A promising future lies ahead for members of IPAF Switzerland, which celebrates its 18th birthday this year with announcements on key improvements to its quality MEWP training programme, including updates to courses, digitalisation of delivery and the ePAL mobile app that already has more than 2,000 daily Swiss users.

An agreement between IPAF and a local chapter of the National Safety Council of India will see the two organisations work together in the state of Kerala to spread awareness about key risks and mitigations when working at height.

Eagle Platforms has become the latest Sustaining Member of IPAF, with the UK rental and training company joining a list including Alimak, Aon, APEX, Haulotte and Riwal.

IPAF has secured additional guidance from HMRC on the upcoming end to the rebate on red diesel for powered access machines in the form of a dedicated FAQ sheet.

Speakers for the IPAF Summit in, London, UK, on 10 March 2022, have now been confirmed, and will be presenting on the theme of “The Evolution of Safety”.

IPAF is launching a major update of its globally recognized MEWPs for Managers course for those planning, supervising and managing work at height using powered access, and for the first time the course is also available as standalone eLearning.

New members have been seconded to the IPAF Board, Ben Hirst and Julie Houston Smyth both stepping up, joining Riwal CEO Pedro Torres, who was seconded in June.

A new representative to assist IPAF’s growing membership in South Korea has been announced, Roberto Kim having been appointed and taking up post with immediate effect. He will report to Raymond Wat, IPAF’s South East Asia Regional Manager.

An agreement has been signed between IPAF and member firm Trackunit to develop and deliver a new operator-focused app called ePAL, which will be free to download and will feature a digital IPAF PAL Card, operator log book, and vital safety guides.

IPAF has assured its members and the wider industry that powered access operations remain a vital part of UK construction, facilities, processing and maintenance supply chains, and as such companies should continue to operate during the latest lockdown.

After months of lobbying, the European Materials-Handling Federation and its partners have succeeded in gaining EU approval for a request to delay implementation of new regulations concerning the production and sale of non-road-mobile machinery (NRMM).

MEWPs and technological advancements in the powered access industry can help to enhance safety and efficiency and aid people in their work, rather than replace people altogether, according to speakers at the Europlatform 2019 conference in Nice, France.

IPAF has relaunched its global accident reporting portal as part of a major drive to gather the best quality data from around the world, demonstrating what analysis can teach us about improving safety in powered access with a webinar on the latest trends.

A new presidential team has been confirmed for the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), with Brad Boehler of Skyjack being elected to the role at the organization’s AGM in Dubai, UAE, on 6 March 2019. Other changes to the IPAF Presidential team saw Norty Turner of United Rentals elected as IPAF Deputy President and Karin Nars of Dinolift confirmed as Vice President. Nick Selley of AFI-Uplift completed his full two-year term as President by handing the chain of office to Brad Boehler at the AGM, assuming the ex officio role of Immediate Past President. Meanwhile, Andy Studdert of Cramo, the 2015-2017 IPAF President, maintains his seat on the IPAF Board as a Director.

IPAF has published an important document, the IPAF Three-Year Strategic Plan. We created it to help all of us understand the major objectives for the organisation over the next three years, and to measure and demonstrate our progress towards those goals.

During this difficult period, IPAF has continued to work with national governments, health & safety bodies and international standards organisations to ensure safety and best practice continue to be maintained and shared.

Around 100 delegates were in attendance for the inaugural IPAF MEWP Safety & Standards Conference on 16 May 2019 alongside the Changsha International Construction Machinery Exhibition, Hunan Province, China. The first IPAF Chinese PDS for training instructors was hosted to coincide with the new standards conference.

Tributes have been paid to two pioneers of the powered access rental industry, after Dan Kaplan and Denis Ashworth died within the past two weeks. Both were previous recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards bestowed by IPAF, as part of previous years’ International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) ceremonies.