Rope access technicians are specialists in work carried out in high and difficult-to-reach places. They accomplish many missions using a variety of skills inherited from mountaineering.
Wherever scaffolding and access platforms are insufficient to provide perfectly safe access, rope access technicians are called in to work on the project. Their workplaces are varied, ranging from industrial sites to historic monuments, confined spaces to the rooftops of Paris.
When the required know-how is specific to other trades, rope access technicians learn from skilled professionals in order to reproduce their actions.
In France, 8,500 rope access technicians ply this trade that is unlike any other, a blend of precision, teamwork, risk analysis and a passion for heights.
On the Notre-Dame de Paris site
Rope access technicians have intervened on a great many high-level operations on the Notre-Dame de Paris project, acting as the eyes and hands of the different trades on all operations in elevated and hard-to-reach areas.
During the securing phase, rope access technicians helped clear away the vestiges of roof timbers that had fallen on the cathedral’s vaulted ceiling. Assisted by crane operators and access-platform workers, they also dismantled 40,000 pieces of damaged scaffolding one by one. Rope access technicians also positioned tarpaulins, arches and nets in zones affected by the fire, and finally consolidated the rib stringers at the transept crossing. As many as 40 rope access technicians intervened simultaneously on the Notre-Dame de Paris project.
During the restoration, rope access technicians continue to intervene on complex operations carried out at great height.
How to become a rope worker?
Rope access technicians are, first and foremost, professionals in a technical trade to which they have added specific construction training in order to carry out their work at great height. A professional qualification certificate (CPQ) for rope access technicians is required for practitioners of this trade.
After acquiring initial experience as a rope access technician, a further 8-month specialization course leads to the "Rope access technician" (CATC) vocational certification.
