Simple Complex Rope Access

The ANSI Z459 Rope Access Standard went into full effect in August 2022, and has been well-received by employers who are using it to help build compliance into their work at height programs.

The ANSI Z459.1 standard not only helps to define and place guidance around rope access as a viable work method in fall protection, it has also helped to de-mystify skills requirements for rope technicians working at height and give employers a little more flexibility in the extent of training their employees receive.

This standard clarifies that COMPLEX skills are NOT required for working at the most foundational level of rope access, allowing employers who manage SIMPLE up-and-down rope access sites to train employees JUST in the skills they need – working with a two-rope system, negotiating an edge, descending, and just enough ascending to keep themselves out of trouble.

With the definition of SIMPLE rope access, employees can reduce the number of days and complexity of skills their employees use to just what is really needed. It is not necessary for employees working only in SIMPLE rope access to need to learn difficult rope tricks like passing a deviation, aid climbing, and other things that they will probably never actually use in the field!

This concept works under the ANSI Z459 model by classifying worksites as either SIMPLE or COMPLEX.

A SIMPLE worksite is defined as one that offers clear access and egress, is unaffected by adjacent trades, where technicians do not need to pass knots or deviations, and where rescue can be carried out directly to ground or platform level.

This differs from a COMPLEX worksite primarily in that a COMPLEX site is one where environmental factors, adjacent work, deviated ropes, or difficult access and egress necessitate a greater skillset.

Note that the concepts of SIMPLE and COMPLEX do not directly correlate to the terms AUTHORIZED and COMPETENT. These two sets of terms refer to completely different concepts.

As previously described, the concepts of SIMPLE and COMPLEX are used to describe the complexity of the worksite, whereas the terms AUTHORIZED and COMPETEN refer to the level of responsibility given to an employee.

You can learn more about these terms in PMI’s previous post on that subject – but to summarize…

An AUTHORIZED Technician is one who has been authorized, or given permission, by the employer to perform a given task. A Technician may be AUTHORIZED to work on a SIMPLE worksite, or a Technician may be Authorized to work on a COMPLEX site… it is up to the employer to award that designation based on verification that the technician is sufficiently trained to operate on that type of worksite.

It is with the designations AUTHORIZED and COMPETENT that the scope of the Technician’s duties will vary.

Specifically, an Authorized Person simply has permission to perform a certain type of work on a certain site. They generally do not have supervisory authority and are not expected to take corrective action.  In contrast, a COMPETENT ROPE ACCESS TECHNICIAN is one who is capable of recognizing hazards and who has the employers authority to take prompt corrective action. Often the Competent Technician for a given site is given supervisory responsibility. Clearly this requires a little more extensive training and skill.

These two sets of terms, SIMPLE/COMPLEX and AUTHORIZED/COMPETENT, refer to different concepts, but they can and should be used together by the employer to but again you might have a Technician who is deemed COMPETENT to work on a SIMPLE worksite, or a Technician who is deemed COMPETENT to work on a COMPLEX worksite. The key here is that they must be trained and experienced enough to monitor, evaluate, and address existing and potential fall hazards one WHICHEVER type of worksite they are working on.

I hope this helps to clarify a bit more about SIMPLE and COMPLEX worksites, and about how AUTHORIZED and COMPETENT Technicians are expected to work in these environments. You can get your very own copy of the ANSI Z459 standard from the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), at the link below. If you are responsible for managing a rope access program, you may want to consider PMI’s online Program Manager course for more thorough detail.