So a bloke stands on a synthetic rope and the world of safety Nazi"s lose their brains. Really, so what. Would I do it, probably not.
What about all the people who jump out of perfectly good airplanes, go bungy jumping, surfing in known shark (attack) waters, pick up a gun and go to war, run into a burning building or go out in big seas to save others or drive down the road to drop off the kids? Everything has a risk, but its up to the person performing that task to keep themselves alive and well.
We have gone way too far overboard with wrapping everyone up in cotton wool and then blaming / suing someone else for our stuff ups. As is now said regularly, common sense ain't so common anymore!
Saw a fantastic bumper sticker on a ute that sums it up: "WorkCover, breeding a nation of softcocks".