The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) launched its “Clunk Click” campaign worldwide at Bauma, which is a program that reinforces the message that all operators and users of boom-type platforms should wear a full body harness with a short restraint lanyard attached to a suitable anchor point. At the Maximum Capacity Media SAF-T Conference on July 20, IPAF's North American subsidiary, Aerial Work Platform Training, Inc. (AWPT), will introduce “Click It,” the North American version of the program.
The Clunk Click campaign started as a grassroots initiative by the U.K. Powered Access Interest Group (PAIG), a joint committee of the Construction Plant-Hire Association and IPAF, in which posters and stickers have been printed to spread the message. “Major rental companies [in the U.K.] took the initiative because unnecessary fatal accidents were happening when users were catapulted out of boom platforms because they were not wearing harnesses,” said IPAF Managing Director Tim Whiteman. "These simple stickers can save lives. We need sponsors in countries around the world to help us get them on all boom-type machines.”
According to IPAF, the campaign has already won the support of the U.K. Health & Safety Executive (HSE), the Major Contractors Group (MCG), the Hire Association Europe (HAE), and the German Association of Construction Equipment Engineers (VDBUM). Companies such as AFI-Uplift, Facelift, Nationwide, Niftylift, Skyjack, Schmidt, and Zooom have committed to putting a sticker on every boom.
With the launch of the U.S. campaign next month, AWPT will be distributing stickers for free at the SAF-T Conference. “Our aim is simple, we want to get a 'Click It' sticker on every boom in the country,” Whiteman said, adding that this hearts and minds campaign is a way to make working at heights even safer by making it the norm to wear a harness in boom-type platforms.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
