Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Announcing the Preliminary Results From IPAFs 2012 Accident Database

Preliminary results of IPAF’s accident database reported 31 fatalities involving mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs), also known as aerial work platforms (AWPs), in 2012.

About two-thirds of the fatalities occurred in the USA, three fatalities were reported in the Netherlands, two in the UK, and one each in Australia, Austria, Canada, Singapore, Spain, and Switzerland.

However, IPAF CEO Tim Whiteman remains optimistic, saying, “The first year of the accident reporting project is producing significant results and is allowing us to both improve our training programs and focus our safety campaigns to make this safe industry even safer. There are over 1.5 million MEWPs/AWPs in use around the world, and while every death is a tragedy, powered access is still a very safe way to work at height.”

Data gathered enable IPAF to analyze and look for common trends, and propose possible actions to further improve and promote the safe use of powered access worldwide. Data collected is kept confidential and used solely for the purposes of analysis and making recommendations to improve safety.

For more information or to report an known accident involving MEWPs and MCWPs please visit www.ipaf.org/accident