SPRAT’s Board of Directors is pleased to release the documentation for the new fall protection certification program. Designed to parallel SPRAT’s existing rope access certification program, the fall protection program establishes a certification with performance-based criteria to ensure a baseline minimum of skills for the use of personal fall protection systems other than rope access. The Board of Directors believes a performance-based certification for additional forms of fall protection provides an opportunity for the organization to further contribute to the overall safety of the work-at-height industry and to provide a clearer pathway between other forms of fall protection and rope access. The documentation includes:

Fall Protection Certification Requirements:
The document proposes seven exercise requirements, each focusing on the minimization of free fall potential during the use of and transition between fall protection systems, with evaluation criteria based on performance principles and a grading scheme matching SPRAT’s rope access evaluation. Examples of successful completion of the exercises required for the fall protection certification may be found here. Ensure closed captioning is on to view exercise descriptions.

Fall Protection Evaluation Guidelines:
A supplement for the Fall Protection Certification Requirements that provides grading examples for usage of the various fall protection systems, lesson considerations for preparing candidates to complete each exercise, evaluation site requirements, and fall protection system and component templates for inclusion in an evaluation site’s fall protection plan.

These documents are further supplemented by other approved SPRAT documentation, including SPRAT’s Clearance Requirement Guidelines and Presiding Regulatory Authority Reference.

The Board of Directors hopes for your participation in this new program, and encourages any and all feedback.