Ropewrench PPE?

[Old Mill Tree Care]

It all starts to get silly, a lanyard is a secondary positioning support aid and not in my opinion a life line.

A RW is part of a greater system as has to be viewed like that surely, anyone should be able to see that it's a sound piece of kit and fit for purpose and any good loler inspector should mark it as such even without ce mark.

 

A lanyard is not just a work positioning aid. It IS a life support system because you hang from it entirely when you need to throw your rope up during ascent or move your anchor or set your anchor.

 

I'm amazed at this thread. My RW is part of a life support system but not an essential part because all the other components will function in a life support role without the RW.

I consider the RW to be a friction management device only, as it clearly will not stop me falling. It's not designed to.

 

A loler inspector should understand this if he has a competent knowledge and understanding of an arborists requirements and safety criteria.

If not, he's not competent to sign off our gear.

 

Those of you who are 'campaigning' for the RW to be rated as PPE should consider what is involved and the what this means at the end of the line. In short, the RW would retail a damn sight higher than it does now and so few would be sold, it would cease to be a viable business venture and disappear from the market.

 

It currently represents excellent value for money, IMO.

[Pete Mctree]

Tim, are you climbing the rope or the tree?

Edited March 3, 2012 by Pete Mctree

[DrewB]

I hear what your saying Pete and actually tried climbing with 2 ropes Ala irata to see if it worked. It was stupid hard to climb!!! The 3d environment means its twisting and tangling etc. in my mind I see no difference between srt and dbrt- it's still only one rope after all. I see no difference between a climbing line and a long lanyard, they both stop me falling if I cut one whilst using both. Whilst I'm 100% behind being as safe as possible and having high quality safe gear, I'd hate rules and regs to stifle innovation from smaller parties who don't have massive funds backing them.

[scotspine1]

Tim, are you climbing the rope or the tree?

 

both.

[Al Duffill]

What do you define as "work". My definition of work would be keeping you from hitting the deck. A hitch does a fine job of that without a wrench.

 

Jumping in here,not read all the posts. That is exactly my thoughts, the RW is a friction device to keep you from burning out hitch cord, if for some reason the RW became unusable you could still descend safely, no probs. Not ppe imo.

[Marc]

A lanyard is not just a work positioning aid. It IS a life support system because you hang from it entirely when you need to throw your rope up during ascent or move your anchor or set your anchor.

 

 

I consider the RW to be a friction management device only, as it clearly will not stop me falling. It's not designed to.

 

Those of you who are 'campaigning' for the RW to be rated as PPE should consider what is involved and the what this means at the end of the line. In short, the RW would retail a damn sight higher than it does now and so few would be sold, it would cease to be a viable business venture and disappear from the market.

 

It currently represents excellent value for money, IMO.

 

A lanyard is a support/secondary aid which supports a climbers weight, a life line to me is one which will get you to the ground!!

 

I'm not campaigning anything but common sense, and by that I mean we should support the RW in its current form and look to the future. I feel the RW is part of your system and should be logged under loler and all that involves (i.e inspecting and maintaining) regardless of wether it's ce rated or not as it forms part of your lifeline system if that makes sense.

 

I hear what your saying Pete and actually tried climbing with 2 ropes Ala irata to see if it worked. It was stupid hard to climb!!! The 3d environment means its twisting and tangling etc. in my mind I see no difference between srt and dbrt- it's still only one rope after all. I see no difference between a climbing line and a long lanyard, they both stop me falling if I cut one whilst using both. Whilst I'm 100% behind being as safe as possible and having high quality safe gear, I'd hate rules and regs to stifle innovation from smaller parties who don't have massive funds backing them.

 

The 2ropes was looked into by hse here but seen as impossible to use for much the reasons you found out. The rules and regs over here do not stifle innovation, just those who interpret them!

[Pete Mctree]

In my interpretation of the wahr, you climb the tree & use your rope for positioning. If we did anything else we would have to adhere to different legislation. Get the drift of what I am saying?

It is sometimes equally important to think about how we say things, not just what we say

[Pedroski]

In my interpretation of the wahr, you climb the tree & use your rope for positioning. If we did anything else we would have to adhere to different legislation. Get the drift of what I am saying?

It is sometimes equally important to think about how we say things, not just what we say

 

Makes sense. Start climbing the rope instead of the tree then the rope is for access rather than work positioning and fall arrest. So then I guess all the rope access malarkey would become relevant.

[softbankhawks]

In my interpretation of the wahr, you climb the tree & use your rope for positioning. If we did anything else we would have to adhere to different legislation. Get the drift of what I am saying?

It is sometimes equally important to think about how we say things, not just what we say

 

Who climbs DOWN a tree?!

And I'm sure that we all combine rope and tree climbing for up and out directions.

The 3 d aspect is what makes our systems so frustratingly complex!

 

Long live the (non ce'd) wrench!!

[D Mc]

Makes sense. Start climbing the rope instead of the tree then the rope is for access rather than work positioning and fall arrest. So then I guess all the rope access malarkey would become relevant.

 

But I thought rules and regs were not supposed to stifle innovation?

 

Rope access workers have rules relevant to what they do. Our work is not the same, so will not be safer or benefit from their work procedures.

 

Know what you do and why you do it. If you find a better way, and can prove it, be vocal and willing to fight for it.

 

Advancement cannot happen without going against the status quo.

 

Dave