News

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has experienced another year of global growth, seeing membership rise by 6.6% year-on-year, a 7.8% increase in turnover and global training delivery up by around 4%, according to the Annual Report 2017, published today in eight languages including for the first time in Chinese.

The recent Middle East Convention hosted by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, saw a Memorandum of Understanding signed between IPAF and the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM).

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has launched a major new website, featuring a complete design overhaul, more interactive menus and an intuitive interface that automatically picks up a user’s region and language settings.

Award-winning instruction and assessment in the safe and effective use of powered access equipment will soon be available to the widest possible range of operators and managers, as the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) makes courses available in multiple languages across its global training center network.

Booking is open for the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Summit and the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) celebration dinner, to be held at the Hilton Miami Downtown in Florida, USA, on 8 March 2018. The theme for the Summit will be “Quantifying Sustainability”, and the first speakers are now confirmed.

A major consultation is to be launched as the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) sets out to establish the possibilities for powered access training and safety guidance afforded by new technology such as virtual reality and platform simulators, involving the more than 1,000 accredited IPAF instructors around the world.

The IPAF Summit and the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) is a perennial highlight of the powered access calendar, and in 2018 the event returns to Miami, hosted at the Hilton Miami Downtown, Florida, US. Don’t miss out on the access industry’s most important annual celebration, combining great educational and networking opportunities, with the traditional IPAF networking event on the eve of the conference on 7 March, the Summit and IAPAs gala dinner on 8 March, and fascinating site visits on the morning of 9 March.

IPAF’s Technical & Safety department has issued global guidance on the remounting of second-hand MEWP/AWP equipment on a different chassis. The guidance emphasises the difficulty and high level of engineering expertise required to mount MEWPs/AWPs on a chassis other than those for which they were originally designed, cautioning that “failure to mount or re-mount a MEWP/AWP correctly can and has led to serious accidents worldwide”.

A selection of 3D virtual Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) and Mast Climbing Work Platforms (MCWPs) is now available in the National Building Information Modelling (BIM) Library with more to follow thanks to the efforts of experts from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF).