Subcontractor cards, first aid and member company status
You are Level 3 supervisor for an IRATA Member Company on a 10-day façade contract. A subcontractor arrives with three technicians. Technician A holds a Level 2 card that expired 18 days ago. Technician B holds a valid Level 1 card but her first aid certificate expired four months ago. Technician C holds a valid Level 3 card, but the IRATA online database shows the subcontractor's member company status is suspended; C's logbook shows 1,050 hours, but the last 300 hours are unsigned. The subcontractor's office manager says the cards are 'just paper' and the client wants all three on site tomorrow because the schedule has slipped by two days. Your own company's IRATA membership and insurance are current. The work involves rope access on a 70 m façade above a covered walkway. You have not yet seen the subcontractor's method statement, rescue plan or insurance certificate.
1. What verification steps do you complete before any of the three is deployed?
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Verify identity and certification at source, not from photocopies. For each technician: check photo ID against the person; check the IRATA certificate card and the online IRATA database for name, level, certificate number, assessment date and expiry; confirm the card is current and the level matches the task. Check that first aid certification is current, because IRATA requires a current first aid certificate. Review the logbook for hours, countersignatures and relevant experience; unsigned hours are not verified. Check the subcontractor's IRATA member company status, insurance, method statement, rescue plan and risk assessment. Confirm site induction and task-specific competence. Check medical fitness/self-declaration as required by your company. Record the checks and keep copies.
Do not accept 'the card is just paper' or a verbal assurance. Verification is not a formality: if the card, first aid, member status or insurance is not valid, the technician is not deployable as an IRATA technician on this contract.
2. Which technicians can start tomorrow, and what do you do about the others?
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On the facts, none can be cleared as presented. Technician A's Level 2 card expired 18 days ago; an expired certificate is not valid, and A cannot work as a Level 2 until reassessed and recertified. Technician B's Level 1 card is valid, but her first aid certificate expired four months ago; she cannot be deployed until she holds a current first aid certificate. Technician C's Level 3 card is valid, but the subcontractor's member company status is suspended and 300 hours are unsigned; C cannot be supplied under that company, and the unsigned hours need verification. C could only be considered if your member company engages C directly, verifies the logbook and competence, and completes induction - that is a contractual decision, not a workaround.
Tomorrow, either use your own verified technicians or delay the subcontractor scope. Do not put A or B on the ropes 'under supervision' as a loophole: an expired certificate is expired at any level. Ask the subcontractor to provide valid replacements or evidence of reassessment; do not let the schedule slip override the check.
3. The client insists all three start. How do you handle and document the refusal?
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State the position in writing: the technicians are not deployable because the certificates, first aid or member company status do not meet the contract and IRATA requirements. Explain the consequences: invalid certification can void insurance, breach the client's own contractor requirements, and create serious safety and legal exposure. Offer options: delay that scope, use your verified team, or have the subcontractor replace or recertify the technicians. Escalate to your operations manager and the client's authorised representative.
Record the refusal in the site diary, the permit and an email; keep the verification evidence. Do not sign the subcontractor's cards or logbooks as a substitute for proper assessment. If the client directs you to proceed anyway, stop work and escalate. A Level 3's authority to stop unsafe work includes stopping non-compliant personnel.