The annual IPAF Summit took place this week in Miami, Fla. Lift and Access attended several powered access-focused sessions, noting highlights from the event.
Ron DeFeo, Terex CEO, opened the Summit with a statement on how safety is a personal issue and impacts not just you but loved ones. He shared that Terex has had five fatalities in his 20-year involvement but two of those occurred in the last six months. Safety statistics are presented at all board meetings before any sales or profits are reviewed. DeFeo shared that the commitment to a focused safety culture has produced a major improvement, and excluding the most recent Demag acquisition, work lost time rates have been brought down to 1.14 from 3.92 in 2007. He also pointed out that even the world-class standard of 0.4 is a goal to attain it is still not good enough. He challenged attendees to make a commitment to safety, but in order to do so, they must quantify results and measure improvements.
Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, presented on the efforts being made by the agency to reduce the number of deaths attributed to falling from height. He reported that over 4,500 workers die every year in the United States, and of those, 250 are killed from falls.
Teresa Kee of NES and Giles Councell of IPAF reported on the successful testing and implementation of AWPT's access platform eLearning module for operators training. Also presenting was a team of NES employees, including Tony Radke, Sue Rudnick, Mark Ferguson, and Tim Burwood, who were joined by Tony Groat of AWPT to share their perspective and experiences of adopting and implementing the new program and its acceptance by NES employees. Kee opened by sharing that NES had set a internal goal to have trained 98% of its 1,000 employees and was happy to report that they successfully accomplished this goal. Kee presented that nearly 80% of all NES employees, even office staff, felt the program was effective.
Ebbe Christensen, president of Reachmaster, presented during the access platform breakout session the topic, "Mission Impossible," which focused on how to train an organization to sell, service, and support a compact lift rental and sales organization Ebbe underscored the importance of a strong raining program at all levels to ensure success in all areas of you organization. This includes both employees and powered access equipment users.
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