The speakers for this year’s IPAF Summit in Dubai, UAE, on 6 March have been announced, with Matt Fearon, Genie President, and Peter Schrader, MD of Zeppelin Rental, among the names confirmed. Those wishing to attend the IAPAs dinner and presentation ceremony are reminded the early-bird discount expires on 31 January.

IPAF is pleased to be able to announce Peter Douglas as its new CEO & Managing Director, following a thorough recruitment process that attracted almost 50 applicants from around the world. The new CEO & MD will take up post on 1 December 2019 and will be based in the UK.

Senior representatives of IPAF have given more feedback to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) of MPs looking into falls from height in the workplace at a recent meeting in Westminster, including a review of IPAF’s accident reporting project.

The first training candidates have successfully passed IPAF’s PAL+ advanced MEWP operator course in a virtual reality (VR) environment using MEWP simulators, with the first certifications taking place at AFI-Uplift’s IPAF Training Centre near Leeds, Yorks.

IPAF is advising members that there has been a revision to the effective date for the ANSI A92 suite of standards, which has now been extended to March 1 2020.

The judges have been announced for the 2020 International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs), which will take place in London, UK, at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel Kensington, on 23 April, in the evening of the IPAF Summit 2020.

More than 50 delegates attended the first ever IPAF workshop on training and safety standards to be held in Oman, answering demand in the country to establish robust standards to improve operator safety and technical inspections of MEWP machines.

Leading manufacturers have signed a pledge to ensure that all operators of boom-type MEWPs are provided with a full-body harness and correct lanyard at a special event hosted by IPAF during the BICES event in Beijing, China.

All rental/hire members of the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) in the UK have “levelled up” to the IPAF Rental+ minimum standard, which assures people seeking to hire mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) that an IPAF member company will conform to the highest industry standards of safety and professionalism.

Tony Groat, North America Regional Manager for IPAF, has been honoured as Person of the Year at the ALH Awards 2019 in San Diego, California, for his work to promote MEWP safety and training and in developing new US and Canadian standards.

Dan Moss has been appointed by IPAF as Global Technical Standards Development Expert to help develop new MEWP safety standards and update existing ones.

Elevation 2019 saw almost 150 attendees converge on the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Coventry, as the event launched by IPAF last year made a successful return.

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 online shop has been launched by IPAF, offering the chance to order safety and technical guidance leaflets, stickers or decals, training materials, as well as key magazine publications including IPAF Informa in Italian and IPAF-Journal in German.

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.

Nominations for the 2020 IAPAs are now open, and awards hosts IPAF and Access International are inviting all those interested to submit their applications without delay, and to book their place at the 2020 IPAF Summit & IAPAs, to be hosted at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Kensington, London, on 23 April next year.

OHSSAI has amplified calls from IPAF to increase take-up of comprehensive MEWP operator training in India, to help eradicate unsafe practices such as using ground controls to elevate untrained personnel to carry out work at height.

Attendees from all levels of the powered access industry participated in the second annual IPAF Innovate workshop, presentation & award event in Chicago, IL, which benefitted from a change in location and date from last year’s inaugural event.

More than 300 delegates attended the IPAF Asia Conference and Showcase, held for the second time in Hangzhou, capital of China’s Zhejiang province, on 17 July 2019.

The first speakers have been confirmed for IPAF Summit, to be held in London, UK, on 23 April, as the event and the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) gala dinner are set to sell out quickly. The IAPAs shortlist has also now been confirmed.

The shortlisted entrants to the 2020 International Awards for Powered Access) have been confirmed. A record 130 entries to the awards were received, with the judges meeting earlier this month in London to select their favourite entries in each category.