How to Become a Rope Access Technician?

Do you like heights and are fascinated by climbing? Does the idea of an office job terrify you? If so, then becoming a rope access technician may be the best option for you. It’s a less popular job but one that offers great excitement, not one boring moment and a variety of brand-new skills. Do you have what it takes to become a rope access technician? Would it truly be the best for you and help you live a more fulfilling life? Find out below what it’s really about and what you need to do to get started.

The Many Jobs of Rope Access Technicians

The everyday life of a rope access technician is linked to heights, that’s a piece of information everyone is aware of. What exactly does their job consist of though? Rope access technicians carry out different tasks each day, depending on the needs of their clients. Overall, they take care of spaces that are too high for regular people to reach.

They can clean, paint, repair and so on. They have to undergo training to get the proper skills to be able to get it done though. Although these may seem like basic tasks, once we add heights to the equation, they become a lot more complicated. Rope access technicians don’t have a problem with any of it though as they need to take a course and truly learn their profession before they can start working. It’s not an innate ability, it’s all about hard work and dedication.

The Skills You’ll Need as a Rope Access Technician

Of course, there are some prerequisites for this job. Not just anyone can become a rope access technician. Only a person who’s over the age of 18 and who can handle it from the physical point of view. It’s definitely not a piece of cake so only after the training and getting all the necessary skills, can a person become a rope access technician. It’s a demanding job and requires a lot of know-how and very specific abilities.

If you’re determined to become a rope access technician though, you absolutely can, you just need to be aware of the rather heavy workload. It’s not an office job, but it has its own challenges and is definitely not for slackers. What is a rope access specialist? It’s a person who can complete a lot of useful tasks while being connected to a rope and far above the ground.

The Proper Training to Become a Rope Access Technician

There are a couple of training levels during the training. It’s all controlled by IRATA, so the skill sets are always on the same levels, wherever you are in the world. There are exactly three training levels that you can complete to become the most skilled at what you do and learn everything that you should know.

The first level is the most basic, and you can start working after finishing it. But there are still a few more skills you could pick up to simply become better and more confident at completing various tasks while stuck to a rope. The second and third levels provide you with a deeper understanding of all that, and they give you new abilities that make you even safer and more comfortable when you’re in the air.

The Levels of Training for Rope Access Technicians

You don’t have to get all the levels of training done, it depends on your own preferences, but your potential employers might want you to be more experienced and after more than just one course. It truly depends on your ambitions and the offer you can find. The training for rope access technicians prepares them for the challenges they’ll face on the job, and make them be able to overcome any kind of difficulty without risks and danger. It’s rather safe, provided you’ve completed the course and that you use the right equipment.

At the beginning of your journey with rope access, you need to have some people who are more skilled and experienced than you to teach you the new skills and to make sure that you’re doing it right. They need to supervise you at all times to ensure that everything is safe and that you can truly learn a new skill without the risk of falling or suffering any kind of injury.

Should You Start a Career as a Rope Access Technician?

Is rope access a good career? It is. It’s a lot more exciting than many other careers, and you’ll have some very impressive skills that other people will most likely just never get. Also, you’ll stay in shape, as this kind of job requires your muscles to work all the time, so rope access technicians are always strong and fit, which is yet another perk that an office job just couldn’t offer you. As you make progress in your training, you’ll get new certificates and have more job opportunities. Becoming a rope access technician is an easy way of combining a hobby, old or new, with work and getting paid. Rope access technicians have a demanding and responsible job, but at the same time, it can be a lot of fun.

At this point there’s probably one more thing you’re curious about. How much do rope access technicians get paid in the UK? It depends mainly on your level of experience. As you make progress and finish new levels of training, you’re likely to get paid more than at the very beginning of your career as a rope access technician. The ones with the most experience and the proper training, those who are the most reliable and skilled earn the most.

The Salary and Schedule of a Rope Access Technician

The income is not steady though. A lot of the time, a work day of rope access technicians is a bit more complicated than a work day of a person working in an office. They don’t have fixed schedules usually, it all depends on what needs to be done. Sometimes they’ll work full days every day for a week or so when they’re involved in a bigger project but other times it’s less predictable than that.

Sometimes they just wait for someone to call and then go do smaller tasks when they’re needed. So the amount of money rope access technicians make is truly different for each of them. It depends on the amount of work they have, their experience, and the skills and certificates they have. For this reason it’s not easy to give a clear answer to the question “how much does a rope access technician make?”

Get Qualified as a Rope Access Technician

You can’t get all the IRATA qualification levels at once, even if you’re really determined. They’re linked not only to the skills that you can learn but also to the experience you get through working as a rope access technician, so to get to the next levels, you need to be actively working in this field.

If you want to get any kind of job done that involves working with heights and don’t think that becoming a rope technician is a possible solution for you, then you should find a company that can get it done for you. Look for one that has extensive experience and truly knows how to get anything done. Always remember that it’s best to get a service provider who’s based in your general area to get the job done for you, it’s simply the easiest and the most cost-effective option. If you’re in London, check out R.A.I.L. Rope Access in London will get any kind of job done for you in no time with amazing results guaranteed.