The SPRAT ANNAUL MEETING was pretty normal, there were lots of handshakes and hugs, smiles and “Hey, ya’s”. Another year passes and not much had changed.
I went to the SPRAT Annual Meeting that started on March 16, 2026 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The event was pretty normal, there were lots of handshakes and hugs, smiles and “Hey, ya’s”. Another year passes and not much had changed.
But there are changes to be seen, especially if you read between the lines and take note of where the Society was and where it is now, and the direction that its’ heading. 10 or 15 years ago, SPRAT felt like a ball of energy with no outlet; nowhere to go. There were obvious “us against them” moments and not a lot was accomplished. I have to say, it was hard to go to these things because you always felt that you were taking sides. Not to say that some work, and good work, wasn’t accomplished, because it was, however it was quite hard to get that work approved by a fractured and uninterested membership.
Now however, it seems to be changing: the board is genuinely interested in hearing the voice of the membership and are working to make progress. No one person will think that the progress is fast enough or the work will make their life easier all the time, but the board is working.
Within the Certification Requirements Committee, they’re trying, TRYING, to address training. It is my understanding that there is no push to mandate methods or techniques or even to certify trainers, but there is a push to deliver information, to trainers who may be interested, and that, my friend, is a very different stance than SPRAT has taken on the topic in the past. It will be good, in my opinion, to maybe bring about more consistency in training, at least it will be better for our pool of present and future candidates.
Along with that, kind of hand-in-hand, really, is the Host Verification Program (it’s not called Host Verification Program anymore). It’s taken a bunch of time to get that program from an idea to where it is now, but maybe we’ll see some verified hosts this year. I’ll explore the tie-in’s: The idea behind the Accredited Site Program is that there are evaluation hosts who do training before the evaluation and maybe there’s some value in ensuring those hosts meet the criteria contained in the SPRAT documents (Safe Practices, Cert. Requirements, Evaluation Criteria, etc.). So, although there is not a requirement that says “You shall have trainers and those trainers shall be” and list some requirements, there are very specific requirements for the systems and centers by and in which that training and certification session will be held.
In the last iteration of the program, an additional requirement for the lead trainer to have attended a formal course or class on Adult Learning. We all know training is a big part of the evaluation day outcome and is as important as the selection and availability of equipment and stations but for years, training was kind of swept under the rug and felt like dirty laundry; everyone has some, but nobody wants to talk about it.
This year, SPRAT is putting to vote changes to the bylaws. If you don’t know what bylaws are, they are the specific rules to which the Society must adhere while they do their work. Bylaws are essentially laws on procedure that cannot be circumvented just because it’s convenient to do so.
Jody did a presentation on the proposed changes to the bylaws, and I wholeheartedly agree that the membership should read the proposed changes and vote on them. The ballot will open soon, so vote.
There is much more that I could say about SPRAT and the Annual Meeting, but I’ll cut this off here. If anybody is interested in my opinion on any of it, please let me know and I’ll be glad to talk to you. In closing, I just want to acknowledge some of the folks driving SPRAT in their current direction and maybe you want to throw a word of encouragement and thanks.
Thanks Jody, your tireless work for the Society has positioned SPRAT as a world-wide and respected rope access organization. Charley, you have also worked very hard on taking on the difficult projects and ensuring that all the volunteers and members are taken care of, ultimately resulting in a much more organized and professional effort. To all the Committee and Board members whose ideas propel our Society forward, thank you very much.
If you have questions a bout AccessRULES and rope access, give us a call at 504 366-0586 or send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll help where we can. See you in a course soon!
Dwight