A Rope Access Supervisor (certified L3 technician) is responsible for the immediate supervision, implementation and oversight of an assigned rope access program on the work site. In order to be competent in this role, L3 techs must have a working knowledge of the current regulations that apply, directly or indirectly, to rope access operations and work at height. In addition to ensuring that these regulations are followed by their team, L3 techs are responsible for the quality of the work being performed, and for the safety and well being of all techs involved.
During your SPRAT Evaluation, L3 certified techs will be required to demonstrate their competency managing/supervising a team through the completion of a work task or rescue -- using the assistance of other rope techs present at the training facility where you're completing your Evaluation (you'll most likely be working with certifying L1 and L2 techs).
Any of the requirements listed on SPRAT's Technician Evaluation form can be used for this exercise. Emphasis will be placed on safety, efficiency, communication, and delegation. This is not an opportunity to do everything yourself. You're going to be assessed on your ability to manage a team; directing and co-ordinating them in the successful completion of the assigned task.
Here's some good news: for the purpose of this exercise, your evaluator will not suddenly be turning your supervision of a work task into a rescue (although you will have to plan for a potential rescue).
There are two stages for this requirement: planning and execution.
During the 15 minutes you're allotted for the planning stage, your SPRAT Evaluator will specifically be watching that you:
- Take note of the skill sets (and corresponding level) of the techs on your team, and use their abilities accordingly -- not asking any tech to perform a skill that's outside the scope of their training and qualifications.
- Specify which personal protective equipment, rope access equipment, and compatible components should be used.
- Are able to design an efficient and safe solution for the assigned task.
- Effectively brief your team on their responsibilities, and the task they'll be working together to complete (your use of briefing aid).
- Identify all potential rescues that may occur while completing this maneuver, and adequately prepare for their possibility (including setting aside the appropriate gear for an intervention rescue, or using a rig-for-rescue system built into the exercise).
During the execution of the task, your SPRAT Evaluator will specifically be watching that you:
- Understand the principles of clear communication, and are able to use the methods of verbal and non-verbal communication available to you (including hand signals, which will have been agreed upon by you and your team during the planning stage).
- Efficiently and safely direct and manage the techs on your team.
- Effectively delegate responsibilities when necessary.
There are several different options for the kinds of scenarios that could be used for this requirement. One idea, recommended by SPRAT, is to supervise and manage the completion of a cross-haul. If a L1 and L2 tech are available to support this exercise, they'd also have the opportunity to be evaluated on the hauling and lowering and cross-haul requirement on their respective evaluation forms.
Please note that in order to allow other certifying techs to be properly evaluated on their performance completing a necessary skill as part of this scenario, your SPRAT Evaluator may selectively limit how much you can supervise and direct their performance. If the techs you're working with have already completed their evaluation, this will not be an issue as their performance here will not influence the result of their original evaluation.
We’ll go into further detail on all of the above during your training week.
- The task is not completed in a timely manner -- ie. you potentially demonstrated some hesitancy during the scenario, or used your time inefficiently. This could become an immediate fail if your Evaluator feels that the time taken to complete the maneuver was unsafe (this will be up to their discretion).
- You did not properly address the potential rescues that could be needed during the planning portion of the work scenario. This becomes an immediate fail if you did not address them adequately, or at all.
Additional resources to check out
9.8 (section 11) of the SPRAT Evaluation Guidelines for the source material for this blog.
9.8 (section 11) of the SPRAT Certification Requirements for a concise evaluation summary.
9.3 (section 11) of the SPRAT Evaluation Guidelines for the the sub-requirements and evaluation instructions for assessing your knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of L3 techs.
9.4 (section 11) of the SPRAT Evaluation Guidelines for the the sub-requirements and evaluation instructions related to management and communication.
Section 6 of Safe Practices for Rope Access Work for a comprehensive breakdown of all L3 responsibilities.
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This is part of an ongoing series, where we’re breaking down the SPRAT Syllabus and clarifying exactly what will be expected of you on your evaluation day. To continue exploring this series and learn more about SPRAT's Technician Evaluation Form, please click below:
