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.”

Window Cleaning - Best Practice For Safety

Industry best practice is providing safer methods of cleaning and maintaining buildings whilst working at height, ensuring the industry meets complex building support requirements with expertise and trained, professional staff.

Window cleaning, best practice for safety: Darran Yates, operations director for the windows and industrial division of UK cleaning and FM specialist In Depth Managed Services, outlines best practice at one of the country’s largest teaching hospitals. As one of the UK’s leading teaching hospitals, Leeds General Infirmary has an international reputation for its expertise in a range of specialist services. It brings together many of the country’s leading specialists in caring for patients with complex conditions.

In such a busy healthcare environment, rigorous standards of hygiene are essential and the public, patients, and staff expect to see the sites clean and looking their best, both outside and in.
The façades of the multi-storey buildings are maintained by In Depth Managed Services, which has a dedicated windows and industrial division. This is one of six sites managed through a window cleaning contract with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Working at height regulation

Window cleaning is a skilled trade which has undergone a massive transformation, as windows get bigger, higher and more integral to design. The systems for maintaining high buildings are changing. Indeed, in January this year the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) overhauled its guidance on working at height in a bid to set out, ‘in clear and simple terms what to do and what not to do’.

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 (WAHR) set out the law as it applies in the UK. The regulations have not changed, but it’s important to get working at height right. Falls remain one of the biggest causes of serious workplace injury.

One of the key legal requirements is for competent, well trained people to plan, organise, supervise and carry out work at height. The regulations “apply to all work at height where there is a risk of a fall liable to cause personal injury.”

The need to ensure people understand what the law requires was identified in the independent review of health and safety regulation in the UK, undertaken by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt, and this proposal has been developed through the Red Tape Challenge.

Techniques and training

When it comes to window cleaning it’s in the interests not only of contractors but particularly of clients, too, that staff are qualified to the highest standards. This not only protects them as individuals, it also prevents accidents that could be costly and mar the reputations of both contractor and client. It’s important, too, that the training is not just a one-off, but continues over time.

In Depth’s teams of highly trained cleaning professionals take several weeks to complete a full cycle of window cleaning at the six NHS sites. They use the most up-to-date technology and techniques, including industrial rope access methods, which are frequently the only way of gaining safe access to any high level building, particularly in awkward spaces, which are harder to reach. Powered access platforms and water-fed pole systems are also used. The company’s fleet of ‘reach and wash’ vehicles, operated by expert staff, provide a virtually ladder-less safe and efficient service, upholding strict health, safety and environmental standards.

In Depth’s workforce is trained by a leading provider of training for window cleaners, which provides practical workshops and assessments, leading to certified qualifications. The training includes self-rescue courses, so they can always escape should the machinery malfunction, and operatives also learn how to inspect equipment such as harnesses, as well as escaping from towers, masts and other structures.

The benefits brought by state- of-the-art technology aren’t simply ‘nice to have’ – they are essential tools that enable window cleaning teams to be more efficient, flexible and responsive, whilst adhering to health and safety procedures.

Technology is not only used for the window cleaning processes employed at these sites, but are also in the management of the contract, giving clients online live Management Information (MI).
All vehicles are tracked for remote worker safety and these tools are utilised to ensure efficient scheduling of the window cleaning teams, which also brings fuel efficiency benefits.

In Depth uses the latest mobile android technology, combined with web-based systems, to send, receive and capture information, including photographic evidence and client signatures, in real time. As this quality audit system has been developed in-house, audits can be tailored. The information is used to evaluate, review and, where possible, improve the business systems used.

Industry best practice is providing safer methods of cleaning and maintaining buildings whilst working at height, ensuring the industry meets complex building support requirements with expertise and trained, professional staff.

8 Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have

Are you ready to be an executive window cleaner?

8 Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have: (Neal Jenson) Managing Director, Qazztek & BBS. Follow Neal Jenson on Twitter.

1. Be able to sell anything 

This is one of the most important qualities an entrepreneur can have. As an entrepreneur you are selling a lot. You will have to sell your ideas to customers, investors and potential employees. You sell your skills to these same audiences. You sell your leadership, your confidence, your vision and the importance of the values you promote. Aside from these things, you have to sell your products and services. Being a good salesman can be more difficult than it sounds. Are you able to step in front of a venture capital firm or a bank and defend that your idea is not only great, but is logical, convincing, and better than any other business who is seeking funding out there? You must be very convincing. If you are second guessing your idea back and forth, your idea is not ripe to take action, or you are not cut out for it. Don't waste your time and money on something you can't dedicate your whole heart to.

2. Don't leave things undone

If you have a problem finishing things, entrepreneurship is not for you. You cannot leave a business almost complete. Halfhearted attempts at starting a business will result in a business failure. If you are the person that people want on their team because they know you won't put your stamp of approval on a project until it is excellent, you should pat yourself on the back. Have you heard of entropy? Entropy is the tendency that things have to move from order to disorder. Businesses are no different. Businesses, without constant direction, can move from order to disorder if not appropriately shepherded in the right direction.

3. Vanilla, chocolate, or twist? 

You must be comfortable with your gut instincts. There is a lot of information out there, and the truth is, you can't gather every bit of information possible before making decisions. You have to be able to have the judgment to know when to decide that you have sufficient information to make a decision and when you need more. If it takes you an incredible amount of time to make decisions, you need to find a way to change that before jumping into business as an entrepreneur. It is great to think things through, but if you think about it too much, you will still be on decision number 3 when you should be on decision number 5. Time is a finite resource, making it very valuable. You cannot repurchase or reproduce time once it has been used. You must understand and be ready for the actual volume of decisions you will be making as an entrepreneur. Are you ready to make dozens of big decisions on a daily basis?

4. Confidence

Confidence is an important skill to have. You should have confidence in your ideas, in yourself and in others. You have to trust others to do their job and to do it well. No matter how amazing you may think you are, you cannot work everyone else's job along with your own. If you are confident in the abilities of others, you can allow them to shine. Your ideas are not always the only ideas or the best ideas. By showing confidence in the abilities of others, you allow for new ideas to emerge into the business. Also, in my experience, people try harder to do a better job when they know people trust in their abilities and can count on them. Being confident in your own abilities is critical to your success. Confidence is not only an attribute, but a skill to be mastered. Many people can show confidence when certain things are going in their favor, it takes a great leader to have confidence even when things are not going well.

5. Time management & planning skills 

As mentioned earlier, time is a finite resource. If you let time get away from you, you will have a hard time starting a successful business. Your planner should be your best friend. Learn to prioritize and plan. I suggest setting aside several hours each week to plan for the entire week and to make daily adjustments. I also suggest having quarterly and yearly planning sessions. Just like diets, most people know they should do it, but there are few who actually are successful at it.

6. Communication & Persuasion

It is a skill to be able to express an idea in a clear and concise manner. You should be able to pick out the most important concepts of your ideas and speak about them with clarity. You will also need to understand thoroughly the business industry in order to be persuasive. If you are talking to a potential investor and you get asked a hard question, be prepared to be asked an even harder question if you are unable to answer the first question. If you don't have an answer, it shows a gap in your knowledge. Too many gaps and you are out of a deal. You should also have enthusiasm. If you are not enthusiastic about your idea, it is hard to persuade others to believe it is good one.

7. Courage

Being a daredevil in high school or college does not guarantee that you are going to be a great entrepreneur, though it may help. A person can be fearless and stupid. When you have courage, however, you recognize the risks, but take action regardless. You accept the risk before you start and try to do what is possible to mitigate the risk while moving forward. There is a lot you can be fearful of when starting a business. As an entrepreneur you need to be able to overcome your fears and ensure they don't keep you from reaching your potential.

8. Learning skills 

Learning is a skill. As an entrepreneur you need to be a quick learner. You have to be willing to learn new skills constantly. One business owner I know is a great example of this. He has set aside the first hour of every work day to read about the current things happening in his industry. I know many other successful entrepreneurs who continually set aside time to learn new skills. You will need to learn how to gain understanding and find meaning that is deeper than the surface. You must learn to make your own arguments (not just those made by the media), synthesize new knowledge, memorize information, gain new relevant skills, and be able to utilize all this knowledge to create new things and make old things more efficient.

Good luck to all the new entrepreneurs, the world needs your enthusiasm and your new ideas. Let me know if you have any other thoughts on the skills needed by entrepreneurs.