We’ve finally got an audit scheduled with IRATA, so all going to plan training should start in a few weeks. As soon as we get the official thumbs up we’ll post some dates and prices. In the meantime you can register your interest by sending us an email, and you’ll be assured first refusal on a place on a course.
Over the weekend Adam attended an IRATA workshop on the updating of the General Requirements – the IRATA course syllabus. This is only the beginning of the consultation process, and any changes will require a wide consensus, but some small but significant changes have been mooted. On Level 3 assessments for example, there is currently much variation in the level of risk assessment skills expected. Further defining the L3’s role should tighten this up, allowing the course to concentrate on more rope access specific work. Increasingly, supervisors carrying such responsibility are required to have the correct training anyway – as of this year, most large sites require supervisors to have attended the Supervisors’ Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS) course (similar to the CSCS card most of us carry) – which covers risk assessment more thoroughly than a rope access course can.
Proposed tweaks to the other courses are minor, but run along similar lines -trying to tighten up the syllabus so that the minimum standard is the same worldwide.
