IPAF assists Renault in raising work at height safety awareness

Global automotive manufacturer Renault is working to address global site safety concerns and has been raising awareness with a number of events aimed at management and safety employees, with assistance from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF).  

Renault hosted special safety seminars for workers at its factories in the Iberian peninsula in May, the first in Palencia on 6 May, with another similar event held by Renault on 7 May in Valladolid and a third in Seville on 28 May.

Representing IPAF were Rafael Duyos, IPAF’s Spain Representative, and José Ramón Etxebarria, the director of IPAF’s Spanish Training Work Group, who outlined existing legislation regarding working at height using powered access, and the importance of planning and risk management to prevent accidents and falls from height, and emphasised the roles of proper operator and manager training, equipment maintenance and supervision of work using mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs).

At the end of the event, Renault’s employees were able to witness a demonstration on the correct use of harnesses and fall protection systems, as well as operating MEWPs using a sophisticated virtual reality simulator.

IPAF has been working with Renault for some time, as the company seeks to harmonise global best practice when it comes to safety while working at height. The global Renault-Nissan Group became a member of IPAF in 2017, with a view to supporting all its health & safety managers worldwide on training and safety issues around working at height using MEWPs.

Tim Whiteman, CEO & MD of IPAF, comments: “Working with large multi-national organisations such as the Renault-Nissan Group is very useful when it comes to getting the word out to a real breadth and depth of training and workplace safety managers and supervisors.

“IPAF’s partnership with Renault has been very encouraging so far and the format of these two events in Spain has been very successful. A similar format of event is planned for Renault employees in France later this year, and we also hope that in future we can replicate this type of event in other territories where Renault operates sites, including Latin America.”

Elsewhere in Spain IPAF participated in the Madrid Institute of Occupational Health & Safety’s annual Technical Seminar on Safety at Height, on 23 May from 9am to 1:30pm at the offices of the FLC on Calle Rivas, Madrid. The conference included lectures on avoiding falls from height, accident statistics gathered and analysed by IPAF, use of MEWPs to conduct temporary work at height, including demonstrations of scenarios using a VR simulator, and best practice when planning to mitigate risks and prevent falls from height. IPAF conducted a similar seminar with the Galician Institute of Occupational Health & Safety on 31 May.