10.08.2006

Stopping the Zealots

10th August 2006.
Dear Editor,

Re: Zealots are not helping

Well done for publishing your view that “Zealots are not helping”. Too many times people get distracted from the big safety issues by small print and multitudinous sub-clauses.

Congratulations also to Frank Scarborough of Snorkel for his clear statement that: “People need the proper training and an understanding of what the machine operational capabilities are”.
Click here to read Frank Scarborough's letter
Time and time again IPAF researches accidents categorised as “machine failure” to discover that the reason the machine failed, is because it was set up incorrectly or operated outside its safe limits – this is usually down to ignorance on the part of the operator.

However, I have to clarify one of Frank’s comments. IPAF undertakes no training. What we do is provide an internationally recognised training programme that approved training centres worldwide can deliver if they meet our quality standards (and we send independent auditors out on unannounced visits to enforce this). Most IPAF approved training centres are run by, to quote Frank, “rental companies delivering a serviced product and providing the training the operators require”.

That training was developed by a group of users and manufacturers working together to devise a pragmatic, one day course that would boost safety in our industry.

What IPAF does for rental companies is take away the hassle of developing a training programme, we keep it up to date and provide a universally recognised proof of training. Most of those companies charge for the training and many are run as profit centres which means they work hard to increase the number of trained operators in the field.

There are also IPAF approved training centres which are run by manufacturers such as JLG Inc at McConnellsburg,,PA; Skyjack at Guelph, Ontario; Genie Europe in the UK and Germany; Haulotte in the US, France, UK, Germany etc etc.

Finally, what can we do to keep the zealots at bay? Well, all major manufacturers, including Snorkel, are members of IPAF which entitles them to sit on our Manufacturers Technical Committee. This works with IPAF’s user members around the world to provide a united voice which has several times stopped the zealots from putting crazy clauses into European directives and other standards. Frank, we need you on that committee and I would invite you, or a colleague from Snorkel, to attend our next meeting in October!

Yours sincerely
Tim Whiteman
Managing Director, International Powered Access Federation,