Façade retrieval request on a single rope above a live pavement
You are the IRATA Level 3 supervisor on a 92 m city office façade sealant replacement. The building owner wants to keep the pavement open and the bus stop in service. The roof anchor plan lists six certified eyebolts, but the anchor you need at the north-east corner is a 20-year-old painted eyebolt that does not appear on the certificate. A Level 1 technician with 420 logged hours is asked to descend on a single rope to retrieve a window-cleaning cradle stuck at level 19, 'five minutes'. Wind is 14 knots gusting 22, and the building creates a wind tunnel at the corner. Below, the pedestrian barrier is only 3 m from the drop zone. The permit covers 'façade sealant works' only. Your team has two ropes, backup devices, tool lanyards and a rescue kit.
1. What do you do before anyone leaves the roof, and how do you answer the single-rope request?
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Stop the task. The retrieval is not covered by the permit or method statement, so the permit must be revised or a new permit issued before work. Refuse the single-rope request: IRATA rope access uses a primary rope and an independent backup rope with a backup device, anchored separately. A 'five-minute' task is still work at height, and the risk of suspension, anchor failure or a fall is not reduced by duration.
Before descent: (1) confirm the anchor is on the certified schedule and inspected by a competent person; the painted 20-year-old eyebolt is not acceptable without documented inspection/NDT and engineering approval; (2) rig two independent systems and confirm the backup device is compatible with the rope and correctly set; (3) write a task-specific rescue plan covering who rescues, from where, with what kit, communication and estimated response time - the Level 1 has not drilled on this building, so brief and drill the lower; (4) reassess wind at the corner; 14 gusting 22 knots is near the limit and the wind tunnel may exceed it; if in doubt, stop; (5) establish an exclusion zone below, including the bus stop and pavement; 3 m is not adequate for a 92 m drop; (6) confirm supervision and communication so the Level 3 can monitor the Level 1 and initiate rescue.
If the cradle can be retrieved from inside the building or with a pole, use that instead. Do not let schedule pressure turn a retrieval into a non-compliant single-rope descent.
2. The owner refuses to close the pavement or bus stop. How do you manage the dropped-object risk?
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Treat the refusal as a design constraint, not a waiver. The duty is to protect people below; if the public cannot be excluded, the work method must change. First assess the drop zone properly: a tool or rigging component falling 92 m can bounce or be deflected by the façade, so a 3 m barrier is not a credible exclusion. Options include closing the pavement and relocating the bus stop for the work period; working outside service hours; using a fully netted or encapsulated work zone; tool tethering and secondary retention on every item; closed tool bags and a controlled tool transfer line; forbidding loose items on the rope; and using an engineered catch net or fan guard if approved.
If none of these can be achieved, do not rig. Explain to the owner that the permit and IRATA method require a safe exclusion and that the client's convenience does not override the risk. Record the decision and escalate to your member company and the building's responsible person. A dropped object is a foreseeable incident, not an accident.
3. The Level 1 asks to clip into the stuck cradle as an anchor. What do you say?
Read the worked answer
No. The cradle is not a certified anchor, its load capacity and attachment are unknown, and it may move or fail when loaded. It is also the object being recovered, so loading it changes the task. Use the certified roof anchors with independent ropes. If the cradle must be stabilised, use a separate tag line or a controlled pull from a safe position, not as life support.
Explain the reasoning: an anchor must be suitable, stable and strong enough for the intended load, with documented inspection. A window-cleaning cradle is designed for suspension from its own system, not for a rope access back-up. If there is no compliant anchor, the task stops.