A long, long time ago, round about 1997, 1998, the local rope access industry that was dependent on the British IRATA training system wanted to decolonize and create a system that was easily accessible and more cost effective to all South Africans. A local body was formed called the South African Industrial Rope Access Association (SAIRA). The main drive force behind the creation of a local standard was Mr Bob Woods from Skyriders.

SAIRA approached the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to have an approved local standard that can be legally referenced, and not just a guideline. SABS formed a technical committee and got formal approval from IRATA to use their guidelines as the basis to form a new standard. Four local rope access standards were produced; SABS 0333:1999 part 1, part 2 and part 3, and SABS 1833:1999.

  • SABS 0333-1: 1999 Code of practice, Industrial rope access Part 1: Worksite procedures, First edition.
  • SABS 0333-2: 1999 Code of practice. Industrial rope access Part 2: Training and certification procedures, First edition.
  • SABS 0333-3:1999 Code of practice, Industrial rope access Part 3: Inspection certification and management procedures for equipment, First edition.
  • SABS 1833: 1999 Specification, Equipment for use in industrial rope access work, First edition.

These standards were launched in 2000 which gave SAIRA a tremendous local right of existence. There was a lot of bureaucracy, growing pains and red tapes that goes hand in hand with any new system. In 1998 the skills development act (Act 97 of 1998) was officially launched in South Africa, and called for subject matter industry experts to form professional bodies that can look at generating outcome-based training standards for their specific industry skill sets. The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) was now legally in charge of all training development in South Africa and the newly generated SABS rope access standards had to be rewritten in an outcome-based format.

The Institute for Work at Height was initially formed as a trade organisation in January 2009 being a merger of the Specialised Access Engineering Manufacturers Association (SAEMA) and the Rope Access And Fall Arrest Association (RAFAA) desirous of creating safety awareness and in turn “professionalism in the overall Work At Height Industry”.