Access Tower Training

Personnel working at height are at risk of injury or death from falls and accidents. Each year in the USA alone, between 150 and 200 people die as a result of falls from work platforms. As many as 100,000 incidents result in the unfortunate worker requiring hospital attention.

Before committing to access tower hire, please be aware that professional operators and users are obliged to undertake appropriate training and to ensure that they always operate the equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations and all appropriate regulations. In this article we summarize the training available in the United States, the United Kingdom and in other territories.

Access Tower Training In The United States

In the United States, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) within the U.S. Department of Labor is the ultimate safety authority to whose specifications all access tower training must conform.

The OSHA Directorate of Training and Education (DTE) has oversight of OSHA’s national training program and policies. Training and education is provided by the OSHA Training Institute (OTI) through its education centres.

OTI is the primary training provider of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A comprehensive list of OSHA Training Institute Training Centers is available on the osha.gov website.

There is an OSHA Outreach Training Program which offers training through Outreach Training Programs. This is the mechanism by which trainers are prepared, who may in turn offer courses to end users.

Online training courses are a popular way to achieve safety certification and many providers offer this qualification route.

As this is a complex subject, it is not possible to give complete authoritative guidance in this article. Instead please consult your access product hire-company or OSHA in the first instance. If you are considering access tower training then a good starting point may well be the OSHA website. It features a host of useful links, together with a online course catalog search facility and useful information on regulations, enforcement and training.

Access Tower Training In The United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, as association known as PASMA provides access tower training. PASMA is the Prefabricated Access Suppliers and Manufacturers Association. Their professional training has been designed in response to the UK legislation known as the Work at Height Regulations 2005. In brief, the regulations require that the assembly, dismantling or alteration of Access Towers should only be undertaken by a competent person, or if being trained, under the supervision of a competent person.

The regulations go on to define what a competent person is and what their responsibilities are, specified by the Advisory Committee on Work at Height Training (ACWAHT). ACWAHT requires access platform users to have accredited training covering the principles of fall protection, work hazard recognition and hazard reporting.

PASMA accredits training courses which are provided by authorised training members. Courses cover access tower assembly, stability, safe use, repositioning, inspection, maintenance and dismantling. The access tower training courses are necessarily comprehensive. Consequently it is not practicable to describe them in detail here. Please contact PASMA for details.

Access Tower Training In Other Territories

It is essential to be conform to all local training and safety regulations considering access tower hire. All personnel using the product must undergo the safety training applicable in their territory.