Courier Press Release Across Dundee, Fife & Tayside

Recently Dangles Managing Director  - Simon Dunn, sat down with Dundees local media company DC Thomson, and journalist to discuss the effect Covid-19 and the Coronavirus lockdown had on our local business. 

Heres what was discussed...

When did you set up Dangle Rope Access?  Dangle was set up in August 2013 

Why did you set up Dangle Rope Access and what did you want to offer the public/businesses?  I had spent time working for a variety of offshore oil and gas companies prior to setting up Dangle Ltd. 

I felt my experience of managing large rope access and painting projects offshore, where safety is typically extremely high, could be well positioned to offer onshore and civil sectors a professional team of working at height professionals trained in a wide variety of trades to an incredibly high standard, so went about setting up a rope access offshore company that could easily transition its offering to onshore locations.

What is the most popular service of Dangle Rope Access and why do you think this is?  Dangle is predominantly a working at height company, providing industrial abseiling as a means of access to otherwise costly and difficult to reach locations. 

Typically this lends itself to the offshore oil and gas and more recently the offshore renewable wind industry as these large metallic structures are placed in often harsh and difficult to reach environments offshore. Dangle Rope Access has combined expert and hands on experiences within these sectors to provide clients with a solution to their most complex corrosion and unreachable areas. 

We believe clients enjoy working with us as we offer a bespoke, personal touch whilst delivering the highest standards and tailor made solutions.

During lockdown, has the business operated differently and in what way?  Dangle, like most other businesses has faced challenges during lockdown, and as a rope access company we are heavily reliant on the health and wellbeing of our team often working in close proximity to each other in addition to other contractors. 

Our level 3 rope access supervisors are placed on all rope access projects to oversee site safety and therefore are heavily involved in close working relationships. In the event of a rescue scenario unfolding while working at height, social distancing measures are compromised, so we have adapted our already extremely robust management systems and onsite risk assessments to now ensure all our technicians, where social distancing cannot be maintained (such as a rescue from height scenario) have a face mask covering in line with government guidelines. 

We also have a specially adapted plastic face shield which are now built into their hard hat/helmet system for rapid and easy deployment. Guidelines from our rope access equipment manufacturers have also been introduced so that after each working day, all equipment is stripped and hard surfaces are wiped with antibacterial and antiviral wipes, any fabric surfaces are now washed immediately after use.

What impact has lockdown had on your business? We have seen our most productive year on paper at the start of January 2020 dwindle to almost a reactive "emergency only" operation as planned maintenance contracts were cancelled right across the UK. 

Historically, our line of work is seasonal due to weather restraints caused by higher winds and other environmental factors such as rain. So as we approach Autumn, when typically our weather window closes, we are left with an 8 week or so window of opportunity to operate out of what would have been a year's trading. 

Reflecting our ability to diversify and utilise our skills during this time, we have now introduced industrial training certification allowing us to offer SSPC train the painter coating applicator courses online.

Tell us about why people should use Dangle Rope Access?  Dangle Rope Access is an award winning and successful family business that's well-founded and well-run. Our core values are built around commitment and unified leadership, stability, trust and authenticity. 

We adopt a flexible and versatile approach that most larger companies are not able to offer due to their size and structure whilst still retaining the vision and long term goals almost all customer focused businesses do. 

We believe that helping clients decrease costs, while improving service levels through commitment and next generation ingenuity, is taking a fresh approach to client satisfaction.

What are some of the biggest challenges for people and businesses when needing rope access experts?  Simply put - It's the law. 

All companies must follow HSE legislation. Dangle Rope Access specifically covers the working at height regulations (WAHR 2005) and our services are designed to offer solutions around that. 

Tell us about some of the jobs and contracts you have undertaken prior to Covid-19?  Recently Dangle was tasked with a coating repair campaign on the offshore Wikinger Wind Farm in the German Baltic Sea. 

We mobilised a team of offshore GWO certified rope access painting technicians to perform a visual inspection survey identifying coating damages prior to then repairing the damages to NORSOK M501 standards. This was a project that had originally been started by another organisation but they were unable to complete successfully. 

The feedback Dangle received after successfully concluding the campaign for our client Iberdrola has been fantastic and we look forward to working on their other wind farms in the near future. 

This epitomises Dangle's ability to offer proactive solutions and support companies at any stage in their project, and i look forward to creating further rope access painting jobs in the future.

And are there any new services you have introduced?  Dangle has been hard at work during lockdown behind the scenes utilising our strict and disciplined health and safety procedures combined with our expertise in industrial coatings and the use of chemicals. 

We have introduced a local fogging service to assist Dundee businesses looking to reopen their doors to staff and the wider public, safely. We have also begun offering online e-learning coating applicator training for industrial painters wanting to gain the internationally recognised SSPC train the painter and CSCS paint applicator programme, allowing study and examination to be done from the safety of their own home. 

Using my knowledge as a trainer and SSPC instructor, level 3 coating inspector, with over 15 years direct painting experience, and author of the published title "Corrosion in a modern world - offshore wind" I'm also an active member of the UK's institute of corrosion, there's no one better in Scotland to train with in my eyes. 

About Dangle Rope Access

Here at Dangle Rope Access, we provide a variety of comprehensive inspection, access, coatings, and composite (IACC) industrial services. Our services are available to both the private and public sectors.

We offer high-quality proven solutions that will help reduce maintenance costs in both the long and short-term. We are based in Dundee, Scotland and also have offices based in Edinburgh, along with our newly established training centre in Northern Ireland Dangle Academy. Due to our company size and structure, we are able to offer a flexible and versatile approach to the way we run our business and the services that we offer our clients. And, as a leading painting company, we’ve worked on several renewable energy projects in the UK, Europe, and the US. 

We work with both on and offshore with wind farm operators, and asset owners. For offshore wind farm maintenance, to onshore building maintenance, we can cover both the East and West coasts. 

To find out more about how our team can help you contact us today. Our friendly, professional and helpful team is always on hand to help.

Dangle is offering clients a free no obligation quotation for onshore assets, so if there's a land-based project anywhere in the UK, you'd like its working at height or corrosion experts involved in, email: dangle@onropes.co.uk .

For anyone wanting to renew their current ‘train the painter’ certification or looking to gain an internationally recognised industrial painting qualification, Dangle is offering up to 30% off for a limited time. View our painting courses online

For full details on the services Dangle can offer, click here  for more information.

To view the full press release for free - visit the Courier website here .