IPAF's North American Meeting Updates Industry | Construction News

IPAF's North American Meeting Updates Industry | Construction News
IPAF's North American Meeting Updates Industry | Construction News
IPAF's North American Meeting Updates Industry | Construction News
IPAF's North American Meeting Updates Industry | Construction News
IPAF's North American Meeting Updates Industry | Construction News

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), a non-profit organization that promotes the safe and effective use of powered access equipment worldwide, held its annual North American Convention in Toronto, Ontario, at the beginning of October.

About 75 attendees registered for the 1.5-day event, which was held in Canada for the first time this year. Key topics on the agenda included updates about the proposed changes to the ANSI A92 and the Canadian CSA standards for aerial lifts, a discussion of whether operators of more complex lifts need more training than operators of less-complex equipment, and information about building a safety culture.

The agenda also included a tour of the Skyjack manufacturing plant located about 50 miles west of Toronto in Guelph, Ontario. The Skyjack tour provided insight into the company’s method of manufacturing and supporting telehandlers, boom lifts, and scissor lifts. It also highlighted a month-long promotion in which the company donated money to breast cancer research for each aerial lift that customers bought painted pink. Day two was scheduled for a full slate of informational and educational sessions. Here are some of the highlights.

• IPAF is changing the name of its North American organization from American Work Platform Training (AWPT) to IPAF North America, to more clearly indicate that the North American group is part of the worldwide IPAF organization.

• Teresa Kee, director of environmental, health, and safety for N.E.S. Rentals, and this year’s president of IPAF’s North American council, said that the group will begin holding regional meetings across the continent. The first two are being planned for Chicago and Houston.

• Kee also said that IPAF North America’s focus will expand to include safety topics that add value to a whole business, not just those related directly to aerial equipment. For example, the organization is developing a forklift training program, and one topic on its Toronto meeting agenda was testing for soft-tissue injuries, which cost $200 billion in the United States each year.

• Brad Boehler, president of Skyjack, said that the overhaul of the ANSI A92 standards is likely to change the structure so that there are only three sections: design, safe use, and training. The idea is to make AWP (MEWP) standards more similar worldwide. Boehler also said that other changes to the standards may include making load-sensing devices and tire-pressure monitoring systems mandatory, adding interlocks that will prevent driving a lift while simultaneously performing other functions, eliminating the use of chains or ropes for platform gates, and setting more stringent limitations for working in wind.

• A panel made up of IPAF North America vice president Tony Groat, Rental editor Jennifer Lescohier, NES Rentals' manager of safety education Tony Radke, and ReachMaster president Ebbe Christensen (shown from left to right in photo above) discussed whether operators of more-complex aerial lifts need more training than those who use basic models.

• Kevin O’Shea, director of safety and training for Hydro-Mobile, talked about key considerations when buying used mast-climbing equipment. For example, O’Shea said in addition to making a thorough visual inspection of the structure and welds, potential buyers should be sure to get records of the equipment’s last annual inspection, its service records, and the serial number for each component. He added that the serial numbers should be checked with the manufacturer to make sure they all belong to the machine being purchased.

• Bill Doucette, vice president of human resources for NES Rentals Holdings, discussed why building a company safety culture that employees believe in is more effective than just trying to enforce safety rules.

IPAF has not yet announced the date or location for its 2015 North American convention. Information about IPAF, its programs, and resources available to the industry are available at www.ipaf.org.

Categories:
Tags:
Catalyst

Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.