Technical Access And Rescue Academy

Rope access risk management isn’t about focussing solely on ropes or fixating on tools. It’s about managing both at the same time.

Technicians need to see the full picture: the access system that gets you where you need to be, and the work task that keeps you busy once you’re there. Ignore either one, and gravity or the job task itself will remind you why risk management matters.

1. Identify the hazards
Start with the task and the access method together.
Ask: What are we doing, and how are we accessing it?

In rope access, hazards commonly include:
* Rope access hazards
* Working at height and in suspension
* Anchor selection, direction of load, and redundancy
* Rope paths, sharp edges, abrasion, heat sources
* Team make up and competency levels
* Rescue complexity, communication and casualty management

Work task hazards:
* Use of tools and equipment at height
* Dropped objects and material handling
* Dusts, fumes, noise, chemicals, or heat
* Awkward postures, overreach, and repetitive movements
* Interaction with structures, plant, or live services
Also consider setup, work, and derigging as separate phases. Each can introduce different hazards.

2. Identify who can be harmed and how
Think beyond the technician on the rope.
* Rope access technicians: falls, suspension trauma, task-related injuries
* Supervisors and ground crew: struck-by hazards, manual handling injuries
* Other contractors or occupants: falling objects, fumes, noise exposure
* Members of the public: uncontrolled access to exclusion zones

Be clear about how harm could occur as specific causes lead to effective controls.

3. Assess the risk and develop controls
For each hazard, consider, Likelihood Vs Severity
Apply the hierarchy of controls across both the access system and the work task:
* Eliminate: Avoid unnecessary exposure, redesign tasks, reduce time on rope
* Substitute: Different tools, materials, or access methods
* Engineering: Certified anchors, edge protection, tool tethers, capture systems
* Administrative: IRATA procedures, competent personnel, rescue plans, sequencing, exclusion zones
* PPE: Harnesses, helmets, respiratory, eye, hearing, and hand protection
PPE supports everything else. It doesn’t fix poor planning.

4. Document and communicate
The rule is simple: if the plan doesn’t make sense on the ground, it won’t make sense on the rope.

* Document both rope access and task-specific hazards in SWMS/JSA
* Clearly define the access system and the work being performed.
* Confirm rescue plans, exclusion zones, and task sequencing
* Brief the entire team and confirm understanding

Signatures don’t manage risk. Shared understanding does.

5. Monitor, review, and revise

Rope access work is never static. Weather shifts, tasks evolve, fatigue builds and other trades move into your space.

Monitor continuously. If anything changes, stop, reassess, and update controls.

Stopping work is a professional control, not a failure.

Good rope access is the balance between access, task, and judgement.

Hanging motionless in a harness might look calm, but inside the body it’s absolute chaos. Blood pools in the legs, the heart works overtime, and the brain starts missing out on O₂. Spoiler: your body is not a fan of this arrangement and it ain’t a fun time.

What’s going on under the hi-vis:
• Legs stop pumping blood uphill
• Heart rate and rhythm go full drunk uncle at a family get together. Elevated, off-beat, and nobody’s in control.
• Brain circulation drops and the lights can go out

The fix? Planning:
If you’re working at height, falls prevention comes first. After that, a proper rescue plan, trained competent crew who know the plan and their role, and gear ready to go. “She’ll be right” is not a rescue strategy.

And before we don the cape and red underwear, stop and risk assess before launching a rescue. You can’t help an injured person if you become one as well.

If someone ends up hanging:
Get them moving. Cycle the legs, wiggle the hips, stand up in the foot loop or suspension straps. Then get them rescued fast.

First aid: do what you’re trained to do. No more. No less.
This isn’t ER, you’re not George Clooney, and we don’t freestyle first aid.
If they’re unconscious, into the recovery position they go. No legs in the air like a newlywed bride. Just the recovery position.

Focus on the ABCs: Airway, Breathing, Circulation.
If you’ve got access to a defibrillator, get it.

If they’re conscious, let them drive. It’s their body. Sit them down in a position they’re comfortable in, check for injuries, and arrange medical follow-up.

Suspension trauma is rare but serious, and you need to plan for it as part of your rescue response.

Train well. Plan well. Prepare

Love what we do!

Technical Access And Rescue Academy

What a month, 13 techs through the training centre. Lots of laughs with a great bunch of guys. Congrats!!

Its been another great week of training at Wellingtons only NZ owned and operated IRATA Training venue.

Congratulations to all our candidates, another 100% pass rate for the team!!

What a week!

Another great week at TARA.

A full house and a 100% pass rate!

Congratulations to our successful candidates, Aotearoa’s newest batch of Level 1, 2 & 3 IRATA rope access technicians.

Technical Access And Rescue Academy

What a great day at the Porirua Careers expo informing the next generation of potential rope techs about our industry, and how they can move into and build a career with IRATA and News Zealand’s oldest and the Wellington region’s only NZ owned IRATA training provider!

Thank you to Porirua City Council for the invite and the great organisation!

An important update to IRATA’s Techconnnect platform and how it affects your IRATA training.

The key points are -

1. Its designed to allow technicians to directly manage and update their contact information and will eventually allow access to a digital certificate
2. Registration for technicians undertaking an IRATA assessment is compulsory from 30th May 2025
3. You require a passport, drivers licence or alternative government issued ID for registration
4. Registration is required to be completed 48 hours PRIOR to your scheduled assessment
5. No registration = no assessment

Please help us out by completing your registration prior to attending your training course and ensuring you bring your ID on the 1st day.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16NgtZCZXU/

IRATA TechConnect – IRATA’s newly rebranded technician portal, designed to streamline how Technicians manage their IRATA records online.

With TechConnect, you can:
✔️View & update your contact details online
✔️Access your assessment information in one place
✔️Browse job opportunities from IRATA Member Companies
✔️Access key IRATA documents, policies and guidance directly
✔️Easily order replacement certificates and ID cards
Digital certification is coming soon!

Stay connected and manage your IRATA certification more easily than ever. Visit https://irata.click/TechConnect to sign up today. Registration to TechConnect will become mandatory on 30th May 2025 for Technicians undertaking IRATA assessments.

Another great week of training with Wellingtons only NZ owned and operated IRATA Training provider. Thank you to all our candidates for making it the week that its was!

Our Feb course in full swing. Wellingtons only NZ owned and operated IRATA training venue

“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua”

Celebrating Waitangi and the agreement which binds us all to this land and to each other.