Safety

Safety is our number one priority.

Safety of staff and participants is paramount, and takes precedent over everything else. It is the primary influencing factor in the design of the elements and the choice of materials. All the materials are over designed; over engineered and have an operational safety factor of up to 10 / 1. As an example of this, the belay cables are strong enough to support 6 family cars before entering the upper end of their design envelope.
We are happy to guide you through:

• Health & Safety policies
• Risk assessments to protecting the staff and public and the site itself.
• Safety training is covered in the training course we provide when you invest in a course

We have associates in many fields to ensure the widest level of expertise in:

• Structural engineers
• Mechanical engineering
• Arboriculturalist’s
• Architects
• Surveyors
• Rigging engineers

HSE advisors

We will also provide information regarding recommended inspection guidelines, and are happy to perform these inspections annually.

Materials

In the construction of a rope course, only the highest quality materials will be used.

• The cables will be 12mm Steel core (6X19 1990) rated to 9.5mt (BS302: 1987)
• All Poles are BS rated and treated
• All cable connections will be double swaged
• All non-steel ropes will be hand spliced.
• All Ropes are synthetic hemp, soft to hold but will not degrade.
• All metal work is fully galvanised.
• The shear reduction block has a robust stainless steel design.

Vertigo has a range of shear reduction blocks, trolley's and zip trolley's. These are built to the highest standards with the best quality materials and have full CE approval.

INSPECTIONS

The design and materials used in the construction of the course have been chosen to require minimal maintenance and limited inspections. Due to the nature of the activities we highly recommend the following inspection procedure.

Daily

• Check for vandalism, lightening strikes, trees falls or any other obvious violent incidents.
• Check the lateral movement in the trolley falls within manufacturers specifications

Monthly

The inspector should have a plan of the site highlighting specific points for inspection, this ought to be signed off and filed and any points of concern either attended or monitored. The inspection should include but not be limited to the following: -

• Movement in the poles possibly caused through subsidence
• Platforms should be inspected for deterioration
• Access cables, looking specifically for signs of movement in the ferrules, or broken strands (as demonstrated)
• Shear reduction blocks. If there is more than 10 percent wear in the checks they ought to be replaced.
• Check in integrity of the maillion rapids

A trained member of staff can carry out these inspections (the inspection procedure is covered in the training program). An inspection of this type on this course should take half a day every month.

ANNUALLY

• Special inspection conducted by an independent qualified inspector.
  This is all covered in more depth in the training programme we provide for your staff, when you invest in one of our courses.

Interested in rope course safety? Contact us NOW!