Tree work words: climbing
Anchors, ropes, hitches, harnesses, lanyards and climbing methods, each word defined from SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe New Zealand, the Alberta OHS Code and the UK HSE.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
Climbing words come from four regulators that do not always agree. A strop in New Zealand is a lanyard in Alberta, and a friction hitch in one code is a climbing device in another. This page gives each word as the named source defines it, one row per word.
Every meaning is written in our own words from the page named in its row. A word that none of those pages defines is not listed. The wider A to Z list is the tree work glossary.
Words and meanings
| Term | Meaning | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor point | Any fork where two branches, or a branch and the trunk, meet that a climber can use as the point for the climbing or lowering rope. The New South Wales glossary calls that natural, and counts a device installed in the tree, such as a pulley and sling, as an artificial anchor point. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Anchor | In Alberta's code for fall protection and rope access, an engineered part that joins a fall arrest or travel restraint system to the anchorage. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Anchorage | In Alberta's code for rope access, a structure, or part of one, able to take whatever force a fall protection system puts on it. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Climbing rope | Rope a climber uses only for going up, coming down and work positioning, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Climbing device | The attachment between the climber's harness and the ropes that lets the climber go up or down, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Ascender | A knot or mechanical device used to go up a rope and position the climber in the tree, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Descender | A knot or mechanical friction device used with a rope to come down from a tree, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Prusik loop | A loop of rope smaller in diameter than the climbing rope, joined to it with a prusik knot and used to attach the climber to the rope, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Friction hitch | A hitch, usually of synthetic fibre, that joins a climber to the climbing line and allows controlled movement up, down and in work positioning. WorkSafe New Zealand's code says it is rated to at least 22 kN. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Friction device | A device of alloy or metal that controls friction on a line. In a climbing system it lets the climber go up, come down and work position, and the New Zealand code says it is marked to the appropriate standard and rated to at least 22 kN. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| D-rings | Attachment points on a climbing harness for the climbing line or a work-positioning lanyard, in the New Zealand code. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Carabiner (karabiner) | Alberta's code describes a connector, usually trapezoidal or oval, with a self-locking gate that takes at least two separate deliberate actions to open and closes and locks again on its own. The code sets an ultimate tensile strength of at least 22.2 kilonewtons. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Snap hook (lanyard clip) | A metal loop with a sprung gate used as a connector, in the New Zealand code. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Lanyard | In Alberta's code, a flexible line of webbing, synthetic rope or wire rope that ties a full body harness or safety belt to a lifeline or an anchor point. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Safety lanyard, strop, flip line | An adjustable rope or strop designed as a work positioning aid, in the New Zealand code. The code also lists the work positioning lanyard as the same thing. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Cow's tail | In Alberta's rope access rules, a short strap, lanyard or sling tied to the main attachment point of a harness. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Full body harness | In Alberta's code, a set of connected straps made to spread force over at least the thighs, shoulders and pelvis, with a place to clip on a lanyard, lifeline or connector. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Work positioning harness | The New South Wales glossary describes a body belt and buttock strap used as a work positioning device where only a restrained fall is likely. The New Zealand code says a harness designed to position or suspend the user is not suitable for fall arrest. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary; WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Work positioning system | Alberta's definition: protective equipment on a vertical safety line, made up of a full body harness, descent controllers and positioning lanyards, that holds or suspends a worker in tension at the place of work. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Personal fall arrest system | In Alberta's code, protective equipment that stops a worker's fall before the worker reaches a surface below. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Travel restraint system | In Alberta's code, a kind of fall protection, guardrails included, that stops a worker from reaching an edge or a position from which a fall could happen. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Lifeline | In Alberta's code, a synthetic or wire rope rigged from one or more anchor points, with the worker's lanyard or another fall arrest part clipped to it. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Free fall distance | The vertical distance from where a worker falls to where a personal fall arrest system starts to slow the fall, in Alberta's code. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Shock absorber | In Alberta's code, a device that cuts the force on a worker when a personal fall arrest system catches a fall. | Alberta OHS Code Part 1, definitions |
| Shock load | The dynamic load on a rope or rigging apparatus when a moving object or a falling person is stopped, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Working load limit | The maximum load set for a rope, chain, sling or lifting item under general conditions of use, in the New South Wales glossary. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Safe working load | The safe working load of a piece of equipment as the maker specifies it, in the New Zealand code. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Kilonewton (kN) | A unit of force used to state the holding values of anchors, fasteners and climbing gear. The New Zealand code gives 1 kN as approximately 100 kilograms as a rule of thumb. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| False crotch | A system that supports an arborist line other than a natural crotch. WorkSafe New Zealand's code says it uses rings or a pulley and that each component is rated to at least 22 kN. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Throw bag | A small weighted flexible bag on a lightweight line that is thrown over a suitable anchor point in the tree, in the New Zealand code. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Tool lanyard, tool strop | Rope or webbing that attaches the climber's tools to the harness, with a tear-away built in, in the New South Wales glossary. The New Zealand code defines a tool strop as a short line used to secure tools aloft. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary; WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Climbing spikes (spurs, climbing irons) | The New South Wales glossary describes a pair of climbing aids on the lower legs made of gaffs or spikes, calf and foot supports, straps and pads. The New Zealand code lists the other names and says they are used with a safety strop. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary; WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
| Work positioning, changeover climbing | The UK HSE names changeover climbing with a harness, a friction knot and a climbing line as an example of work positioning. It says a backup system for preventing or arresting a fall is expected unless it is not reasonably practicable. | UK HSE page on tree climbing |
| Rope access and positioning, footlocking, single rope technique | The UK HSE names footlocking and single rope technique as examples. It says this approach uses at least two separately anchored lines, a working line and a safety line, with the user connected to both, unless a risk assessment shows a second line would add risk. | UK HSE page on tree climbing |
| Industrial rope access | A harness-based kernmantle rope system using a working rope and a safety rope. The New South Wales glossary says its techniques differ from harness-based tree climbing. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Suspension intolerance | A potentially fatal condition that can occur when a person hangs upright in a harness without movement for a long time, in the New South Wales glossary. The same entry gives suspension trauma and harness hang syndrome as other names. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Aerial rescue | Getting an injured worker down from a high place such as a tree or a lift platform, in the New South Wales glossary. More in aerial rescue rules. | SafeWork NSW tree work code, glossary |
| Dismantling a tree | Reducing a tree's size or height in sections from aloft, in the New Zealand code. | WorkSafe NZ arboriculture code, definitions |
Reading these sources
The New South Wales and New Zealand entries come from the glossaries of their tree work codes. The Alberta entries come from the definitions part of the province's Occupational Health and Safety Code, which covers fall protection for all industries, not only tree work. Where an Alberta definition is about wood pole climbing or industrial rope access, the row says so. The UK HSE entries come from its page on tree climbing.
Strength figures in the table are what the named code or definition states. They are not ratings of any product. For what the standards and makers say about rope, harness and connector ratings, see connectors and hardware ratings and climbing lines and lanyards.
Rigging words, such as load line and tag line, are in rigging words by kind.
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and the Forestry Commission and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains material from the SafeWork NSW Tree work code of practice, which SafeWork NSW publishes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Contains material from WorkSafe New Zealand publications. The wording above is ours.
Sources
- SafeWork NSW, Tree work code of practice, appendix A glossary, read October 8, 2026
- Government of Alberta, Occupational Health and Safety Code Part 1 definitions, read October 8, 2026
- WorkSafe New Zealand, Safety and Health in Arboriculture approved code, definitions, read October 8, 2026
- UK HSE, Tree climbing, read October 8, 2026