Bob Mehew
Well-known member
There was a system for inspecting anchors up until some 5 to 10 years ago. We stopped it because:Simon Wilson said:There is no system of routine inspection in the BCA anchor policy; instead it makes you the inspector of your anchors.
a) we concentrated on providing the anchors could match the mountaineering anchor standard (BS EN 959:1997 subsequently superseded by the 2007 version) which did not require routine inspection by inspectors, only inspecting by users; and
b) the program of inspecting over 5000 anchors was consuming considerable effort by the installers for little benefit.
There is a problem with using the phrase "slightest movement" as we used to experience reports of movement which when checked were wrong. We eventually put it down to people mixing up movement of the anchor for flexing of their fingers. Simon has quoted the BCA Anchor Policy statement, not the user guide, see http://british-caving.org.uk/wiki3/doku.php?id=equipment_techniques:safe_use_of_eco_anchors. That states "Twist the anchor using the fingers, while observing any movement. Slight flexing or rotational movement (+/-1mm) of the anchor is acceptable." The 1mm allowance is to allow for people to mixing up finger flexing for actual movement. Some work carried out by CNCC Tech Group in 1994 indicated that a properly placed anchor would flex some 0,06mm under a 85kg load.Simon Wilson said:Please closely inspect all anchors. Do not overlook even the slightest movement. If there is any discernible movement then it is a loose anchor and needs to be reported. We need to know about loose anchors because we need to find out the scale of the problem and if it is a growing problem.