Geotechnical News • March 2018
57
GEOHAZARDS
required, site safety, work procedures,
worker experience requirements and
emergency response procedures.
The form is available on the AGHP
website.
A working group is currently design-
ing a corollary guidance document
on how the form should be used,
whom should fill it out, and options
for adjustment and modification. By
implementing the use of SASEs as a
best-practice, together with a job site
assessment (JSA) a comprehensive
job safety evaluation is possible when
accessing steep slopes is required
(Figure 3).
Safety culture and recognition
Best-practice guidelines and the SASE
process are important tools, but are
only of illusory benefit without a
strong safety culture among industry
participants. Increasingly, industrial
firms have understood that working
safe need not come at the expense
of production. Workers that know
that they are protected – by their
firm’s process, procedures, training,
approaches, and equipment selection
and maintenance – are able to achieve
high levels of sustainable produc-
tion (Figure 4). And as more owner
agencies become aware of these best
practices, they will inevitably require
that anyone working on their slopes
(including their own employees) do so
with the highest safety standards and
most appropriate certifications. This
process takes time, but the trend in the
North American geohazards mitigation
industry is clear.
To help grow such a culture, the Rope
Access Committee has initiated the
AGHP Safety Recognition Program.
The hope is that by recognizing indus-
try members that are diligent in keep-
ing their rope access workers safe, we
will encourage others to follow. The
public recognition will also help own-
ers have confidence in those who carry
out their work.
The Safety Recognition Program is an
annual review of a company’s safety
program and
performance
metrics. The
first identifies
a commitment
to management
involvement and
commitment to a
firm’s safety pro-
gram, including
specific questions
about whether
the firm has a
written rope
access safety
procedure and
adheres to other
industry best
practices. The
latter identifies
geohazards miti-
gation organiza-
tions that execute
their work safer
than industry
averages based
on Total Incident
Rates and Lost
Time/Modified
Duty Rates statis-
tics.
More information about this program
can be found on the committee’s
webpage.
Summary
The AGHP’s Rope Access Commit-
tee is a group of volunteer individuals
from the geohazards industry with
a passion about making a safe work
environment for those who literally
put their lives on the line while mak-
ing the world a safer place for others.
This diverse group of experts is work-
ing towards establishing best-practice
guidelines, standardizing safety proce-
dures and instilling an industry wide
culture of safety. If the saying “it takes
a village to raise a child” is true, then
it takes an association of volunteers to
keep that child safe! Please share the
culture.
John Duffy,
391 Front Street
Grover Beach, CA 93433
805-440-9062 mobile
805-481-9590 office
Marc Fish, L.E.G.
Asst. Chief Engineering Geologist
Unstable Slopes Unit Manager
WSDOT Geotechnical Office
Construction Division
1655 South Second Avenue SW
Tumwater, WA 98512
360-709-5498
Colby Barrett, P.E.
CEO
GeoStabilization International
4475 East 75
th
Ave.
Commerce City, CO 80222
303-909-6083
Figure 4: Scalers working off of a two-rope system.
