March 2008 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
Since 1994, Ropeworks has worked to establish rope access as a recognized and professional alternative to conventional work-at-height methods. Looking at one indicator of the acceptance of rope access, the number of technicians certified to third-party standards has grown exponentially in the last year - many of these candidates choosing Ropeworks for their training.
SPRAT, for example, more than doubled the number of technicians certified in 2007 over the previous year! Perhaps tightening budgets and stricter safety standards have cast the efficiency and safety of rope access in a positive light. We give credit to our many partners and our dedicated team for influencing the way work at height is done today and will be done tomorrow.
We hope to get a chance to share with you our enthusiasm for our work again soon!
-Team Ropeworks
It was a great success, providing a unique venue for rope access professionals to get together, work on policy, debate best practices, and share ideas. Among the topics covered: evaluation standards, the state of the industry, standards for anchors, work on the world's tallest free-standing structure in Canada, and the embryonic state of rope access in Mexico. On Saturday conference attendees toured the PMI manufacturing and testing plant, then helped launch the first Rope Access Olympics.
Ropeworks will be hosting the 2009 SPRAT annual meeting in Reno/Lake Tahoe. We look forward to seeing you there!
Rope Access Olympics The athletes competed in three events: Speed Climbing, Pick-off Rescue, and Obstacle Course. The first two events were designed to be consistent from year to year, while the obstacle course was unique to the venue. Jordan Willis from AMS (Toronto, Canada) and Tim Madere from Rope Access Technologies (New Orleans, USA) each took Gold in the Speed Climbing and Pick-off Rescue events respectively. Ropeworks' staff members Chad Shearer and Jan Holan took the Gold and Silver respectively for the overall combined event. Congratulations! Now it's your turn to unseat them at next year's event through training and practice. Official Rope Access Olympic Regulations
Annual staff refresher training at the Ropeworks National Training Center
In This Issue
SPRAT Annual Meeting Rope Access Olympics ASTM Rope Access Standard Staff Profile: Ben Ragains Chad Shearer appointed Evaluator Ropeworks Referral Program
Mar 24-25 - Tower Rescue Mar 26-28 - Rope Access Refresher Apr 7-11 - Rope Access (SPRAT) Apr 21-22 - Tower Rescue May 5-9 - Rope Access (SPRAT) Jun 9-13 - R.A. (SPRAT/IRATA) complete calendar
Chad Shearer at lightning speed rescueing "Randy" on his way to Gold in the Combined at the first annual Rope Access Olympics.
ASTM Standard for Rope Access ASTM released its first Rope Access Standard (E 2505 - 07) on August 1, 2007. This 9 page standard falls under the ASTM committee E06 "Performance of Buildings" but covers rope access as applied to various structures, not just buildings. This is a big step forward for rope access since it is the first major standards organization based in North America that has an approved rope access standard. Most of the document follows similar lines to SPRAT Safe Practices and Certification Requirements. A few notable differences are mentioned in the full article.
Ropeworks Referral Program As a token of our appreciation for spreading the word, existing customers who refer a new customer to Ropeworks for training or equipment will get a $50 credit to their Ropeworks account when the new customer completes their first order of $100 or more. We'll also put the new customer on our frequent customer discount schedule (approximately 5%). Simply email the name and email address of the customer you are referring to mail@ropeworks.com and we'll take care of the rest.
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