45
Contents
Bénéd e V gna
u eb e on Cy Ma n
Gu aume Ma nen Ba en Sou é
Yoann B a he I abe e Rogow k
2024
THE WORKING
CONDITIONS
OF ROPE ACCESS
TECHNICIANS
A CROSSCUTTING SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS
New insights
into the working
conditions of
rope access
technicians
Robust data
Data was collected over a period of more than 5
months from 19 companies, taking into account
dif f icult access to the f ield. In total, the study in-
volved 500 hours of observation on a sample
of 40 rope access technicians working in three
main environments: urban, industrial and natu-
ral. Alongside the 143 questionnaires collected
and the 46 interviews conducted on the sites,
the researchers gathered a great deal of data
on the professionals’ shoulder incline and heart
rate during their working day:
— 500,000 data points on incline
(embedded inclinometers) per day
per rope access technician;
— 148 heart rate curves;
— 278 heart rate variability curves.
Find out more about our other
projects for accident prevention
at www.fondation-petzl.org
This study was conducted in the workplace in contact with rope
access technicians as they exercised their profession, in order
to gather evidence on the physical nature of this profession,
alongside the unique mental load weighing on workers who
face at-risk situations every day. It extends the epidemiological
study of injuries among French rope access technicians, publi-
shed in 2017 with the support of the Petzl Foundation
5
.
Heart rate analysis reveals that a rope access technician at work
exerts a comparable amount of ef fort, on average, as a slow run
(around 100 beats per minute), but with peaks of intensity (140
beats per minute) equivalent to climbing a staircase quickly. In
addition, the study states that rope access workers perform
tasks on ropes as well as at ground level, with arm elevations in
relation to the core that are too high to preserve good shoulder
health in the long term.
The working week for rope access technicians is characterised
by mental load, i.e. a perception of the intensity of their task,
pain and fatigue, which increases steadily throughout the week.
However, this feeling is nuanced by the perception of challenge,
benef it and excitement, which paints a picture of a job that is
also perceived as pleasant, exciting and stimulating.
Other results on the occupational mobility, work organisation
and practical intelligence developed by workers can be found
in the summary document “The working conditions of rope ac
-
cess technicians a crosscutting scientif ic analysis illustrated
by numerous graphs and images accessible free of charge at
wwwfondationpetzlorg
This new knowledge is helping shed light on the working condi
tions of a profession that is still young but dynamic in terms of
job cr
eation
With the support of the Petzl Foundation, the
Laboratory of Vulnerabilities and Innovation in
Sport (Université Lyon 1) has just published the
results of a study into the working conditions of
rope access technicians in France.
@ P e t z D s t r b u t o n V u e d co r g A d r e n a n e M a r e d e B o r d e a u x
5
Vignal Soulé Rogowski Epidemiological Study of Injuries Among French Rope
Access Technicians 2017 Online at wwwfondationpetzlorg