IPAF Issues 250,000th PAL Card

October 3, 2006 • According to Managing Director Tim Whiteman, the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), parent organization of Aerial Work Platform Training, Inc. (AWPT), has issued its 250,000th PAL Card since the IPAF training program was started in 1992.

 

The PAL Card is awarded by IPAF to people who successfully complete a safety training program on powered access equipment. The IPAF training program is certified as conforming to ISO 18878, and the PAL Card, which is valid for five years, shows the equipment categories that the holder has been trained to operate.

 

The IPAF training program was started in 1992 to meet the United Kingdom's regulations, which require workers to be properly trained before being allowed to operate access equipment on a jobsite. Because of the quality of the IPAF program, the PAL Card is approved by the Major Contractors Group, a highly respected organization in the United Kingdom, and operators holding a PAL Card are welcomed on any MCG site.

 

A record 50,000 PAL Cards were issued in 2005, through a worldwide network of over 230 training centers. The PAL Card is now recognized in many countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and, more recently, in North America.

 

“The PAL Card has gone from humble beginnings less than 15 years ago to become recognized as proof that the holder has successfully completed a truly international training program,” Whiteman said. “A quarter million people to date have taken the time to go through an IPAF training program and this has helped make the industry safer today. But to assure an even safer tomorrow, there are many more people yet to be trained. It is our intent that IPAF and AWPT will be there to help do it.”