Powered Access rental companies that are existing or future members of the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) will soon have to pass a more stringent vetting and auditing process in the UK, following a resolution of IPAF’s UK Country Council that was approved at the organisation’s global AGM earlier this year.
From September this year, all IPAF’s current and prospective rental company members will begin the process of submitting to a new annual audit procedure and on successful completion of the process will be accorded IPAF Rental+ status. The accreditation will be maintained through an annual site visit.
The existing IPAF Rental+ scheme will further be modified to allow members to achieve bronze, silver or gold accreditation dependant on them meeting certain key criteria during their audit process. IPAF’s Rental+ scheme recently became Safety Schemes In Procurement (SSIP) accredited, so SSIP status will also be conferred on all UK rental member companies as a matter of course under the new system.
Tim Whiteman, CEO of IPAF, says: “This is a really positive evolution of IPAF membership for rental firms in the UK. It is important to point out that this change has been driven from within. It reflects our members’ desire that end users should have the utmost confidence that using an IPAF member company is the best guarantee in the marketplace that their clients will always receive the highest possible levels of safety, expertise and customer service.”
The new audit regime will begin in September 2017 and all existing IPAF rental members in the UK will have until September 2019 to comply.
The audit is designed to provide a management tool to signpost where and how businesses can improve their health & safety, quality and environmental performance, add recognised value to rental businesses and reduce time and cost spent completing other pre-qualifying questionnaires.
It also supports or leads to ISO9001, 14001 and 18001 certification. Outside of the UK, the IPAF Rental+ accreditation remains open to IPAF rental members internationally.