Europlatform today

accessboy
They doth protest too much, methinks.
Probably because they have got vested interests.
This is not a knock at IPAF as I am a fan, but honestly from what I have heard the booze fueled networking evening was very worthwhile, unfortunately the speaker day wasn't that well attended and alot of people suffering from the network hangover didn't turn up, which is typical.
I think these are not conferences they are networking opportunities and there is nothing wrong with that. If you took away the conference similar people would turn up, if you took away the networking evening hardly anyone would turn up. But try and explain that to your boss, going to a conference sounds much better.
I hear it is in Turkey next year, I would love to go there but my boss is more switched on and with the current economic conditions and dire rental rates would prefer me to be at my desk answering the phone. I suppose when some federation is paying you or when you are in Plc land it is different and the more exoctic a venue the better.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others, four legs good, two legs better!

Peter Douglas
I would just like to echo Tim's comments and remind Mr Phillips and Watty that all decisions made within IPAF are made by members, most of whom volunteer their time to make a difference and hopefully improve the industry for all. There are many of us volunteers who actually got involved because we were not happy with the direction IPAF was taking and wanted to have a voice.

I do not know where you are based but there are Regional meetings coming up in Wakefield on 11th October and Glasgow on 21st November, please come along and see for yourself what it is all about ( details on events section on website) . Incidentally all of these meetings are hosted by volunteers with speakers who are volunteers.

Finally, if you wish the new UK council to discuss any issues you or your company has or any suggestions for issues IPAF should be dealing with please feel free to contact me directly or any other UK Council member.

Tim Whiteman, IPAF
On behalf of the nearly 1,000 members of IPAF, the more than 2000 people who attend IPAF events and seminars each year and the nearly 500,000 people who have a PAL Card, IPAF is fit for purpose (but always willing to learn new tricks).

Firstly, the conferences and other events mentioned in the comments below are self-funding ie people pay to attend because they value the content of the events and this is not paid for by membership fees – at last week’s Europlatform, which is organised with another publisher, delegates from across Europe took away practical information that could help them improve their access rental businesses. IPAF members received a substantial discount on the ticket prices

IPAF does not make any rules. Its members sometimes ask for industry guidance on matters like when to wear a harness, and we use our resources to give best practice guidance based on feedback from members and safety organisations around the world. Lots of this information is available free on the web site, much additional information and extra member benefits are in the members only section. The resources are there to be used by members (but you do have to do this yourself!)

Anyone attending an IPAF committee meeting is amazed at the spirit of co-operation between competitors on the subject of safety. No holds are barred and some of the biggest rental companies in the world are willing to share information about painful and sometimes tragic accidents in order to improve safety. If you go to an IPAF Regional meeting, you will be overwhelmed by the positive reaction of the many members who attend. www.ipaf.org/events

Regarding the training, if you know of any malpractice and you really believe in keeping this industry safe you should not be able to sleep until you have reported the incident to our Audit team on 015395 66700. Please do it now.

We are constantly investing in auditing and quality control (see the recruitment section on this web site http://www.vertikal.net/en/recruitment/offers/ad/263/ ) and every year we conduct hundreds of audits. The PAL Card training programme is an amazing example of a voluntary industry led programme being adopted universally before the legislator has decided to act. This is because people trust the programme and know that it is tailored to the needs of the industry. This is a true British success story that is now being exported around the world – to see what happens if government takes the lead on training, talk to people in Romania, Hungary, Italy and even France. Before making disparaging, dismissive remarks about the hard work of our instructors and the people who have conscientiously gone through the training, you might want to think about the effect your throw away comments will have on them.

Finally, IPAF is owned by its members and run by the IPAF Council whose members voluntarily give up their time. They are a mixture of large and small companies. IPAF Council members decide on IPAF policy and are listed on the IPAF web site. Please contact any of these, or me, to discuss any concerns you have about the ways that your membership fees are being used. Our aim is to “promote the safe and effective use of powered access” by sharing knowledge from around the world. Please get involved!

Watty
The other problem is that it never gets the bad press and neither do its instructors. Websites like this one are peeing in the same pot therefore only the news they want you to hear and believe comes out. Maybe it's about time someone started something with what actually goes on in the industry not vertikal or IPAFs interpretation

Watty
John. I totally agree IPAF is simply an organisation that exists just to take fees off people and sit making rules that none of them actually have to do in real life. They are like the preverbial committee in a working mans club there just to justify their own position but unfortunately they only have CITB CPCS in competition and that's like the blind leading the blind.

Dog eat Dog
Can someone explain to me what IPAF really does?
It seems to me like it drags people all over the world getting VIP's to tell us things we already know, or having meetings and committees full of bored cannon fodder. They are not exactly going to give up any worthwhile info as they are all competing with each other.
Why do we have to pay for everything when we are members? Where does all the money go?
What will be the topics in Miami? How to cut costs?
Is it really just a networking club?
Let's have a debate, everybody moans about it behind the scenes and whispers in dark corners, 'Is IPAF Fit for Purpose?'