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Rope Access
General principles of control

All rope access work
All work at height potentially using rope access techniques must adopt the following hierarchy of control:
  • If you can, avoid any working at height; or
  • Where it can not be avoided, use work equipment to eliminate the risk of anyone falling (i.e. work restraint, work positioning); or
  • Where risk of falls can not be eliminated (e.g. when free movement is required beside a drop, such as rigging scaffold), use work equipment to minimise the distance and consequence of any fall (i.e. a fall arrest system).
All rope access techniques must be planned, organised and supervised by a suitably competent person.
 
All equipment used which is personal protective equipment (e.g. harness, ropes, back-up devices, protective helmets, etc) must be CE marked and be subject to routine examination by a competent person - do not use equipment of unknown origin or history (e.g. equipment from home or borrowed from a 'friend').
 
Means of rescue must be established prior to any rope access work - a fall or getting stuck when in suspension, even if sitting the right way up in a harness, can result in the individual developing suspension trauma, which can be fatal.
 
Work Positioning
To employ work positioning techniques, the person in suspension must:
  • Wear a suitable harness (preferably a full body one) 
  • Via the harness, be attached to at least two ropes (one rope being the working rope, the other the safety back-up rope), each secured to independent anchors.
  • The attachment to the back-up rope must comprise a safe means of automatically arresting a fall should the working rope, or the means of attachment to it, fail.
Work restraint
To employ work restraint techniques, the person working in restraint must:
  • Wear a suitable harness or proprietary webbed belt 
  • Via the harness / belt, be secured to at least one* anchor by rope / safety lanyard
  • The length of the rope / safety lanyard must be short enough to prevent the person from getting to a place where they could fall.
Fall arrest
To employ fall arrest techniques, the worker must:
  • Wear a full body harness, with an attachment for a safety line / lanyard above navel height (i.e. at chest level or high on the back)
  • Use at least one* safety line / lanyard which has energy-absorbing qualities (e.g. a rip-strop / screamer device) which is attached to a suitable anchor
  • Organise their work position in relation to their anchor and length of safety line which minimises the possible fall factor, which should at no times be greater than 1.
* provided the person is not in suspension and is working on a firm level work platform - if this is not the case, refer to 'work positioning', above.
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