The Statement of Best Practices of Personal Fall Protection Systems for Aerial Work Platform Equipment is an industry initiative to develop an educational document to clarify when and how to use PFP systems on AWP equipment. It was developed for use in the US and is based on ANSI standards.  

It was launched in February 2011 by the American Rental Association (ARA), the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED), the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) and the Scaffold Industry Association (SIA).

The participating organizations recognized a need to address the proper use and regulatory compliance of AWP personal fall protection and created a common resource to educate users on best practices of the safe use of PFP equipment. The use of PFP is a component of AWP training and has legal requirements in the United States. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards both address fall protection when using AWP equipment.

This best practice document aims to:

• Educate the industry on applicable OSHA regulations and the industry-recognized and supported ANSI standards.
• Provide information to assist users and operators during their selection process to identify the most appropriate personal fall protection system for their job functions while operating AWP equipment.
• Inform the user and operator how to recognize and guard against the potential fall hazards associated with the use of AWP equipment.
• Encourage the incorporation of best practices for personal fall protection with AWP equipment into a company’s fall protection plans.