Ask the CEO
of any Major Insurance Carrier or IA provider company and you will learn that
crippling injuries and fatality falls from modern roof structures are a
credible threat to Property Claims Adjusters. In proof of this fact many
Insurance Carriers have outsourced their high risk roof claims to Ladder Assist
type organizations and at least a dozen or more “Rope and Harness” training
vendors have sprung up to capitalize on the situation.
WARNING: Most “Rope and Harness” training
programs are based on a “Sport Climbing” model and have NO connection with
modern Fall Protection as it is spelled out in OSHA regulations 1926.5 OR ANSI
Standards Z-359 and NO affiliation with today’s worldwide Professional Rope
Access Community.
PLEASE: Take time to educate yourself on the
facts before selecting a “Rope and Harness” training program.
Fact #1 – Sport Climbing and Rope Access are
two distinctly different industries with one dedicated to the recreational act
of climbing a structure and the other dedicated to climbing a rope for the
hands free access of a structure.
To illustrate this point consider
Sport Climbers Kevin Jorgenson and Tommy Caldwell who recently completed a 19
day, 3000ft climb up El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Had this same ascent
been completed using Rope Access it would have been completed in a couple of
hours with less than one tenth of one percent of the risk of injury that Kevin
and Tommy encountered.
Fact #2 – Legitimate Rope Access / Fall
Protection Instructors should hold a certification title as “Competent
Instructors” from an accredited training program recognized by the
worldwide Rope Access and/or Fall Protection training communities. The companies they work for should operate
under the direction of an accredited “Qualified Person” and proudly display the
exact standards of fall protection to which their program complies with.
Fact #3 – Rope and Harness training vendors
are not required to comply with OSHA standards for fall protection with respect
to their program attendees because attendees are not considered “employees”
of their company. Unscrupulous vendors count on the fact that most Property
Adjusters are ignorant of real fall protection facts and therefore have no
point of reference to call them on their errors.
ACRABAT (The Assoc. for Certified Rope Access Building Assessment Technicians) is currently the ONLY professional
organization dedicated to the promotion of ethical access / fall protection
training and practice for Property Claims Adjusters that is in full compliance
with the worldwide Rope Access & Fall Protection Communities. Their leaders
are active and participating members of the SPRAT (Society for Professional Rope Access Technicians) committees that develop Rope Access Guidelines
for today’s “Urban Environment”. Their standards for safe practice are
available for all to see at www.acrabat.org .
What Can Be Done to Impact Positive
Fall Protection Reform for the Property Claims Industry:
• Individual
Property Adjusters should educate themselves and others that “Sport Climbing”
is not a viable substitute for Rope Access forms of Fall Protection as it is
spelled out in ANSI standard Z-359.8 OR as recognized in SPRAT’s constitution
document “Safe Practices for Rope Access Work” or OSHA regulations for Fall
Protection 1926.5 or ACRABAT’s constitutional document “Rope Access Standards
for Pitched Roofing Systems” or any other credible document published on the
subject of “fall protection” in a work setting.
• Do Not accept or take part in any form of Fall
Protection training program that does not proudly display their training
credentials or compliance to ANSI/ OSHA work setting approved process. Let the
Sport Climbing training companies dry up and blow away from lack of patronage.
Sport Climbing Based Rope and Harness training vendors are easy to spot because
they do not use full body harnesses, helmets or rope climbing gear rated by the
manufacturer for hands free use (e.g. ATCs, Fig 8s or Grigris).
• Property Claims and Ladder Assist Employers
wield great power with respect for their conditions for worker candidates.
These employers should educate themselves on the facts of real Fall Protection
training and insist on compliance as a condition of employment.
