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NEWS IN BRIEF
ACCREDITED TRAINERS -
REMINDER
The EWPA advises Accredited Trainers
to remind successfully trained
operators the yellow sheet of A4 paper
given them is valid for 60 days from
date of issue as an interim ‘Yellow
Card’. If they have not received their
Yellow Card by 45 days then they
should phone the EWPA office in case
it has been lost in transit. However,
the EWPA office said, remember the
office takes up to 15 days to convert a
correctly completed, legible application
form into a Yellow Card and posted out
to the Trained Operator.
“Please note we have to receive the
white sheet first, so be diligent and
efficient and send the completed white
original to the EWPA office as soon as
possible after completing the training,”
EWPA HQ said.
TRAINING - SIDE FORCE
The EWPA training program covers the
issue of side force on EWPs.
“We even have a specific written
Q&A on the assessment document,”
the EWPA HQ said. “Please reinforce
this issue at training sessions because
there have been a number of incidents
where the EWP’s side load was being
greatly exceeded. This can happen
when being used as a banner mount,
or it has been tied off to a structure
or if it is used as a fixed platform for
drilling horizontally.”
LOST YELLOW CARDS
EWPA HQ advises the new ‘Lost Cards’
reissuing process is working well. A lot
of the renewal process is completed
by the Trained Operator online, which
means operators can double check
their details and pay online. The more
often you can get Trained Operators to
write down their email address when
they originally undertake training, the
better to assist with the success of this
new system.”
SA - TOW TRUCK LICENCE
& TRANSPORTING EWPS
In SA, the EWPA advises, an issue
has arisen where members who are
involved in transporting EWPs on their
trucks are being advised they need a
tow truck licence.
This is being dealt with through the
SA Courts to clarify what is required
and members will be advised of any
decision.
28 | ACCESS
in
ACTION | AUGUST 2012
ACCESS in ACTION
Accident reporting should be
mandatory for IPAF members,
Peter Douglas, Executive
Director of Operations at
Nationwide Platforms, an access
rental company in the UK said
at the IPAF Summit in March.
Peter Douglas made a strong
case for accident reporting as
a key initiative for IPAF, whose
mission is to promote the safe
and effective use of powered
access worldwide.
“If IPAF was going to have
an initiative, this is it,” he said.
“In my view, accident reporting
should be a mandatory
condition of IPAF membership.”
Mandatory reporting of
accidents is not currently IPAF’s
policy. The Federation initiated
its accident reporting database
this year, with the aim of
putting a figure on the total
number of fatal accidents
worldwide involving aerial
work platforms, and using the
findings to further inform its
training and safety programs.
Peter Douglas also revealed
Accident reporting should be mandatory
Peter Douglas made a strong case for
accident reporting
accident statistics at Nationwide
over the past three years.
Delivery drivers were currently
the biggest concern, he noted.
In addition, near misses should
be reported, not just serious
accidents, because near misses
indicate the most common risky
behaviors. Reducing the
number of near misses and
minor accidents will lead to
reducing the number of serious
and fatal accidents, he said.
IPAF calls on all
manufacturers, rental
companies, contractors and
users to report any known fatal
and serious accidents involving
AWPs worldwide and all known
accidents involving AWPs in the
UK. IPAF advises the database
will be confidential and used for
analysis and improving safety.
Around 35 companies have
registered to use IPAF’s accident
database, he said, although
the numbers actually reporting
accidents was still small.
IPAF technical officer Chris
Wraith urged the industry to
report accidents at
www.ipaf.org/accident and help
save lives.
Chris said understanding
why accidents happen is key to
changing risky behaviors.
In analysis of recent accidents
in the UK, he noted time
pressure was often the cause of
the accidents. In each case, the
operators were under time
pressure to complete a job,
leading them to take shortcuts
that in the end proved fatal.
HR
The outlook for the US is
bright, as seen in the IPAF US
Powered Access Rental Market
Report 2012.
According to the report, the
US market experienced
relatively strong growth in
rental revenue to $6.2 billion in
2011, mainly due to increased
demand leading to higher
rental rates. Continuous growth
is expected in the next two
years.
The European powered access
rental market in the 10 countries
surveyed was approximately
Euro2.3 billion in 2011,
according to the IPAF European
Powered Access Rental Market
Report 2012. Germany is now
the largest market in value,
followed by France and the
UK. The 10 European countries
surveyed were: Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands, Norway, Spain,
Sweden and the UK.
Following difficult times in
2009 and 2010, the European
market rebounded slightly in
2011. Only slight growth is
expected for 2012-2013, the
market being held back by lack
of confidence due to the
uncertain economic outlook.
One of the highlights is the
prediction of 40% annual fleet
growth over the next five years
in Brazil, an emerging market
that is the focus of this year’s
rental reports. The reports
highlight key facts and figures
for senior management, such
as fleet size, utilisation rate and
retention period.
Get the IPAF Reports 2012 at
www.ipaf.org/reports
HR
Strong growth in US powered access rental