Photo: IRATA
In a word .... Everywhere :)
A Globally Mobile Qualification
A friend thinking about rope access as a career asked me a question this week past..
'Are your qualifications international?'
In my experience the most important rope access certifying organisations on the planet are:
- IRATA: dominant in UK and the world
- SPRAT: dominant in North America
- SOFT: dominant in Norway (offshore platforms)
Companies employing or contracting rope access technicians across the world and generally going to expect you to have at least one of these certifications, and so long as you do, you are employable by them.
It is possible at times that the employer / contractor will require of you a specific certification (eg SOFT for offshore / onshore platforms in Norwegian waters), and if that should occur you will find it easy to do a conversion course from your (eg) IRATA.
(But it will cost you some money unfortunately, and you will assess whether your future earnings are worth the cost - which is almost certainy 'yes').
The attached image is from the IRATA website showing where in the world they have aligned contracting operators.
So yes, our qualifications are completely international.