Mobile access towers are everywhere: over a warehouse aisle, up at a ceiling, along the side of a building. If you build or use one at work, you will probably be asked whether you have PASMA training. This guide explains what that means.
What does PASMA stand for?
PASMA is the Prefabricated Access Suppliers' and Manufacturers' Association. It is the trade body behind the standard training course for mobile access towers, which people also call mobile scaffold towers or tower scaffolds. Our page on mobile scaffold towers explains the equipment itself.
What is a mobile access tower?
A mobile access tower is a freestanding aluminium tower built from frames, braces and platforms, usually on castors so it can be moved. It is not the same as a fixed scaffold, which is erected by scaffolders and tied to a building. A tower is built, used and taken down by the people doing the job, which is why the training matters: the person who builds it is the person responsible for it being safe.
What is the Towers for Users course?
It is the core PASMA course. It teaches you to:
- choose the right tower for the job;
- build it using the safe methods, advance guardrail and through-the-trap;
- inspect it before use and check it is stable;
- work from it safely; and
- alter, move and dismantle it.
The course is one day, split between the classroom and a hands-on build, and it finishes with a theory test and a practical assessment in which you build a tower. Pass and you get a PASMA certificate and photo card, valid for five years.
Who needs it?
Anyone who builds or uses a mobile access tower at work: maintenance teams, electricians, plumbers and decorators, facilities and warehouse staff, and contractors whose client or principal contractor asks for a PASMA card before they go on site.
The Work at Height Regulations require anyone assembling or using a tower to be competent. A PASMA card is the recognised way of showing that, which is why sites ask for it.
PASMA or IPAF?
They cover different equipment. PASMA is for towers, built by hand and left where they are put. IPAF is for powered platforms such as scissor lifts and cherry pickers, which are machines the operator drives and raises. If the work moves around or the height is beyond what a tower can safely do, a powered platform is usually the better machine, and teams that use both usually take both.
Where next?
See the PASMA training course and its next dates. If you want to know about price, read how much IPAF and PASMA training costs. If your card is due, see how to renew a PASMA card.