Basic training - work at height using rope access techniques

Work on a rope is a category of its own and ordinary work at height training is not enough for it. Anyone who descends on a rope on a facade, in a shaft, on a mast or in a cave needs a licence card for special mountaineering and speleological techniques.

We go through the two rope technique, that is the working rope and the safety rope, anchor points and their load bearing capacity, building and backing up the anchor, descent and ascent on the rope, passing a knot and a deviation, work in suspension and positioning, protecting the rope against being cut on an edge, the check and the service life of the equipment, and above all the rescue of a second worker from the rope, the part that most companies leave out in practice.

The course ends with a written test and a practical examination. After that we issue a licence card for work at height carried out using special mountaineering and speleological techniques under Section 16(1)(a) of Act No. 124/2006 Coll.

The course is open to a person from 18 years of age who has completed compulsory basic schooling and holds a medical report on fitness for work that is not older than six months.

The licence card has to be kept valid. The familiarisation is repeated once every 12 months under Section 3(1) of Decree No. 147/2013 Coll., and updating professional training every five years under Section 16(8) of Act No. 124/2006 Coll. You can take both with us; the refresher training serves for that.

For ordinary work at height without a rope, the training for work at heights above 1.5 m is enough.

We train under Slovak regulations, which derive from Directive 2009/104/EC on the use of work equipment, valid throughout the European Union. In our experience the licence card is commonly recognised in the other member states.