Global MEWP safety film launched at best-attended IPAF Asia Conference

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has premiered a short film warning people not to cut corners when using Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) to conduct temporary work at height at its Asia Conference and Showcase 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The hard-hitting film depicts an employee who complains to his boss about a faulty light, who follows two very different scenarios: In one the man is given a scissor lift in very poor condition and told to get on with the job without any training; in the other the man’s boss engages a reputable powered access rental company and offers his employee IPAF operator training. The outcomes are unsurprisingly very different.

The film can be viewed on IPAF’s YouTube channel at youtu.be/cksuj5uvuC4 and is aimed at spreading IPAF’s MEWP global MEWP safety and training message clearly and simply. It was developed by IPAF’s Malaysia members and launched officially at the 2018 IPAF Asia Conference & Showcase, the best-attended edition of the event held to date, with around 350 delegates hearing a stellar line-up of speakers.

The event, hosted in conjunction with the Master Builders Association Malaysia, with which a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by IPAF, included a Showcase featuring more than 30 IPAF member firms beginning on Wednesday 18 July, with a gala dinner in the evening and the IPAF Asia Conference the following day.

In addition to the excellent line-up of speakers, including Kang Han Fei (Aerial Lift & Equipment), Janne Haapalainen (Scan-Rent), Johnson Lai (Keng Guan Skylift) and Tan Kee Chong (OSH Specialist Department, Ministry of Manpower, Singapore), IPAF demonstrated a sophisticated virtual reality (VR) MEWP simulator to delegates as part of its ongoing global industry-wide consultation on new technology and its place in powered access (www.ipaf.org/VRconsultation).

Tim Whiteman, IPAF CEO & MD, comments: “This was another excellent occasion in  IPAF’s burgeoning global events calendar and is now established alongside the IPAF Summit and IAPAs, Europlatform, ElevAÇÃO in Brazil and the IPAF Middle East Convention, traditionally held in November each year.

“IPAF has an engaged and vibrant membership in Malaysia and Singapore, so it made perfect sense to bring the event to this country for the first time, and it has once again been a great success – there was a palpable sense of excitement throughout the event and tremendous buy-in to what IPAF is trying to do in terms of driving up MEWP and MCWP training and safety standards across the whole region.

“We also wish to thank our event partners, the Master Builders Association of Malaysia, for helping to make the whole event such a triumph and for spreading the word about IPAF and its mission to promote the safe and effective use of powered access to its own engaged and dedicated membership. We look forward to working with them in a true spirit of co-operation in future.”

The location for the next edition of the IPAF Asia Conference & Showcase, set for 17-18 July 2019, was revealed as Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, which sees the event return to mainland China following its debut in the country in 2017 in Changsha, Hunan province.