Professional Development Seminars Draw 640 IPAF Instructors

More than 640 instructors and training centre staff attended International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Professional Development Seminars (PDS) across 17 countries in eight languages in the last few months.

The PDS is the annual event for IPAF-certified instructors and ensures that they remain up-to-date with legislation and training. Through attending the event, instructors gain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points, necessary to maintain their IPAF instructor status. This commitment to continuous learning is one of the unique features of the IPAF training programme.

IPAF’s operator training programme is certified by TÜV as conforming to ISO 18878, and meets or exceeds ANSI standards and OSHA requirements. This industry-led training programme is offered by leading manufacturers and rental companies, and requires that accredited partner training centers pass initial, annual and unannounced audits as part of the quality management system. Instructors are certified and undertake ongoing professional development which includes free annual updates to the training materials and educational workshops.

Trainees complete theoretical and practical training, and must pass the written and practical tests before being issued a PAL Card (Powered Access Licence) as proof of successfully completed operator training. PAL Cards are valid for five years.

There are now over half a million valid PAL Cards worldwide. The card is available in standard or Smart PAL Card versions and can be verified online at www.ipaf.org.