Quick Answer
What should a powered access hire company do to support safer MEWP use?
A powered access hire company can support safer MEWP use by helping customers choose suitable equipment, providing access to recognised training, and making machine-specific safety information easy to find. The customer and site team still need to assess the task, brief operators, maintain controls, and plan for emergencies. IPAF’s Global Safety Report 2026 shows why safety must remain a shared, practical responsibility throughout the hire.
Putting MEWP safety into practice begins before a machine starts work. IPAF’s Global Safety Report 2026 prompts every organisation involved in powered access to ask what it can do. For AFI Rentals, the question is how we can support safer MEWP use throughout a hire. The report analyses fatal and major incidents reported in 2025. Although the number of reports fell from 201 in 2024 to 170 in 2025, the hazards behind the most serious outcomes remained familiar. Read the full IPAF Global Safety Report 2026: https://www.ipaf.org/en-gb/node/16198#key_findings
IPAF identifies electrocution and electric shock, falls from platforms, and overturns as the three leading causes in the fatal and major incident data. The broader conclusion is that known controls can lose their effectiveness when planning, communication, supervision, and on-site decisions do not keep pace with changing conditions. These are global reports submitted to IPAF, and the figures should not be treated as a measure of risk per hire.
Safety begins with the task and the machine choice
Safety advocacy includes helping customers think through the job when arranging a machine. The required working height is only one consideration. Outreach, ground conditions, access, nearby structures and services, travel routes, the people around the work area, and rescue arrangements all affect whether a MEWP is suitable.
The electrical findings are a sharp example. IPAF recorded 28 electrocution and electric shock reports in 2025, involving 20 fatalities. The report calls for site-specific assessment, safe clearances, exclusion zones, suitable equipment, competent supervision, and trained spotters where required. The customer’s site team must assess changing conditions. AFI can help customers start with the right equipment questions and direct them towards the training and information they need.
Training must connect with the machine in front of the operator
AFI provides accredited IPAF training through AFI Training, including operator courses and learning for people who manage MEWP operations. We also recognise that a trained operator can meet an unfamiliar machine. Different controls, operating characteristics, safety features, and emergency lowering procedures can change what operators need to know before starting work.
That is why AFI makes machine familiarisation and emergency lowering videos available online and via QR codes on machines. The videos cover specific machine features and controls, safety information, and emergency procedures. They are available beyond AFI customers, but they support rather than replace formal training, the manufacturer’s instructions, site checks, supervision, or an emergency rescue plan.
A safety culture has to reach daily decisions
AFI’s 2026 Impact Report describes an established HSEQ team, ongoing staff safety training, and local HSEQ representatives. These are part of the way we work, but a policy or course has value only when it affects a decision: whether a machine is suitable, whether a new operator needs familiarisation, or whether a team pauses when the site changes.
IPAF discusses the normalisation of unsafe behaviour, where shortcuts become accepted because nothing went wrong last time. That observation applies to everyone involved in MEWP work, including hire providers, managers, supervisors, and operators. Report near misses and concerns, and use them to improve future planning, while following the controls for the current job now.
Shared responsibility makes safety practical
AFI supports customers with training, equipment knowledge, and practical familiarisation resources. The customer and site team assess the actual job and put appropriate controls in place. Together, these efforts turn the report’s lessons into choices made before delivery and checks repeated as work progresses.
Next step: Explore AFI’s health and safety resources and machine familiarisation videos, or speak to AFI about the equipment and training your project needs: https://www.afi-rentals.co.uk/our-businesses/afi-rentals/health-safety
FAQs
What should a MEWP hire company ask before recommending equipment?
The discussion should cover the task, height and outreach, ground and access conditions, nearby hazards, and the working environment. The customer’s site-specific assessment and competent people must determine the final method and controls.
Does hiring a MEWP include operator training?
Do not assume that it does. The customer should confirm the operator’s training for the relevant category and arrange suitable instruction and familiarisation for the actual machine. AFI Training offers IPAF courses as a separate service.
How do AFI’s familiarisation videos support MEWP safety?
They show safety information, machine features and controls, and emergency lowering procedures for specific machines. Operators and ground personnel can access them online or through machine QR codes, alongside the manufacturer’s instructions and the site’s safe system of work.
What should happen when site conditions change during a MEWP hire?
The site team should reassess the task and controls, brief affected people, and pause work if it cannot continue safely. The customer should contact AFI if the planned equipment is no longer suitable or more information is needed.
