PASMA
PASMA Towers for Users
Assembling, using and dismantling mobile access towers safely.
Novice 1 day · Refresher 1 day
Next: Friday, 2 October 2026 · 8 places
See dates and bookPASMA · Towers for Users
PASMA training
Mobile aluminium access towers, built and used safely. The PASMA Towers for Users course at our Grimsby centre or on your site, with a PASMA certificate and card on completion.
Accredited by
About the training
PASMA, the Prefabricated Access Suppliers' and Manufacturers' Association, is the body behind the standard course for mobile access towers, the aluminium towers built from frames, braces and platforms that are used for work at height where a ladder is not safe enough and a MEWP is not practical.
Towers for Users is the core PASMA course. It covers the regulations, choosing the right tower, the two safe build methods (advance guardrail and through-the-trap), inspection, safe use and dismantling. It is assessed by a theory test and a practical build.
The day is roughly half classroom and half hands-on. The theory covers the Work at Height Regulations, the hierarchy of control that decides whether a tower is the right answer at all, tower classes and duty ratings, ground conditions, stabilisers and ties, and the pre-use inspection that has to happen before anyone climbs. The practical is a real tower: candidates build it, fit the guardrails, work from the platform and take it back down, because a tower assembled wrongly is the single most common cause of a fall from one.
Mobile access tower training suits work that a ladder cannot do safely and a MEWP cannot reach — indoor maintenance over plant and racking, ceiling and lighting work, and any job where the platform has to stay in one place for a while. Where the work moves or the height is beyond a tower, an IPAF scissor lift or cherry picker is usually the better machine, and we train for those too.
Who it is for
- Maintenance, electrical, plumbing and decorating trades working from towers.
- Facilities and warehouse teams using towers indoors.
- Anyone whose PASMA certificate is due: they are valid for five years.
- Supervisors who specify or sign off tower work and need to know what good looks like.
- Contractors whose client or principal contractor asks for a PASMA card before they go on site.
At our Grimsby training centre or on your site, nationwide.
Courses and dates
PASMA access towers courses
Each course is listed with its certificate code, the lengths at each level and the next date with places. Open a course to see every date and book online.
Access towers
Before you book
Questions we get asked
How long does a PASMA course take?
Towers for Users is a one-day course, with a theory test and a practical assembly assessment on the day.
How long is a PASMA certificate valid?
Five years from the date of the course. Retake the course before it expires to keep the certificate current.
Is PASMA training a legal requirement?
The Work at Height Regulations require anyone assembling or using a tower to be competent, and a PASMA certificate is the recognised way of showing that. Most main contractors and clients ask to see one.
What is the difference between PASMA and IPAF training?
PASMA covers mobile access towers, which are built by hand from frames and braces and stay where they are put. IPAF covers mobile elevating work platforms — scissor lifts and cherry pickers — which are machines the operator drives and raises. Different equipment, different card. Teams that use both usually take both, and we run them at the same centre.
Do you need PASMA training to use a tower someone else built?
Yes, in practice. The regulations ask for competence in using a tower as well as assembling one, and the pre-use inspection is the user's responsibility whoever put it up. Climbing a tower you have not checked, on the word of someone who has left site, is exactly the situation the course is designed to stop.
Can you run PASMA training at our premises?
Yes, provided there is enough clear height and floor space to build a tower safely. On-site delivery means operators train on the towers they will actually use, and nobody loses a day travelling. Tell us the site and we will confirm whether it works.
What do I get at the end of the course?
A PASMA certificate and photo card, both valid five years, issued once you have passed the theory test and the practical assembly. The card is what a site will ask to see.
Would you rather we came to you?
We train on your site, on your machines, nationwide. Tell us how many operators and which trucks, and we will quote.