I Want To Be A Rope Access Technician. What Will My Salary Be?

Though training programs typically only take one week to complete, rope access technicians are required to log 1,000 hours and 12 months on the job before advancing to the next level.

I want to be a rope access technician. What will my salary be? Industrial rope access technicians are hired to do a range of tasks that are made more difficult because they have to be done while wearing a harness and suspended from a rope. Tasks range from high-rise window cleaning to the repair and inspection of infrastructure – such as power plants, wind turbines and bridges – which can only be reached by rope.

“A rope access technician is basically a jack of all trades, a handyman that works on rope systems in a variety of industries,” said Greg Korpela, the general manager of Canadian Rope Access Specialists, which offers training in Vancouver and Montreal. “The trade skill is being able to move around on rope, and the specific task depends on the industry.” Mr. Korpela adds that rope access technicians are used most frequently by the energy industry for basic maintenance and inspection.

Salary: There are three training levels for industrial rope access technicians, each with its own average hourly wage. Level one rope access technicians earn between $20 and $30 an hour, level two technicians earn between $25 and $35 an hour, while level three technicians typically earn between $35 and $60 an hour.

Furthermore, rope access technicians who have additional trade skills and are qualified to complete more complex tasks on ropes are paid a premium. Mr. Korpela says that rope access technicians also enjoy a high proportion of overtime pay.

“Most of the time when we’re called in somewhere, it’s for some maintenance task, and often that requires a shutdown of some kind, so you have this big industrial facility that isn’t making money because this maintenance task has to happen,” he said. “Sky’s the limit in terms of pricing, they just need to get it done now, which means the hours are sometimes incredibly long.”

Salaries range widely based on location, work frequency, and overtime pay. Mr. Korpela estimates that level one technicians typically earn between $25,000 and $60,000 a year, while level three technicians can make anywhere from $50,000 to $140,000 annually. Level two technicians typically fall somewhere in between, earning between $40,000 and $90,000.

Education: While some provinces, including Alberta and British Columbia, have strict rope access regulations in place, others have yet to adopt them. According to Mr. Korpela, however, uncertified rope access technicians are unlikely to find work in any province, for insurance and liability reasons.

“There might not be a legal requirement for people to have training, but in practice in the industry, no rope access company would hire anyone that isn’t trained,” he said.

Rope access technician training programs can be found all across Canada. Students typically complete a week-long, 32-hour, hands-on course at a training facility for a cost of approximately $2,000, depending on the level of training, before being tested by a third-party trade association, such as the International Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) or the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT).

“It’s a performance-based test; they go through all the manoeuvres,” Mr. Korpela says. “It’s a three-strikes-and-you’re-out situation, so any safety infraction or anything considered even a little unsafe, on the third strike you’re removed from the program and you need to do it again.”

Though training programs typically only take one week to complete, rope access technicians are required to log 1,000 hours and 12 months on the job before advancing to the next level.

“The facilities are often in remote locations, so you might be flying up to some remote mountain environment, crawling through tunnels, going down dark shafts, you might end up in the tar sands working in an oil and gas refinery,” he said.

Job prospects: While the oil and gas industry provides better-than-average job prospects in the western provinces, there are job opportunities for certified rope access technicians across Canada and abroad.

But Mr. Korpela says that level one rope access technicians often struggle to find work when they begin their careers.

“People who have never logged any hours, companies tend to shy away from them a little bit,” he said. “Once you get out there and you’ve accumulated a few hours, people know you can do the job and your employability goes way up.”

Level three rope access technicians are in constant demand, not just in Canada but all around the world. That is because industry standards require a top-level industrial rope access technician to act as supervisor on each job site. As a result, level three technicians are flown around the world to supervise projects in places where there are a lack of qualified professionals.

Challenges: Finding work as a beginner is difficult for new entrants to the industry, while sporadic and inconsistent hours make it difficult to predict work schedules and annual pay. Furthermore, Mr. Korpela says, industrial rope access technicians often work in some “fairly undesirable conditions.”

“The facilities are often in remote locations, so you might be flying up to some remote mountain environment, crawling through tunnels, going down dark shafts, you might end up in the tar sands working in an oil and gas refinery,” he said.

Why they do it: Mr. Korpela says that each industrial rope access technician is attracted to the job for different reasons. While some come from mountaineering backgrounds and enjoy working outdoors, others enjoy the variety of projects and travel opportunities, while others simply enjoy a job that, as Mr. Korpela put it, provides a salary “disproportionate to the amount of training it takes.”

Misconceptions: According to Mr. Korpela, most people have no idea what an industrial rope access technician is, and those who do assume it’s a very risky job.

“There’s a perception that it’s a dangerous thing,” he said. “People that are not in the know see us hanging on a rope and think it’s dangerous, but it’s really not.”

In fact, according to a 2013 health and safety report by IRATA, there were only two fatalities in the industry between 2009 and 2013 in a working population of 30,000. According to the report, “the accident rate for work on rope was 0.46 per 100,000 hours worked for all injuries, maintaining a rate of less than 0.5 [reported accidents per 100,000 hours on the job] for the last four consecutive years.”

Quick Quirky Window Cleaning News

Mr Amroliwala, 50, was quick to admit his failure to pay his window cleaner. He told colleagues: 'Rather than risk being on the Wanted board I've paid!'

Embarrassment for BBC Crimewatch presenter forced to cough up £20 owed to window cleaner after complaint sent to show - Matthew Amroliwala (pictured) was confronted with a text from his former window cleaner demanding payment. As a Crimewatch presenter, he is used to hearing from the victims of crooks and conmen. But when one viewer contacted the show, Matthew Amroliwala found himself in the uncomfortable position of admitting he was the culprit. While looking through Crimewatch correspondence, the BBC journalist was confronted with a text from his former window cleaner demanding payment. It said: ‘I’m Matthew Amroliwala’s window cleaner. He’s moved and he owes me £20.’ Mr Amroliwala, 50, was quick to admit his guilt, according to The Guardian newspaper. He told colleagues: ‘Rather than risk being on the Wanted board I’ve paid!’
Until moving house recently, Mr Amroliwala lived in Haringey, north London, with his wife Jackie and four children. The presenter joined Crimewatch in 2008 as part of a revamp of the BBC1 show following the departure of Fiona Bruce. Co-hosting it alongside Kirsty Young and Martin Bayfield, he presents the ‘How They Were Caught’ section, explaining solved cases. He also gives updates on previous cases covered by Crimewatch. On top of his Crimewatch duties, Mr Amroliwala presents for the BBC News Channel and reads BBC1’s weekend news bulletins. The former foreign correspondent presented during the London July 7 bomb attacks in 2005, and has reported from Northern Ireland and from Bosnia during the Balkans conflict. First broadcast in 1984, Crimewatch reconstructs major unsolved crimes to help gather more information from witnesses.

Working closely with police forces the BBC1 show’s public appeals boast an impressive crime solving rate, with a third of cases featured leading to an arrest and one in five leading to conviction. Some of the show’s most famous solved crimes include the murder of schoolgirl Sarah Payne in 2000 and the murder of two-year-old Jamie Bulger in 1993. In 1999, Crimewatch was engulfed in tragedy when the programme’s presenter Jill Dando was murdered by an unidentified gunman outside her home in Fulham, west London. A BBC spokesman declined to comment.
 

A MAX train stalled at Northwest First Avenue and Couch has knocked out MAX service in the central city. Click to enlarge.

MAX line between Rose Quarter and Jeld-Wen Field stalled by mechanical problem: MAX trains are not running between the Rose Quarter and Jeld-Wen Field because of a mechanical issue. The issue: A window washer's rope has reportedly become tangled with a MAX power line in Old Town. TriMet is working on the problem and officials say shuttle buses are being used along the section of light-rail lines not operating. Trains are operating along the Green and Yellow lines in downtown Portland and outside the central city, however.

Window washers' rope snares MAX train, shuts down lines: Portland - An unusual accident with a MAX train caused delays Wednesday with the Red and Blue Line. TriMet said it appears window washers dropped a rope from a platform in the Old Town section of downtown and it became entangled with the electrical contact arm on top of a train and "destroyed" the apparatus, which is known as a pantograph. TriMet said in a tweet that "Blue and Red line trains are not operating between Rose Quarter and JELD-Wen Field stations due to a mechanical problem." They also said shuttle buses would take passengers to their destinations and the delay could last "3 to 4 hours" while crews make repairs. The incident took place at about 10:15 a.m.

75 year old Norman Gibbins is retiring from his window cleaning round. Norman is pictured at home in Acton. Click to enlarge.

Sudbury: After a life of ups and downs 75-year-old Norman Gibbins finally retires from window cleaning: And after more than 30 years cleaning windows Norman Gibbins has a few stories to tell. But there will be no confessions from this faithfully Sudbury window cleaner. This week, the popular 75-year-old hung up his bucket and chamois for the last time, much to the chagrin of those living on Cross Street. Every Friday since 1980, almost without fail, Norman could be seen on top of a ladder on the busy thoroughfare buffing up the window panes. His kind character and chirpy banter have made him a favourite with all the householders he served to the point where one satisfied customer put a plaque up in his honour.

“Cross Street is a big part of my life and I’ll miss the people although I won’t miss the winters. Over the years I’ve put on more layers and I ended up looking like a Michelin Man,” said Norman, who is only stopping work because of failing eyesight. “I started window cleaning because I was made redundant from a previous job. I then started painting the exteriors of houses. Over the years I built up a good clientele on Cross Street and they have all treated me with kindness.”

And it would seem the feeling is mutual. Owner of the street’s famous Moot Hall, Roy Rawden, even had a brass plaque erected to mark one particular paint job Norman carried out a few years back. And his discretion has also won him fans. When asked for some racy stories from more than three decades of looking through people’s windows, Norman will only go as far as to say: “Let’s just say I’ve had a few curtains drawn in my face.” Cross Street resident Frances Butler added: “Norman is a local institution and has kept this street in good order over many years. He is well-liked and an example to as all for the way he conducts himself.” 

75 year old Norman Gibbins is retiring from his window cleaning round. Norman is pictured at home in Acton. Click to enlarge.