HIGHER Aerial platform training uses international "driver's liscense".

Designed more than 40 years ago to help workers safely access hard-to-reach areas, aerial work platforms like boom and scissor lifts have become common jobsite implements operated everyday by hundreds of thousands of craftsmen. But the devices still involve working at height and accidents are common, which has compelled a European safety organization to argue for standardized training of users in order to reduce accidents globally.

Founded in 1983, U.K.-based International Powered Access Federation has developed–slowly yet steadily–an aerial work platform training program that has qualified more than 100,000 operators in 20 nations. On Dec. 1, IPAF announced that it has opened its first training institute in North America, with hopes to expand the program beyond its European roots.

"The biggest success of IPAF has been to achieve international recognition," says Tim Whiteman, IPAF managing director designate. The new North American center, an IPAF wholly owned subsidiary called Aerial Work Platform Training Inc., is based at Shippensburg University in Rouzerville, Pa. It is seeking professionals interested in opening their own locally owned franchises across the continent, says Whiteman. Such people would include large contractors, local labor unions, independent trainers, manufacturers and dealers, he says.

A key feature of IPAF’s training scheme is its "Powered Access License," or PAL for short, which operators carry with them like a regular driver’s license. IPAF wants the PAL card to be internationally recognized as an operator’s standard proof of equipment training. The training deals with such issues as controls, fall protection and preventing tip-overs.

Under IPAF’s current structure, training centers set their own prices, typically between $100 and $300 per person. But they must use IPAF’s curriculum scheme and materials, which include a written and practical exam. Only IPAF-accredited centers can issue the PAL card, which costs operators an additional $45 and is valid for five years.

"The cards themselves are controlled by IPAF, but the training centers will actually do the training and testing," says Dennis Eckstine, a safety consultant in Waynesboro, Pa., who is heading up AWPT’s curriculum at Shippensburg University. Eckstine is a former safety engineer for crane manufacturer Grove Worldwide and a commissioner for the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (CCO).

The IPAF program resembles CCO in many ways, Eckstine says. "If you are a training entity with CCO, you have to endorse the program. IPAF also allows training centers to participate in the AWPT program. If they qualify, they can be a training center," he says.

Employers and operators have voiced concerns over the cost of CCO training, as seen most recently with Hawaii’s adoption of the program (ENR 12/8 p. 20). But most agree that CCO, which has certified more than 20,000 operators since 1995, is beneficial.

Still, some question whether the industry is looking for standard training for aerials, which, unlike cranes, typically don’t have dedicated operators. "The crane industry wanted it, and that’s why we created it," says Graham J. Brent, CCO’s executive director. Brent says he talked about a partnership with IPAF three years ago, but at the time didn’t see a "perceived need" for certification as much as with cranes.

Only time will tell whether or not employers and operators will embrace the IPAF program, but most agree that more training is needed overall. "Any idea is a good idea," says Frank Migliaccio, the ironworkers’ executive director of safety and health. "There are a lot of accidents that could be prevented if the operator interceded properly," says Dave Merrifield, president of Merrifield Safety Consulting, St. Joseph, Mo.

Contractors and labor unions say they are likely to look at the program to see how it fits into their current training scheme. If desired, they could apply for certification to issue the PAL cards. But Migliaccio says, "We’re still going to do our own training."

(Photos courtesy of Industrial Marketing Services/AWPT)