Rope Access

GEOACCESS WORKING AT HEIGHT

Our fully qualified team can carry out any aspect of working at height quickly and efficiently providing cost benefits and minimal disruption to our clients.  Our team of highly experienced technicians, all of whom are geotechnical engineers, civil engineers, geologists and ecologists are well situated to cover working at height activities throughout the UK and further afield. Our technicians hold IRATA, IPAF & PASMA certifications.

Working at Height activities that we have previously conducted include:

 

  • Earthwork Inspections
  • Structural Inspections (detailed and visual)
  • NDT testing
  • Bespoke Geotechnical Investigations
  • Rock Scaling
  • Vegetation Clearance and Management
  • Theme Park Ride Inspections

WHY USE GEOACCESS

At GeoAccess we take pride in our ability to tackle every job no matter how big or small, with the same professional flexible approach, believing that anything is possible allowing us to deliver cost effective innovative solutions to our client’s needs.

We have a continuously evolving regime of work procedures that are implemented, and which are monitored for compliance, to ensure that a safe system of work is established and maintained at all times. This sets GeoAccess apart from other rope access companies that are not subject to such rigorous monitoring, controls and robust training.

Like any other method for working at height, the application of rope access should be regarded as a complete system, in which planning, management, competence and suitable equipment should be treated with equal importance, as each is dependent on the other to ensure a safe system of work.

GeoAccess is proud to follow the IRATA International Code of Practice (ICoP), considered the gold standard by many, which gives recommendations and guidance on the use of rope access methods in order to provide a safe system of work.

ROPE ACCESS

What Is Rope Access?

Rope access is a safe method of working at height where ropes and/or associated equipment are used to gain access to and from the work site.

Rope Access can be divided into 3 categories;

WORK RESTRAINT – A method to allow the task to be undertaken and to prevent a risk of a fall from height to develop.

WORK POSTIONING – Having 2 points of attachment to 2 independent anchors by ropes or lanyards to gain access to the site of work.

FAIL ARREST – Using equipment which protects the worker who is already in the process of falling by stopping the fall after it has happened. Equipment consists of an anchorage, connectors, a body belt or body harness and may include a lanyard, deceleration device, lifeline or suitable combinations of these.

Why use Rope Access?

The advantage of using rope access methods mainly lies in the safety and speed with which workers can get to or from difficult locations in order to carry out their work, often with minimal impact on other operations, surrounding areas and the environment. Another major benefit is the reduction of the combination of the total man-hours and perceived level of risk for a particular task (man-at-risk hours) when compared with other means of access and their associated risks and costs.

The primary objective when using rope access methods is to carry out the work efficiently, with minimal disruption, accidents, incidents or dangerous occurrences. In order to ensure a safe system of work is maintained at all times careful planning and documented risk assessments are undertaken for each operation.

What is Working at Height?

Work at height means work in any place where, if precautions were not taken, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury.

You are working at height if you:

  • work above ground/floor level
  • could fall from an edge, through an opening or fragile surface or
  • could fall from ground level into an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground

Working at Height Regulations

The Working at Height Regulations dictates a hierarchy of control measures that needs to be considered before any work begins.  GeoAccess can advise clients and implement any stage of the following working at height controls;