A steeplejack is a craftsman who scales buildings, chimneys, and church steeples to carry out repairs or maintenance.In the UK, steeplejacks now use a belay rope fall-arrest system (similar to the method used by rock climbers) attached to the ladders as they are erected to eliminate solo climbing and greatly reduce the risk of falls from height.Once ladders have been erected, the next stage is usually to suspend a bosun's chair (a strong wooden plank on which the steeplejack can sit, pull themselves upwards or lower themselves downwards, or sit in a stationary position), but abseiling (UK) or rappelling (US) equipment is replacing the bosun's chair on many operations because of its lighter weight.This is done by fixing anchors into the wall (whether concrete, stone, or brick) and "kicking" the scaffolding off from there.These "suspended access cradles" are popularly called "swing stages" by their crews.
