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Brisbane Courier Mail,
28 Aug 2006:

Written: Carin Pickworth

Welcome to the office of several lucky Vertical High Access Specialist employees putting the finishing touches on one of Brisbane’s newest buildings perched 37 storeys above the ground.

The new business is reaching great heights with its unique array of services – in more ways than one.

The company specialises in fixing and cleaning high-rise buildings, and on their growing staff roll there isn’t an altophobic (person with fear of heights) or batophobic (person with fear of being close to high buildings) in sight.

In his home country of Canada, Vertical High Access Specialist director Sean Campbell was one of thousands of recognised trades people in his role as an industrial abseiler.

But since launching his business in Australia the entrepreneur has found it difficult to find the niche market tradespeople to fill all of his staffing needs.

“Over in Australia the workers we find who have the right qualifications are usually from a rock climbing background” Mr Campbell says.

“In Brisbane especially we are now setting up our own training program simply to train our own staff and we hope to have this running in conjunction with TAFE very soon.”

The business move is proving to be a lucrative one.

With the company having already scored several contracts with multiple storey buildings in the southern states, they have entered somewhat of an “untapped market” in Brisbane.

“We are the only company that does high-rise cleaning as well as repairs and the hanging of signs and banners,” Mr Campbell says.

“With the training side of things also coming on line later on this year we seem to have entered the Brisbane market in our field at just the right time.”

Any aspiring industrial abseiler, also commonly known as a high-rise access operator, needs to hold the minimum requirement of a twin rope ticket to snag a job in the field.

They can expect to be paid from a starting wage of $23 per hour before site penalties and travel allowances.

But the occupation is not for the faint hearted. “There are three levels to this ticket and to move up each level you need 500 hours of work on the job,” Mr Campbell says.

“But the basic requirements of the basic level are being able to ascend and descend on a rope, pass a knot in a rope and have knowledge of a simple rescue.

“You are allowed to have butterflies in your stomach when you first start, but any sort of fear of heights rules you out for this job.”

As a day job the position may even satisfy the adrenalin rush needs of your average
seasoned extreme sport enthusiast.