News

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has launched a major new website, featuring a complete design overhaul, more interactive menus and an intuitive interface that automatically picks up a user’s region and language settings.

The shortlisted nominees for the 2018 International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs), jointly hosted by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) and Access International, has been unveiled following the judges meeting in London, UK.

Award-winning instruction and assessment in the safe and effective use of powered access equipment will soon be available to the widest possible range of operators and managers, as the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) makes courses available in multiple languages across its global training center network.

Booking is open for the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Summit and the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) celebration dinner, to be held at the Hilton Miami Downtown in Florida, USA, on 8 March 2018. The theme for the Summit will be “Quantifying Sustainability”, and the first speakers are now confirmed.

A major consultation is to be launched as the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) sets out to establish the possibilities for powered access training and safety guidance afforded by new technology such as virtual reality and platform simulators, involving the more than 1,000 accredited IPAF instructors around the world.

IPAF is pleased to announce Matt Fearon, President of Terex AWP, the global manufacturer of Genie® branded Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs), will be its headline speaker at the organisation’s annual ElevAÇÃO conference, on 5-6 February 2018 in São Paulo, Brazil.

The IPAF Summit and the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) is a perennial highlight of the powered access calendar, and in 2018 the event returns to Miami, hosted at the Hilton Miami Downtown, Florida, US. Don’t miss out on the access industry’s most important annual celebration, combining great educational and networking opportunities, with the traditional IPAF networking event on the eve of the conference on 7 March, the Summit and IAPAs gala dinner on 8 March, and fascinating site visits on the morning of 9 March.

IPAF’s Technical & Safety department has issued global guidance on the remounting of second-hand MEWP/AWP equipment on a different chassis. The guidance emphasises the difficulty and high level of engineering expertise required to mount MEWPs/AWPs on a chassis other than those for which they were originally designed, cautioning that “failure to mount or re-mount a MEWP/AWP correctly can and has led to serious accidents worldwide”.

A selection of 3D virtual Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) and Mast Climbing Work Platforms (MCWPs) is now available in the National Building Information Modelling (BIM) Library with more to follow thanks to the efforts of experts from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF).

Across 2017, IPAF’s Back to Basics safety campaign focusing on identifying and mitigating typical risk scenarios when operating Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) equipment worldwide has actively inspired and informed safety messages and key industry events from Las Vegas and Amsterdam to Shanghai and Abu Dhabi.

A special Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) control test rig has been travelling the world since its debut at the APEX 2017 event in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in May, and most recently has been on three major UK construction sites to gather data to help the global standards body make recommendations as to the best way to standardise MEWP controls worldwide.

IPAF has made a senior management appointment to head up its global Technical & Safety department. Andrew Delahunt will join from a major global Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) manufacturer, where he is currently the Worldwide Safety and Homologation Manager. Andrew will be based in IPAF’s office in Basel, Switzerland, and will take up the post from January 2018.

A dedicated representative for the global Mast Climbing Work Platform (MCWP) market has been appointed by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), in a new role created by the organisation to reflect the growth and influence of its MCWP membership base and activities.

The fatal injury rate (FIR) for mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) declined in 2016, despite the fact that the total MEWP rental fleet and the number of rental days worldwide increased significantly over the same period.

The global Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) fleet grew strongly in the past year, with the US market exceeding expectations and steady growth throughout Europe for the first time since the economic downturn, driven mainly by a resurgent construction industry and falling unemployment, according to the latest annual global rental market report from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF).