IPAF Elevating Safety is an annual magazine dedicated to promoting MEWP (aerial lift) safety in the US market. It is published for IPAF by AC Business Media in August each year.
Working at height is a high-risk activity, take care of your people and be responsible for safety with IPAF's help. IPAF has a range of Andy Access posters, in multiple languages, to help your workforce, covering important mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) and mast climbing work platform (MCWP) safety topics. All to help keep operators safe and prevent accidents.
IPAF has created a film warning people not to cut corners when using MEWPs to carry out temporary work at height, launching it at its Asia Conference & Showcase 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Normal and auxiliary control systems built into a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) will allow the operator to bring the platform of the machine safely to ground level under controlled conditions. It is extremely unusual not to be able to lower the platform using these controls or for all of these systems to fail. The following is an example of a rescue plan for people who work at height using a MEWP.
Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs), also known as Aerial work platforms (AWPs), are probably the safest way of doing temporary work at height. Stay safe
when near to power lines/conductors. Electrocutions were the single largest cause of fatalities to MEWP/AWP operators in the US in 2012.
A secondary guarding device is a piece of equipment which can be fitted to a Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP), also known as aerial work platform (AWP), in addition to the primary guarding systems and is intended to further reduce the risk of entrapment and/or provide an alert that an entrapment situation has occurred.
Scissor lifts are not designed to hold banners. Attaching banners to a scissor lift will increase the surface area and create a "sail board” effect which will destabilize or potentially turn over a MEWP.
All MEWPs/AWPs rely on the condition of the ground on which they stand for their stability. This applies equally to those which require the use of jacks or outriggers and those which operate free on wheels. It is essential that an assessment of ground conditions is made before travelling, using or setting up a MEWP on any surface.
The IPAF Operators’ Safety Guide for Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (also known as Aerial Work Platforms) is a pocket-size publication that sets out the recommended working practices for the safe operation of MEWPs/AWPs over a wide range of applications, from initial checks, through transport and positioning on site, to carrying out the required tasks.
The Best Practice Guidance for mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) was released in July 2010 by the UK-based Strategic Forum for Construction Plant Safety Group with the aim of avoiding trapping or crushing incidents when these machines are used in confined overhead spaces. IPAF has prepared a US edition of the above document, which was published in April 2011.
Raising the Standard is the IPAF bulletin. It is published twice a year and carries news of particular interest to IPAF members, such as developments in legislation and technical standards, and new member services.
The mounting or re-mounting of a Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) onto a new or different vehicle chassis to the original chassis as sold by the MEWP manufacturer is a specialist job requiring both in-depth engineering knowledge and the technical specifications for the MEWP to be mounted.
Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) are specifically designed to lift people to a position where they can work at height safely within the platform. MEWPs are not designed to transfer people from one level to another, or for people to exit the platform at height.
It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that all operators they direct and authorize to use aerial equipment are adequately trained, familiarized and made aware of operator responsibilities to comply with current health and safety requirements.
Stay safe when working on or near roads with Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs). IPAF’s Street Smart safety campaign highlights key risks and how to avoid them.
