Worksafe BC Part 13 Bosun's Chair Needs to be Reformed

Enough is enough!

Do it now, do it right.

It is an archaic practice!

Good luck hope B.C looks into this.

You're right about several things Bob. The problem is as much a lack of enforcement as it is the rules themselves. You're also right, it's not just about gear. It's about proper training and supervision, hazard assessment, rescue plans, equipment maintenance etc... Rope Access is a complete system. Currently Part 13 has almost no requirements for bosun's chair workers. Frequently kids are hired off of the street, with no experience, and then given a half a day of instruction, then sent to work on their own, without supervision. They use equipment that the rest of the world largely abandoned decades ago... I'm sure some bosun's chair workers are "safe enough", but the reality is that there are very few checks, or real standards in place, and where there are standards, people are not obeying them. Beyond that the bosun's chair system is comparatively archaic, limited, unregulated, and less safe than Industrial Rope Access. There are no training standards for bosun's chair, there are no requirements for who can teach bosun's chair, there is no assessment process to demonstrate that bosun's chair workers know anything about working on a chair before they do so... Bosun's chair workers backup fall arrest system is generally incompatible with their working line, the descenders used usually don't have any safety features... For the last 30+ years, thousands of rope access technicians all over the world have continually contributed to the improvement of industrial rope access systems. Techniques have improved, equipment has improved and so has safety. Every time there is an incident or a near miss it is reported it is documented and the codes of practices are improved to limit the likelihood of similar occurrences from happening again in the future. Bosun's chair by contrast has no such system of reform and remains largely unchanged in the last 30 years.

As a longtime bosun chair guy, I would like to challenge the validity of this thread. Safety on a work site , particularly on routine maintenance, is not about gear .The new regs do not address a problem, they merely entrench a new clusterf#@k of unenforced rules. The issue that is not addressed is the lack of WCB in the field.....and those who think a bosuns chair is dangerous, come back and talk to me after 20 years on a podium.

Bosun chairs are dangerous and outdated

Unsafe and really bad on your body.

11 years ago Featured

I've spent 8 years in a boatswain chair. They are terribly limited and ridiculously outdated.

Update workers safety....get rid of the Bosuns chair, it's an antiquated system.

This is 2015. Thanks for part 34, but the bosuns loophole needs to be closed and eliminated.

11 years ago Featured

Antiquated forms of rope work should have no place in the modern work force. There are countless trade associations and equipment manufacturers pushing forward with new equipment, training standards, and more; innovations are happening to increase worker safety over what we've learned from outdated rope systems (ie: bosun chair).

Continuing to endorse a dangerous work at height method when a saver more effective means is widely available is simply irresponsible.

Get it together! With everything else you strive for a safe work place. How about a window cleaner. There risking there lives, to do a good job!

The Bosun's or Boatswain's chair is an incredibly outdated access method. Rope access is vastly superior in both safety and utility, and the antiquated system should be removed as an option.

11 years ago Featured

All you need to do is look at the safty records of the bosun chair system compaired to the twin line rope access system. Or just look up bosun chair on YouTube and see the rediculus situations the bosuns chair workers put them selfs in. Rope access training teaches redundancy in rigging and gives the option of self rescue or rescue from another technition. Bosuns chair system has no means of rescue.

11 years ago Featured

Industrial rope access practices and training are an internationally recognized standard, whereas bosun's chair is governed by no particular training standards. The activities governed separately as rope access under Part 34 and bosun's chair under Part 13 are relevantly similar. The regulations which govern rope access are made up of 16 Parts comprised of approximately 2000 words, including reference to extensive trade association documents, and international consensus standards. By contrast the verbiage that deals with boatswain's chair or bosun's chair under Part 13 is comprised of only a couple paragraphs, and the word only appears 3 times in the entire section. From this it is evident that rope access, while not only more standardized and safer, is also more regulated.

Not safe

This provides too many loopholes to allow companies to dodge safer ropework regulations

11 years ago Featured

This Needs to happen. Far too many times around this city have I seen unsafe work practices and WCB have failed to enforce even their own guidelines. This is in need of serious review as I have had extensive training and know both worlds. I know the chair and I know rope access. I'd never use a chair again. Those who are still using the chair are incompetent and a safety liability. Please consider a Review