If you work somewhere that uses scissor lifts or cherry pickers, you will hear "IPAF" mentioned sooner or later, usually by someone asking whether you have a card. This guide explains what IPAF training is, what the categories mean and who needs it.
What does IPAF stand for?
IPAF is the International Powered Access Federation. It is the body that sets the training standard for mobile elevating work platforms, or MEWPs. A MEWP is any machine that lifts people to work at height: a scissor lift, a cherry picker, a boom lift, a vehicle-mounted platform and similar.
IPAF training is the operator course built on that standard. It is the one most site managers, hire companies and principal contractors expect to see.
What do you get at the end?
If you pass, you get a PAL Card. PAL stands for Powered Access Licence. The card shows which categories of machine you have been trained on, so a supervisor can check at a glance that the person in the platform is trained on the machine they are using. A PAL Card is valid for five years from the date of the course.
What do the categories mean?
The categories are by type of machine, not by size. These are the ones we train:
- 3a, mobile vertical. Scissor lifts and similar platforms that lift straight up and can be driven while raised.
- 3b, mobile boom. Cherry pickers and other self-propelled booms, articulating or telescopic, that can be driven while raised.
- 1a, static vertical. Vertical lifts that are moved into position and then operated from one spot.
- 1b, static boom. Booms that are set up on outriggers and not driven while raised, such as trailer-mounted and van-mounted platforms and spider lifts.
You are trained on the categories you take, so a 3a card does not cover a cherry picker. Most operators take 3a and 3b together in a single day, because between them they cover the machines most workplaces actually have. You can read the detail on the IPAF 3a and 3b course page.
What happens on the day?
A typical IPAF course covers the regulations and the operator's responsibilities, choosing the right machine for the task and the ground, pre-use checks, safe operation on the machine itself and rescue, which is getting someone down from a raised platform when the machine has failed or the operator cannot. You are assessed with a theory test and a practical on the machine.
We run courses at our Grimsby training centre and on your own site, using your own machines. On-site is often the better choice for a group, because operators are assessed on the platform they will be using.
Who needs IPAF training?
Anyone who operates a MEWP at work. That includes maintenance and facilities teams, electricians and installers working at height, warehouse staff using vertical platforms for high-level work and contractors who need a card to get on site.
The law does not name IPAF. It says employers must make sure people using work equipment are trained and competent. The PAL Card is the accepted way of showing that for a MEWP, which is why sites ask for it.
How is it different from PASMA?
IPAF covers powered platforms: machines the operator drives and raises. PASMA covers mobile access towers, which are built by hand from frames and braces and stay where they are put. They are different equipment with different cards. If your team uses both, we run both at the same centre.
Where next?
If you already know you need a card, see the IPAF training courses and the next dates. If you are not sure whether a cherry picker or a scissor lift is the right machine, that guide will help. If your card is close to running out, read how to renew an IPAF PAL Card.