The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) is an international organisation invested
in ensuring businesses all over the world use powered access equipment safely and effectively. As
part of their duties, they regularly look at commonly adhered-to best practices well as standards that
are being followed. Last year they announced their intentions to revise their guidelines, as accident
statistics collected from previous years indicated that overturned with MEWPs were increasing
instead of decreasing. To resolve this, they updated their guidelines for assessing ground and surface
condition prior to use. Have you considered these when using your MEWP?
Common knowledge
Most MEWP operators know to start every MEWP session by inspecting the MEWP as well as looking
for any hazards that might be present on its route or underneath it. They’ll also know that they
should not exceed the recommended weight or load limit for their particular MEWP. However, when
looking at accident reports it seems that advice only took self-supporting MEWPS into consideration,
and not mobile ones.
Added considerations
New guidelines take into consideration the load-bearing capacity of the ground the machine is
operating on. As this area is usually small, a high amount of pressure is generated and therefore it’s
essential to check for signs of disturbances or sinking and where possible to get ground plans and
drawings for a fuller picture of the state of the area below. It’s recommended that you check if the
ground remains stable when elevating the platform without moving it. It’s also recommended that
tracking is placed on the ground in situations where the machine needs to be moved with minimal
disruption to the ground or where there is uncertainty over the conditions of the ground.
Employee responsibility
Another key recommendation made by the IPAF is that every person working on site is given the
necessary information regarding their floor and work environment, with details on any manholes or
trenches that might impact the stability of the ground. This includes notifying staff members if a
surface has recently been laid or installed as this could mean it has not developed its full load
bearing capacity as yet.
The above recommendations are easy to execute and will improve workplace safety tenfold, making
them well worth adopting.
