Arco Launches New Safety Challenge Events

Arco Professional Safety Services has officially launched its safety competition series, ACE (Arco Challenge Event), pushing safety knowledge to the limit by bringing training to life with challenges that mimic real-life scenarios.

The events, located at Arco’s Safety Centres, see teams put through a variety of safety exercises while a team of assessors keep watch and grade each scenario as it unfolds.

Similar to other well-known European rescue events such as Grimp Day and Rope Rescue Day, Arco Challenge Events are designed to encourage collaboration with other teams, build a sense of camaraderie and allow for friendly competition while learning new skills and testing old ones.

The inaugural ACE competition took place in October, focusing on Rope Access challenges that tested teams against each other and the clock, on Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) syllabus tasks such as rescue techniques, access solutions and rigging.

Six teams took part in the event, with Paul Hardman and Bruce Kemp claiming first place, taking home prizes worth over £1,000, including an IRATA training course, premium work-at-height products and an exclusive event goody bag. Bruce also topped the individual leaderboard in the ascent rescue challenge, sponsored by Safehold, with a time of three minutes and 16 seconds, winning a rescue harness.

Jack Ball, training and consultancy team leader at Arco Professional Safety Services, said:

“The event was a huge success. The ethos of the event to share knowledge, collaborate with other like-minded technicians, and of course the friendly competition, couldn’t have been upheld any more than it was."

“Every team was keen to take part and learn from others, and this has definitely cemented the desire to host more of these challenge events, so watch this space.”

Because of the skill level necessary for the event, each team member was required to be an IRATA-qualified technician, including one qualified to IRATA level 3.

At the closing awards ceremony, Paul Hardman and Bruce Kemp were named Arco Challenge Event Rope Access Champions, a title that will be competed for again in next year’s rope access challenge event.

After the success of the first competition, Arco plans to continue the ACE series into 2025. Further events will challenge experts in other areas of health and safety, such as working in confined spaces.

This first ACE rope access competition was sponsored by Safehold, Guardian, Skylotec, Never Let Go, Petzl, Rock Exoctica and Edelrid.