Evaluation of Efficiencies Among Climbing Systems and Rope Diameters – A Study by Dr. John Ball, SDSU

Climbing is a high-risk activity associated with severe non-fatal and fatal injuries. While the primary causal agent for a climbing incident may be anchor failure or contact with an energized conductor, an underlying factor may be fatigue due to inefficiencies in a climber’s ascending and work-positioning techniques. Fatigue has been cited as a factor in OSHA investigation summaries for climbing incidents.

Efficiency is economy of motion. More efficiency means the worker is expending less energy to accomplish a task such as climbing. An efficient climber is not operating at maximum capacity so their performance can be prolonged and fatigue reduced. This is an important consideration for climbers as they may be aloft a significant period of the workday.

This study will evaluate common tree-climbing systems, both moving-rope systems (MRS) and stationary-rope systems (SRS) and measure the efficiency and economy of tactics through the relationship between oxygen consumptions (VO2) and heart rate (HR) to determine the most efficient approaches.

 

Read the full study: Evaluation of Efficiencies Among Climbing Systems and Rope Diameters – TREE Fund