The word abseiling comes from the German abseilen, meaning to rope down. The technique was introduced to allow controlled descent down a rock face using a rope, by climbers and cavers. It has, since the 1980s, been adapted to enable rope access technicians to access difficult-to-reach areas from above for various industrial applications. For CAM Abseiling, this can include maintenance, construction, inspection and cleaning of both the fabric and windows.

CAM Abseiling site surveys identify the safest, quickest and most effective way to access your building. CAM Abseiling’s expertise and experience can help you drive down cleaning and maintenance costs by at least 15%.

Rope access allows CAM Abseiling to access difficult-to-reach locations without the use of scaffolding, cradles or an aerial work platform where this is deemed to be appropriate. CAM Abseiling’s rope access technicians descend, ascend, and traverse ropes for access and work while suspended by their harnesses. The support of the rope is, of course, intended to eliminate the likelihood of a fall altogether. CAM Abseiling rope access technicians, however, use a back-up fall arrest system as protection in the unlikely event of the failure of their primary means of support.

CAM’s detailed, advance planning of works also considers the rescue requirements in the event that things go wrong. Effective emergency rescue plans consider rescue from all relevant parts of the building façade without necessarily relying on the emergency services in the first instance. Whilst costs do need to be considered, façade cleaning and maintenance strategies give priority to collective protection measures which prevent falls over personal protective measures which only mitigate against the effects of falls.

CAM Abseiling Access Strategy Reports can best be prepared at design stage in consultation with architects but they can also be prepared for existing buildings. These reports are vital when work is to be undertaken at height or when on-site equipment is no longer serviceable or compliant with current health and safety legislation.

The most common applications for CAM Abseiling's modern rope access include inspection, surveying, maintenance, cleaning and construction on bridges, dams, wind turbines, towers, buildings, and industrial plants. Welding, cutting and heavy material handling can be accomplished by CAM Abseiling's rope access professionals using specialised procedures.

CAM Abseiling's Cleanability Audits ensure low carbon emissions and the use of environmentally acceptable cleaning procedures in the cleaning and maintenance of a property. CAM Abseiling's operations are characterised by rigorous adherence to several key safety considerations which include such criteria as: When working, a CAM Abseiling rope access technician always has at least 2 attachments, each having an independent anchorage point. When a CAM Abseiling worker is supported by ropes, each of the worker’s ropes will have a fail-safe descent mechanism. All secondary tools and equipment (e.g. drills, sealant, etc.) are attached by lanyards to the CAM Abseiling worker’s harness to avoid danger to people below. A minimum of two CAM Abseiling trained technicians are required for any job, each with the ability to rescue the other if needed. All CAM Abseiling rope access technicians are independently assessed. All CAM Abseiling equipment is regularly inspected and maintained. Carefully defined codes of practice and working systems approved by the International Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) are used. As with all CAM's operations, individual risk assessments and method statements are prepared as a matter of course, rather than using generic ones.