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Announcement: ROPE ACCESS COURSE DATES FOR 2023

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ANNOUNCEMENT: ROPE ACCESS COURSE DATES FOR 2023

Once again we would like to thank each and everyone of you for your continued support. Without you we could not do what we are so passionate about; provide top quality training. We are pleased to announce our IRATA rope access course dates for 2023 and are ready to take bookings for these dates at our venue in Cape Town:

Training dates for 2023

  • 17 - 24 January
  • 7 - 14 February
  • 28 - 7 March
  • 23 - 30 March
  • 13 - 20 April
  • 9 - 16 May
  • 23 - 30 May
  • 8 - 13 June
  • 27 - 4 July
  • 18 - 25 July
  • 10 - 17 August
  • 5 - 12 September
  • 27 - 4 October
  • 17 - 24 October
  • 7 - 14 November
  • 28 - 5 December

Any changes or additional dates will be posted on our IRATA Course Dates page.

All our IRATA rope access training courses include

  • Four days of training at our centre in Cape Town, as required by IRATA. Plus a bonus day
  • Access to the latest rope access and safety equipment for training
  • High standard of training conducted by trainers with years of experience in the field.
  • Tea and coffee are provided every day
  • Braai, beers, and a gift on assessment day

Revalidation

If you need to revalidate soon, remember you can do so up to 6 months before your expiry date, and the original date will be carried forward. In other words, if you expire in July, you can do your revalidation in January, and your new expiry date will still be July.

Train until you pass: Our guarantee

If the trainer believes you may need extra training or, in the unlikely event that you are unsuccessful on assessment day, we will provide you with further training at no additional charge. We endeavour to maintain the high safety standards of IRATA, while ensuring you have been trained to work safely and have the best possible chance of passing your assessment.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact Carey or Sakie.

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9 Essential knots every Rope Access Technician should know

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9 Knots every rope access technician should know

Knots are a fundamental part of rope access. Each knot has its advantages and disadvantages, ranging from how much space they use to how much they weaken the rope. Therefore it is vital to know how to tie each knot, which is best for the task, and why.

Overhand Knot

The Overhand is one of the easiest knots to tie and forms the foundation of many other knots to follow. Most people would recognise an Overhand Knot without even knowing what it is. Lastly, knots should always be tied neatly and correctly. This knot is also known as a granny knot.

Re-threaded Overhand Knot

Following on from the Overhand is the Re-threaded Overhand. We use re-threaded knots to connect to a closed point. Like in the case of the re-threaded overhand, which is most often used to attach cowstails to the D-ring on a harness. 

Figure of eight

The Figure of Eight is the most commonly used knot for rope access rigging. We use the Figure of Eight (or a version thereof) because it is easily tied, quickly inspected, and untied even after it has been loaded. It also doesn’t use an excessive amount of rope. It is essential to leave a little excess when tying knots, such as in the Figure of Eight, particularly when rigging. In this situation, a 10cm tail is sufficient.

Re-Threaded Figure of eight

A Re-threaded Figure of Eight is used to tie directly into a closed point. Although this isn’t a common occurrence, it can be useful when you have limited headroom.

Figure of eight on a bite

This version of the Figure of Eight is simple to tie but easier to dress incorrectly and is mainly used in combination with a carabiner on an anchor point.

It is essential to always ensure your knots are correctly dressed. With the Figure of Eight on a bite and the re-threaded Figure of Eight, this is done by ensuring both ropes remain parallel to each other and don’t cross over at any point.

Double Figure of eight

A Double Figure of Eight, or Bunny Ears, is used for rigging off two anchor points not far apart. Take extra care to dress this knot properly and ensure the load is shared between both loops.

Alpine Butterfly

An Alpine Butterfly is a mid-rope knot that can be used for multi-directional loading. Unlike the knots mentioned above, when using an Alpine Butterfly. The knot and each end can be tension in different directions. It is used in large y hangs, and to create a temporary point mid-rope.

 

When you come across an Alpine Butterfly in a rope, it is crucial not to untie before you find out why it was put there. Technicians often use an Alpine Butterfly to isolate damaged sections of a rope temporarily.

Barrel knot

A Barrel Knot is an adjustable knot used to “lock” carabiners in and prevent them from cross-loading. It is most commonly used in pulley and rescue systems. Some technicians use Barrel Knots to secure carabiners to their cowstails. But these knots can become difficult to untie and inspect.

Stopper knot

A Stopper Knot is a simple but essential knot. It is tied near the end (+/- 500mm) of ropes to prevent a technician from abseiling off their ropes. A Stopper Knot can either be a Figure of  Eight (single) or a Barrel Knot (see above).

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9 Steps to putting on a rope access harness correctly

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9 STEPS: TO PUTTING A HARNESS ON CORRECTLY

Putting a harness on is something every rope access technician learns on the first day of their level one training. And even though all technicians will put a harness on most of their working days, many of them do it incorrectly. Doing so can be uncomfortable, make it harder to work, and cause injury.

Let's look at how to put a harness on correctly:

  1. Do a visual inspection of the harness, check the stitching, look for cuts or any other damage. Make sure the harness is the right size for you.
  2. Ensure none of the straps are tangled, and they are loosed sufficiently. Not doing so from the beginning can cause issues later on. 
  3. With the harness laid out on the ground, step into it, between the shoulder straps (Some manufacturers suggest putting the shoulder straps to one side then later lifting them over your head, but this can be challenging for taller people.) *
  4. Pull the harness up above your waist and bend forward so that it rests on your lower back. Tighten the waist belt pulling each strap equally, making sure it sits just above your hip bones.
  5. Tighten the leg loops enough to just be able to slide four fingers between your leg and the strap. If your leg loop has a buckle, ensure it is not twisted. A twisted leg loop buckle can sit in a very uncomfortable position. There have been some horrible accidents, particularly for guys, caused by loose leg loop straps. 
  6. Ask someone to help you adjust the rear of the chest harness. Make sure you do this before adjusting the front. The rear D (Dorsal) ring should be between the shoulder blades, and not too high up the back. This is a very common mistake, even amongst experienced technicians.
  7. Tighten the front of the chest strap, and make sure the rear D ring is still in the correct position.
  8. Do not overtighten the rear leg risers. Doing so will prevent you from being able to move your leg loops to alleviate strap compression while hanging on the ropes.
  9. As soon as you are in the natural sitting position on the rope, tighten your chest strap some more. A slack chest ascender can make climbing very difficult. This is a very common mistake for new technicians to make.

* Always follow manufacturers’ instructions

DO THIS:

NOT THIS:

NOT THIS:

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Train to Pass: Our Training Guarantee

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TRAIN TO PASS:  OUR TRAINING GUARANTEE

What is Train to Pass, and is it important? Train to Pass is our training guarantee. And what this means is that we will train you until you pass your IRATA assessment at no extra cost to you.

How do we do this? Our trainers know what to expect in an assessment therefore, they can generally tell if someone needs a little more time before they are assessed. If this happens, they can advise you beforehand and arrange for you to be assessed on a different day after a little more training. On the other hand, if you are unsuccessful on assessment day, we can also make arrangements for another assessment. You will not need to pay for the extra training or assessment. We know the IRATA course is a significant investment, and the last thing we want is our technicians worrying about losing their money when they should be focused on how to work safely.

How can we make such a guarantee? Ropeworkz already offers an extra day of training, which means our technicians are even more prepared for their assessments than most. That coupled with our excellent training team and well-equipped training facilities, very few of our technicians do not pass the first time. In fact, last year, less than 10% needed to be assessed a second time. Therefore we are confident in our abilities to prepare you for your assessment.

For more information, please contact Carey, our check out our IRATA course dates.

* Terms and Conditions apply

WHAT'S NEXT...

We discuss the 9 Steps to putting a harness on correctly.

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Equipment Review: Climbing Technology’s Quick Roll

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW: CLIMBING TECHNOLOGY’S QUICK ROLL

One of the manoeuvres you learn on your first day of rope access training at Ropeworkz is how to ascend on your descender. Not something you will need to do very often, but a helpful thing to know. There are a few ways to do this.

 

Firstly you can brute force it. This involves pulling the slack end of your rope through your descender and up as you ascend. Apart from being physically challenging, if not done correctly, you run the risk of your descender being shock loaded.

 

Alternatively, you can carry a pulley with you, attach it to your hand ascender and run the slack end of your rope through it. Pulling the rope down as you ascend requires less effort and will reduce the chance of shock loading your descender. However, this method means carrying extra equipment with you, is more time consuming, and runs the unnecessary risk of dropping gear.

 

Many of us were trained like this and still use one of these techniques. But then things started to change at Ropeworkz two years ago when we got our hands on Climbing Technology’s Quick Roll.

 

The Quick Roll is a hand ascender like most other hand ascenders, with an ergonomic grip, self-locking teethed cam and attachment holes. But with one significant difference, it has an integrated pulley designed specifically to make ascending with a descender easier.

 

With the Quick Roll, you can easily clip the slack end of your rope into the pulley built into the ascender’s handle with one hand. No extra equipment has to be attached, reducing the need to carry extra gear and the risk of dropping something.

 

We offer our technicians the opportunity to train with both a regular hand ascender and the Quick Roll, still teaching them the other ways to ascend on their descenders. But we have found when given the opportunity, the level 1’s often preferred using the Quick Roll. Our new full-time trainer, who has been an IRATA trainer for five years, gave his first course using the Quick Roll at Ropeworkz. He commented on how much easier it was to assist level 1’s in getting out of their mistakes, like recovering a loaded backup device, when using a Quick Roll.

 

But the Quickroll is not only for training venues and is an excellent piece of kit to have on any worksite. Window cleaners and painters who work so much with their descenders can quickly ascend to touch up a streak or smear. Offshore technicians who have to adjust their position regularly can do so with minimal effort.

 

The one thing that technicians need to be aware of is that the pulley is not suitable for hauling systems as it is only rated for 2kN, and it is only designed to make ascending easier.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does the Quick Roll come in left and right hand?

Yes, the Quick Roll comes in left hand (grey) and right hand (orange).

 

Is the pulley on the Quick Roll rated?
The pulley on the Quick Roll is rated to 2kN and is NOT to be used for lifting people or equipment.

 

How much does the Quick Roll cost?
R1625

 

How much does the Quick Roll weigh?
The Quick Roll weighs 255g.

WHAT'S NEXT...

What is Train to Pass?

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