IPAF appoints new Director of Technical & Safety

The International Powered Access Federation (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.

Andrew can count upon a wealth of experience in the powered access industry, having worked for his current employer since 2011, first as Product Safety Manager for Asia based in his native Australia before moving to the company’s head office in France to take up his most recent role in early 2015. Prior to that he spent more than a decade as an engineer working for Kenworth Trucks and Volgren Australia in Melbourne, having graduated with a B.Eng in Engineering Design from RMIT University in the city in 1999.

Tim Whiteman, CEO of IPAF, says: “We are delighted to announce Andrew’s appointment, following an exhaustive recruitment process using CSG, a global recruitment agency, to source the best talent for the role. CSG undertook a full search of the market, identifying and headhunting potential individuals for the position. This resulted in Andrew being introduced to IPAF, and after an extensive interview process he was selected for the role.

“IPAF is a global leader on safety and the go-to organisation in the powered access industry when it comes to technical guidance and developing and interpreting new safety standards. It was vital to appoint the right person to this role to ensure our members continue to be heard and have influence when it comes to setting technical and safety standards around the globe.

“Once Andrew takes up the role, IPAF’s Technical & Safety Department will again be fully staffed and will continue to provide an invaluable resource to members and to support IPAF in its ongoing mission to ensure powered access is as safe and effective as it can possibly be.

“IPAF is constantly developing and delivering new technical and safety guidance, such as promoting our global Back to Basics and Andy Access safety campaigns and rolling out our new Toolbox Talks programme of safety briefings for the workplace. Andrew will no doubt help move those objectives forward while providing a great deal of valuable creative input of his own.”

Andrew Delahunt says: “Everyone in the powered access industry is aware of IPAF and the vital role it plays in promoting the safe and effective use of MEWP equipment for all types of work at height, so I am thrilled to accept this role. The work IPAF does is absolutely critical and I believe I will be able to bring skills and experience garnered over many years in the industry to help move the global technical and safety agenda forward.

“My background as a qualified engineer who has worked for a major MEWP manufacturer will provide a useful perspective for my IPAF colleagues, as we are seeing increasingly sophisticated technical specifications, capabilities and standards across our industry. I look forward very much to taking up this new challenge in my career.”