Having read the offshore thread posted recently, there seems to be a lot of shared knowledge on the site which I need to hear!

I am looking to get into rope access and not necessarily offshore work. I currently have no experience but look to do the irata level 1 this summer.

I have got the c pack from Rigg access so I know of the need to get in a trade first. I’m 21 at the moment and I’m not looking to go down the ndt route just yet although it does interest me, right now I just want to get a foot in the door doing rope access work. As I’ve got a few years ahead of me I wouldn’t mind doing some window cleaning abroad but again I’ll take anything!

Real question is what trade should I train for?
Painting/blasting?
Window cleaning?
Rigging?
Chainsaw tickets?

Any advice is much appreciated I have experience with ropes through rock climbing.

We had rope access boys at the work and I think the consensus was sparky or ndt as some of the other jobs (painting etc do not always need to be trade specific)

Window cleaning doesn’t require a lot of skill,it’s certainly not what you would call a trade

Yeah sure window cleaning isn’t a trade its a case of which direction do you go in for your first job..

Are you better off just getting trained in ndt or working from the bottom I.e. window cleaning to gain hours and then topping up your skills as you go along?

If you can P*** you can paint…

We use a rope access firm at work, who do rigging, paint, NDT – I’m trying to think what else (other than access) you’d want to do from a rope rather than staging

Welding?

When I did my level one there were a couple of welders doing their level 2.

They work on our site quite often, commonly known as “dopes on ropes”. 🙂

If there is a trade there will be a rope tech use.
Everything from a visual inspection, through video, ndt, etc, painting,plumbing, electrical, rigging, blasting, cutting, geotechnical, and more.
Been doing it 24yrs and there isn’t much we haven’t done other than maybe accountancy 😛
You really need a background trade to make you employable as the “meat market” of IRATA is turning out L1’s faster than they can be assessed or employed.