24.04.2012

Accident reporting should be mandatory

IPAF’s new accident reporting database has got off to a good start, following its launch at the end of last month, but should it be mandatory for IPAF members?

The confidential reporting scheme, is currently open to all and purely voluntary and on this basis more than 35 companies have already registered and a number of accidents have already been reported.

At its launch during the IPAF Summit in Rome, Peter Douglas, executive director of operations at Nationwide Platforms clearly expressed his disappointment that the initiative had not been made a mandatory requirement of IPAF membership.
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Peter Douglas

“If IPAF was going to have an initiative, this is it,” he said. “In my view, accident reporting should be a mandatory condition of IPAF membership. Is your company responsible? Does your company want to make the industry safe? If yes, then get on the website and report accidents. If the answer is no, then my view is that you shouldn’t be an IPAF member.”

The Federation’s aim is to put a realistic figure on the total number of fatal accidents worldwide involving aerial work platforms and then use the findings to inform its training and safety programmes.

In his presentation at the Summit Douglas also revealed accident statistics recorded by Nationwide over the past three years. Delivery drivers were currently its greatest concern, he noted. He also made the point that near misses should also be reported, not just serious accidents, because near misses indicate the most common risky behaviours. Reducing the number of near misses and minor accidents will gradually lead to reducing the number of more serious and fatal accidents, he said.

IPAF technical officer Chris Wraith also urged companies to sign up to the programme and re-affirmed that all information entered into the database will be kept strictly confidential and will be used solely for the purposes of analysis and improving safety.

“I used to bend the rules and ignore authority,” said Wraith, talking of his time as a truck driver, before moving into a management role in health and safety. In a closer analysis of a handful of recent accidents in the UK, he noted operators under time pressures to complete a job, often leads them to take shortcuts that in the end proved fatal.

“Every accident is one too many. It is time to cut through the myths and misunderstandings. Log on and start reporting accidents. We have a system here, but it needs your help to help us save lives.”

Vertikal Comment

Peter Douglas’ presentation on this subject was probably the most heartfelt at the Summit, he was very clearly upset, frustrated and angry that the IPAF council had not felt able to agree to make accident reporting a mandatory requirement.

We believe, as do most reputable companies that accident reporting should be mandatory at the very least as a condition of IPAF membership. When we conducted an online poll early last year that asked the question “Should the reporting of near-miss incidents be a mandatory requirement?” 73 percent of the 368 respondents said: Yes.

This year’s summit was opened by an excellent presentation by Andy Studdert of NES Rentals, who highlighted how he has implemented aviation style safety standards at the company and how the open reporting of accidents and near misses has played a major role in making the aviation industry a safer form of transport than any other. So why does the powered access rental industry not adopt a similar procedure?

IPAF is an exceptionally strong organisation today that any reputable rental company or manufacturer needs to belong to. It is now in a position to raise the membership criteria and in doing so eliminate the sloppy operators or force them to raise their standards. In doing so, not only will the organisation help make the world a safer place, but its membership will become far more valuable a commodity and do a great deal more for its future growth than adding more events or producing more newsletters.