In order to avoid a hazard, reduce rope stretch, or access an otherwise difficult to reach area, you can re-position the ropes in your system by installing a re-anchor (aka re-belay) any distance below the primary anchor. This secondary set of anchors will need to satisfy the same standards as the primary anchors for strength and rigging methods.
What are those standards? According to WorkSafe BC in Part 34, Rope Access, these are the standards whose requirements every anchor should satisfy:
- CAN/CSA Z259.15-12 – Anchorage connectors
- CAN/CSA Z271-10 – Safety code for suspended platforms
- EN 795:2012 – Personal fall protection equipment – Anchor devices
If you don’t know how to read a standard, you can read this.
During your IRATA Assessment, L2 and L3 certifying techs will be asked to demonstrate competence correctly rigging a re-anchor at height.
If you’re certifying as a L2 tech, the re-anchor will have an offset of less than 1.5m.
If you’re certifying as a L3 tech, the offset may be any distance apart.
No matter how you rig this (and multiple knots and methods are acceptable), you’ll always need to consider the ease of use (how easy is the re-anchor to pass?) and also how a rescue operation would take place. Since a rig-for-rescue system cannot be rigged with a re-anchor, a plan for an intervention rescue will need to be included in the Safety Method Statement. Only L2 and L3 techs are certified to pass a small re-anchor with a casualty, so you’ll also need to ensure that while on the job, those techs are accessible and in a position to act quickly should the need arise.
Pro tip: Particularly if you’re working with a large offset, a shallow re-anchor loop will make access and rescue more difficult. If you find you can’t avoid this (this will be more relevant to L3’s), make sure you let your assessor know, and that you understand the consequences and how you’ll be working around them.
Speaking of consequences… although we hope that you’ll never have to experience equipment failure, malfunctions do happen and while in suspension you should be planning ahead. During your training week, we’ll look at what might happen should various pieces of equipment malfunction, and how to avoid any negative consequences.
Deviations are another option for re-positioning the ropes. We’ll also go over the differences between deviations and re-anchors during your training week.
Additional resources to check out:
TACS 6.4.7 for the source material for this blog.
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This is part of an ongoing series, where we’re breaking down IRATA’s syllabus and clarifying exactly what ‘demonstrating competence’ and ‘demonstrating awareness’ means, and what will be expected of you on assessment day. As an IRATA L2 certifying tech, you’re expected to be fully competent with the L1 Syllabus. To return back to the IRATA L2 Study Guide or IRATA L3 Study Guide, click below:
