Pending approval from the skills education and training authority, industrial rope access company and work at height trainer Skyriders Access Specialists will launch its rope access confined-space course.

Skyriders marketing manager Mike Zinn tells Engineering News that the course is expected to start in early 2020.

Its chief trainer will take the lead in conducting the confined-space course.

“Our chief trainer is skilled in a variety of areas. He is responsible for all our rope access training and is a rope access level-three trainer as well. He is also quite experienced in working in confined spaces,” Zinn comments.

The training caters for those working in confined spaces such as tanks, vessels, manholes, tunnels and mines. Specialised training is required when working in confined spaces, owing to the number of risks – such as fires, explosions and asphyxiation – in such environments.

“The training is not limited to those working in confined spaces – it also caters for managers and safety personnel responsible for employees going into the confined spaces. This, coupled with height access, requires a very specialised set of skills with which Skyriders hopes to equip its trainees.”

Zinn adds that the structure of the confined-space course is expected to follow the same outline as the rope access modules. “There are theoretical and practical components, and each component is followed by an assessment.”

Further, there are requirements that have to be met beforehand. A medical certificate, proving that a candidate is healthy and fit to work in confined spaces, is required for the standard confined-space training, while a valid work at heights certificate, in addition to a medical certificate, is required for the confined-space training with rope access.

Skyriders also offers work at height training, fall-arrest rescue training and fall protection planning – all of which require a medical certificate for the entry-level courses.

“Individuals can then progress to advanced levels after the successful completion of the entry-level training,” Zinn states.

Training takes place at Skyriders’ training centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, but the company also offers on-site training to clients.

“We send our training manager to site before training to ensure that all our requirements, whether it be scaffolding towers, safe areas or classrooms, have been met. “This also ensures that all on-site training is still up to Skyriders standards,” Zinn concludes.