About The heightec Group

The heightec Group is a comprehensive provider of equipment, training and information to all industries who work at height.

We specialise in the design and manufacture of technical fall protection and personal protective equipment such as harnesses, descenders, lanyards, ascenders, quadpods and stretchers. Our customers are typically involved in active work methods such as rope access, mast, tower and pylon climbing, confined space rescue, arboriculture and vertical rescue - by the fire service and industrial rescue teams. 


Our products
heightec products are modern, innovative and easy to use, with superior strength and increased durability. Our equipment is designed to provide the maximum support whilst being as light, comfortable and unobtrusive as possible. 

As well as providing individual products, we also offer modular, pre-assembled work kits which contain all the items needed to work safely in a particular activity or to rescue an injured colleague. All kits are ready to use - straight out of the bag.

heightec products have won a variety of awards for innovation, including a UK Design Council Millennium Product award in 2001, and The Innovation Award of the British Safety Industry Federation in 2004, 2006 and high commended in 2007.


Going beyond the norm
Many of our products have specifications which are well in excess of the minimum requirements specified by European standards - in some cases exceeding the requirement of the standard by up to 50%. By creating products which exceed normal specifications, we try ensure that a product conforms to the requirements of the standard for the whole of its active life, even when subject to aging or degradation. 

To allow for use by persons who are heavier than the "typical" 100kg anticipated by European standards, all of our harnesses are dynamically tested with a load of 125 kg. Rescue products may be tested with even higher loads rigorously. 


Our customers
We provide equipment and training to every sector of industry, both in the UK and globally. Our clients include government departments, military agencies, multinational corporations, fire and rescue services, police, county councils, small businesses and individuals. 

We welcome enquiries from all prospective clients, whether end user, distributor or retailer.


Quality control
All of our business activities are certified to ISO 9001:2000. We are one of very few providers of height safety training to achieve this.

We are proud to make products of absolute quality - without compromise. For example, digital programming of sewing machines allows us to be certain that every load bearing stitch on every harness is perfectly produced. All products are subjected to rigorous inspection several times during the production process. 

Quality control does not stop when the product leaves the factory. Every harness and lanyard is uniquely, indelibly numbered so that purchasers can immediately log their equipment into their own inventory control systems. 


Training services - The National Access and Rescue Centre
The National Access and Rescue Centre (NARC) is the specialist training division of The heightec Group. The group provides a full range of equipment, training, inspection and testing services to public and private sector organisations of all types who need to work at height. 

Our 35m high indoor training complex has been specially adapted for the training of work at height and is the most comprehensive environment anywhere for the teaching of such methods. There are no less than four different free standing training towers, including a 25m high lattice structure and 10m monopole. There are confined tanks with vertical ladderways; high platforms and gangways; vertical shafts; several scaffolds and a variety of overhead beams, columns, floor apertures and stairways. 

NARC has two dedicated indoor training centres for Work at Height, one in Kendal (Cumbria), the other in North London, with a third site based Kelvedon (Essex) used primarily for external training, providing candidates with exposure to realistic work solutions. NARC also provides training on clients' own sites, both around the UK and internationally. 


Setting standards
The heightec Group participates in the development of product standards and Codes of Practice at both national and international level. We are presently active in the following roles:

• Chair - Work at Height Safety Association  
  
• Chair - Drafting group for BS 8454 Code of Practice for Work at Height Training 
  
• Member - Training Committee - Height and Access Safety Group (UK harness manufacturers' assn) 
  
• Member - HSE sub-group for Work at Height Regulations 
  
• Member - Advisory Committee for Work at Height Training (ACWAHT) 
  
• Member - British Standards Committee PH/5 Industrial safety belts and harnesses 
  
• Member - Health, Safety and Equipment Committee - IRATA (rope access association) 
  
• Member - Project group for ISO Product standard: Descending Devices 
  
• Member - Project group for ISO Code of Practice for Rope Access