The Bachelorette: Richie’s job as a rope access technician explained

BESIDE his wicked bone structure and adorable “cool bananas” jokes, fans of The Bachelorette are obsessed with Richie’s job.

LAST night Australia bid farewell to our favourite rope access technician, Richie “cool bananas” Strahan, on the second last episode of The Bachelorette.

A feather-clad Sam Frost broke down in tears as she delivered the news to the 30-year-old Perth hottie.

“I think you are so amazing,” she said. “You have the most beautiful soul, you’ve made me laugh. You’ve grown so much and completely come out of your shell … I think you’re amazing doing this.”

During their final single date, Richie was unable to give Sam the “I’m falling in love with you” declarations offered by Sasha and Michael. But after a few adorable fumbles he said he was “ready to fall in love.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for Sam to select the fan favourite to meet her family in tonight’s finale episode.

Viewers fell for Richie’s wicked bone structure and adorable “cool bananas” jokes, but also expressed curiosity over his job title. So what the hell is a rope access technician?

Delish.

Australian Industrial Rope Access (AIRA) operations manager Alistair Merrick says his technicians perform a whole range of jobs — “painting, rendering, rigging, repairing buildings, cleaning, inspecting” — on buildings or structures that can only be accessed via abseiling.

“It’s a real mixed bag,” Mr Merrick told news.com.au. “We do a whole range of jobs in really hard to access, high places.”

Richie currently works for a company called All Areas Access. His last mission involved oil rigging work offshore.

All Areas Access managing director John Lee told news.com.au he only knew Richie was a contestant on The Bachelorette after the show went to air.

“He kept it all under wraps until we saw it on TV, in typical Richie style. He’s a very humble guy. He’s a very fun guy to work with. He’s a great mate of ours,” Mr Lee said.

Technicians basically abseil up and down buildings or structures doing repair, inspection or maintenance work.

Sam Frost with her final three Bachelors (from left) Richie Strahan, Sasha Mielczarek and Michael Turnbull the creepster.

They usually work with two ropes: “You have a working line and a backup line so if something goes wrong you always have a backup,” Mr Merrick said.

Some of AIRA’s biggest projects included the removal and reinstallation of a 94m high, 24 tonne pipe on the outside of a NSW power station. They perform weekly “structural inspections” on the Skycoaster ride at Wet‘n’Wild in Sydney. And for the past 13 years, AIRA technicians have installed the steel support structure inside the Christmas tree in Sydney’s QVB building.

While it’s often risky work, Mr Merrick says most rope access technicians stick to the approved industry’s safety code.

“If you’re abseiling down a building and you slip on something with your foot, you can imagine how the consequences would be astronomical.

“For third parties and other people working in the field, the main dangers are a lack of supervision and inadequate training,” he said.

For those keen to follow in Richie’s career footsteps, there is even an Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA), which is the international authority for rope access technicians.

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Originally published as The Bachelorette: Richie’s job as a rope access technician explained