IPAF SUMMIT
Ebbe Christensen, president of ReachMaster, talked
about the ‘mission impossible’ application, which
requires working on a delicate floor surface, while
performing up-and-over or negative angles at a
significant working height. In this case a compact lift,
with adjustable outriggers is often the only solution,
he said. While well known in other parts of the world,
this type of equipment is not that common in North
America; a situation that is set to change, according
to Mr Christensen.
He gave an example of a typical application, which
took place at the Fort Worth Convention Centre,
in Texas. The building has a 90 ft rotunda, which
needed cleaning on the inside. “It takes eight hours
to do the job and it had to be done between 8pm and
6am in morning, so you can rule out scaffolding -you
couldn’t get it up and down in time. Also, we had 36
inch single door to go through, and maximum 100
pounds per square foot, and we had a very delicate
floor with a Texas Star on it.”
The 29 m ReachMaster Falcon F595 had to fit
in an area of 21 x 21 ft, a relatively tight space
considering the 95 ft working height. “With the
footprint being fairly small, and having to get up to
the rotunda; this is a typical situation where nothing
else but a compact lift would get you up there.”
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Such a stark reality may seem confusing
considering the US is the largest and most
mature powered access market in the world.
However, the challenge to introduce common
training techniques across a vast land area will
resonate with those in similar-sized or larger
countries where training is in its infancy, or less.
It now appears eLearning may, at least,
COMPACT MISSION
Ron DeFeo, Terex Chairman and CEO provided
the keynote speach
Ebbe
Christensen,
ReachMaster
president
be one of the solutions. Terex AWP recently
launched a training programme of this type
which is supplied through its distributors.They
then offer the training to operators at a cost,
thereby generating a second income, as well as
providing essential training.
In the three months leading up to the
Summit, the AWPT programme was tested
by NES with the help of AWPT.The initiative
saw nearly all its 1,050 staff, including office
workers, receiving a Pal Card.
As Mr Studdert explained, getting to
this point took a leap of faith away from
the traditional IPAF training programme.
“There are 400,000 rental and manufacturing
employees that support our industry in the US.
What we were doing wrong was applying what
was working in the UK, building big training
facilities for the last 30 years, and trying to drop
it in the United States.”
“In August NES took up the challenge; we
said we would try a different approach. We
took the core classroom content of IPAF
training and turned it into an eLearning model.
In less than three months we trained everybody
in NES. So 1,050 people went through
eLearning training; 1,027 got their PAL Cards
– the other 27 were petrified of going in the
air,” he added.
Trainees who complete the online session
must still pass a supervised theory test at an
AWPT-approved training centre in the US and
must successfully complete half-day practical
training and testing before being issued with
39
MAY-JUNE 2013
access
INTERNATIONAL
