Rope Access Companies Reach Into Impossible Places Every Day

Rope access companies specialise in performing cleaning, maintenance and testing tasks in the places that you and your employees can’t easily reach. They can do that more safely than you might imagine because they take time-tested precautions to ensure the safety of their workers.

In fact, there have been no fatal accidents in over 20 years involving rope access companies that are members of the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association.

That’s an astonishing fact since these companies specialise in jobs that seem inherently dangerous to most people, including working on oil platforms and rigs, cruise liners, bridges, mountain sides and in many other places where most workers fear to tread.

Double Ropes And Strict Rules

It’s hard to say whether the safety of the rope access industry is more because of its strict safety guidelines that companies must follow or more because of the double rope system that keeps workers from falling even if there is a rare rope failure.

Whatever the case, the IRATA reports an incident rate of 1.22 to 1.45 incidents per 100,000 hours of rope work. Many companies whose workers remain on solid groun can’t boast a safety rate that impressive.

Because of this safety record, more industries than ever before are turning to rope access companies to handle the tasks they can’t handle any other way.

Quick And Insured Work

An amazing safety record isn’t enough to convince some companies to turn to rope access to replace procedures that have been in place for years. Speed, however, can be an important convincing factor.

Because workers on ropes can reach just about anywhere without installing scaffolding on the ground, they can perform tasks with minimal disruption to daily operations at your company. That means less valuable work time is lost, and that helps you maintain your usual productivity levels while rope access technicians solve many of your problems.

Of course, rope access contractors carry complete public liability insurance for every contract, taking the liability issues for complicated repairs out of your hands and placing them in the hands of competent people who handle tricky tasks in unusual locations every day.

To be sure a rope access company is as safe as possible with its workers and your project, make sure it is an IRATA member.

Developed From Need

Rope access companies sprang up when adventurous businesspeople discovered underserved needs in many industries throughout society. The concept directly descended from the techniques used for mountain climbing and was likely first used commercially for safe and effective inspection of oil and gas platforms.

Soon, creative entrepreneurs realised that rope access could reach the sides of tall buildings, inside storage tanks and onto every angle of unusual structures that other contractors were afraid to tackle.

When those with specialized rope skills saw the unfulfilled needs of industries around South Africa and the world, they weren’t afraid to reach beyond the known limits of business for something that had never been tried. That’s how many of today’s rope access companies developed, and it’s how they can reach the places many others can’t.

By climbing and repelling, workers for rope access companies can safely do those nearly impossible tasks that you can’t push off on anyone else.

Frits Van Daalen writes about the impractical and unworkable tasks that everyday people accomplish in this world. Rope access companies are a favorite topic of his because he’s in awe of anyone who can do something others think is impossible.