Sunday, June 08, 2008

Mike King passes Level III Assessment.

This should have been one of the most gruelling weeks of my life.

Each three years it is re-assessment time for my IRATA Level III Supervisor Certificate. This is something that all Level IIIs around the world have to go through. For those of you who are wondering who IRATA is, they are the international governing body for idustrial rope access or as in more commonly know, abseiling for a job.

The weeks consists of getting drilled by Leigh Greenwood at www.5thpoint.com .

Leigh basically treats you like a peice of shit for the first two days as it is drill time. And nothing would be worse than not being ready when the assessor turns up on Friday to check out your stuff.

The assessment goes something like this. The assessor gives you a number of "almost" impossible tasks to carry out like difficult rescure scenarios and other group tasks where you also have to demonstrate that you can supervise and direct other technicians of lower levels.

I was lucky this week to have five great Level I techies who climbed more like experienced Level IIs. These guys could walk the walk and talk the talk, so I had no problem with them carrying out the task that I had set out for me.

The day goes quite rapidly, but the crunch comes down to this. Two minor discrepancies and you are out. A Miner is a point of attachment that is connected, but not done up. One major and it is the end of the game right there. A major is to go onto one point of attachment. This is a massive no no, with two points being the minimum allowed for safety purposes at any time. Also, failure to be able to carry out a taks will leave you with a not competant as yet.

42 next month and the whole team gave a big wooooh! when I called out my date of birth for the assessment completion certificate. My rescues were floorless with zero mistakes made. I guess that I owe Leigh for a hard week in the gym ensuring I earned the result I required.

Mike King, Level III IRATA Supervisor. Only 35 Months and 28 Days till the next assessment. But who's counting.

Cheers, Mike King.

If you want my news letter, log onto my site as www.mikeking.com.au

I have some great stories.

See yah!