AWPT Program Attracts New Members, Training Centers
November 3, 2009 – The International Powered Access Federation reports it has signed on four new North American members and Aerial Work Platform Training Inc. training centers. For many new members, which include the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union 73, the Construction Safety Council, TGM Wind Services, and Hinkel Equipment Rental, the AWPT training program provides a unique solution to their organization’s training needs.
Lofty Idea
In Abilene, Texas, the newly formed TGM Wind Services will operate at a different altitude once it receives the two tallest aerial lifts in North America—two 295-foot (90-meter) Bronto Skylift Model S90 HLAs—in January 2010. The company plans to use the units to service and maintain wind turbines. Kevin Darby, vice president of TGM Wind Services, said the decision to offer aerial lift training came in two parts. First, the company will be training its own employees, and secondly, it will need to put its customers in the air.
Working at nearly 300 feet, the biggest safety concern for aerial lift operators in the platform is wind. “When you are working at that kind of altitude, the weather condition does change up there,” Darby said. “Sometimes you have higher gusts that we truly take into consideration.”
With this safety hazard and others in mind, the company made the decision to require those operating the Bronto aerials to be certified through AWPT. “Once I made that call, it only made sense to be a training center," Darby said, in order to efficiently train employees and customers. The company intends to concentrate on truck-mounted aerial lift training because those types of machines will be available in its inventory.
What drew the company to AWPT was a need to maintain a strong safety record. In the wind industry, Darby said a company’s safety record and certifications are looked upon heavily. “We wanted to make sure the certifications we went through and safety compliance we went through was not only nationally recognized but internationally recognized because we plan to do work abroad as well,” Darby said. “IPAF for aerial lift devices seems to be the most internationally recognized certification you can have.”
Complete Program
Sheet Metal Workers' Local Union 73 is one of the largest locals in the International Union, encompassing all of Cook and Lake Counties in Illinois and serving more than 5,000 members. Local 73 has provided aerial work platform training for sheet metal workers in building trades construction for a number of years, and recently became an AWPT training center. James Burek, training coordinator for Local 73, said the AWPT training program was attractive because of the powered access license, or PAL card. “Recognition of those types of credentials is becoming more prominent in the building trades construction industry,” he said.
Additionally, the program provides comprehensive guidelines, such as requiring a certain number of hours of theory and practical training and class size limitations, and an auditing process. “It isn’t just a training course—it’s a program,” Burek said, noting the AWPT training program’s checks and balances sets it apart from other training solutions.
Expanding Operations
Philadelphia, Pa.-based Hinkel Equipment Rental Associates previously offered truck-mounted and self-propelled aerial lift training to its customers, but it did not certify operators. The company has decided to expand its operations by offering the AWPT training program and becoming a training center. “AWPT has the most complete solution, in our opinion,” said Mark Hinkel, president of Hinkel Equipment Rental Associates. He added that the training center will operate as a separate business under a different company name, which will be determined in the future.
|
