testing by a select group of Assessors, IRATA’s long awaited Assessment App is being tested in the field. The App which is expected to be in full use by late 2021 will significantly speed up candidate assessments and verification. The current paper-based system, which has been with us for close to 30 years has served IRATA well but is in need of an update to improve security and accuracy. IRATA’s real-time “Technician Verification” tool, introduced in 2015, has proved successful in reducing certification fraud, but the new digital system will strengthen the integrity of certification. An IRATA training member commented: “I can’t believe IRATA are asking me to do less administration processing. I’m delighted!”. IRATA are delighted too!

An IRATA Trainer member company was conducting rope access operations whilst not holding IRATA Operator membership. The Respondent admitted their wrongdoing, claiming: “the rope access work in question was undertaken as a one-off favor for a local community organization”. The Respondent confirmed that they would immediately cease operational work until they successfully obtained IRATA Operator membership. The Adjudicating Panel determined as follows:

​IRATA International would like to take this opportunity to welcome its newest members who were appointed in May 2021:

It was necessary for IRATA International to amend and add additional clauses in their Training, Assessment and Certification Scheme (TACS). These changes relate to unsuccessful candidate assessments and the required timeframe for candidate training, assessment and reassessment. Full details are below. Also, at the bottom of this article are answers to the most frequently asked questions about the changes made to IRATA’s TACS.