IPAF and PASMA for maintenance work at height

It's 4am in a distribution centre. A photo-eye on the high-level conveyor has gone, eight metres up over the pick face. Totes are backing up and the shift manager wants it running before the first wave.

There's a scissor lift on charge in the corner. There's also a ladder leaning against the wall, and someone says "it's a two-minute job".

That moment is where work at height goes wrong. The fix is easy. Getting up there safely, with the right kit and the right person on it, is the part that gets skipped.

The law starts with "do you need to go up?"

The Work at Height Regulations put the order of thinking in black and white. First, don't work at height where it's reasonably practicable to do the job safely another way (regulation 6). Can the sensor be reached from the walkway? Can the conveyor section be lowered? Could the photo-eye be moved somewhere you can reach next time?

If you do have to go up, the employer must take suitable measures to stop anyone falling a distance that could injure them. That means an existing safe place of work where possible, then work equipment that prevents a fall. Only after that does it move on to kit that reduces the distance and the consequences if someone does fall.

Everyone involved must be competent, or be trained under the supervision of someone who is (regulation 5). That covers planning and supervising the work too, not only the person in the basket.

Where IPAF fits

IPAF is the card most sites ask for before you use a MEWP: a scissor lift, a boom or a vertical mast.

HSE's guidance is clear on what an operator should have. A recognised operator training course, and a certificate, card or licence listing the categories of MEWP you're trained to operate. Sites should check the expiry date. On top of that, you should have familiarisation training on the controls of the specific make and model you're using (HSE, MEWPs). HSE lists IPAF in its related links on that page.

So two things trip people up. The categories on the card have to match the machine. And a card doesn't mean you know this machine. Ask for a walk-through of the ground controls and the emergency lowering on any MEWP you haven't used before.

The MEWP checks that matter more than the card

HSE says the worst MEWP injuries come from entrapment, overturning, falls from the basket and collisions. Its list of precautions reads like a night-shift checklist (HSE, MEWPs):

• Have a rescue plan, and practise it. Someone on the ground should know how to use the ground controls in an emergency.
• Use it on firm, level ground. Watch for drains, covers and trenches.
• If there's still a risk of falling from the platform, wear a harness with a short work restraint lanyard clipped to the manufacturer's anchor point in the basket.
• Barrier off below so dropped tools don't hit anyone.
• Watch for overhead structures you could be trapped against while working at the controls.

The rescue plan is the one that gets missed on nights. If you're the only engineer on site, who's on the ground? Agree it with the shift manager before you go up, not once you're stuck.

The MEWP itself must have a thorough examination at least every six months*, or in line with an examination scheme. Check the date on the machine before you use it. Our LOLER thorough examinations guide explains why lifting people puts it on the shorter interval.

Where PASMA fits

Towers come out where a MEWP won't fit, won't reach or can't get across the floor. Over a production line, between racking, on a mezzanine.

HSE says anyone erecting a tower scaffold should be competent and should have trained under an industry recognised scheme. It gives PASMA as an example, alongside recognised manufacturer or supplier schemes (HSE, construction work at height FAQs). The people using the tower should also be trained in its dangers and the precautions (HSE, tower scaffolds).

The same HSE page sets out the safe ways to build one. Either an advance guard rail system, or "through the trap", where you work from the trap door so you never stand on an unguarded platform. Then the rules that catch people:

• Never use a ladder or steps on a tower.
• Never build higher than the manufacturer's instructions allow.
• Fit stabilisers or outriggers when the manual calls for them.
• Before moving it, drop the height to a maximum of 4m*, check overhead for cables and obstructions, and move it only from the base with nobody on it.

Every tower must be inspected by a competent person after it's built, and at suitable intervals after that. If it's used for construction work and someone could fall 2 metres or more, it must be inspected after assembly and then every 7 days*. The inspection result must be recorded.

And the ladder in the corner?

Ladders aren't banned. HSE says so in as many words, and calls for a "sensible, proportionate approach" (HSE, ladders). It also says they shouldn't automatically be your first choice.

For low-risk, short tasks on a ladder, competence may mean little more than instruction on how to use it safely and suitable training (HSE, work at height FAQs). A sensor change at eight metres, over a running conveyor, at 4am on your own, isn't that.

Why sites care so much

Look at it from the engineering manager's side. A fault at height on nights is exactly when the wrong engineer costs most. If the person who turns up can't use the MEWP, the site waits for someone who can. If they use it without the card, the manager carries the risk.

So on a big logistics site, the card is often the difference between being offered the shift and not. For that reason IPAF and PASMA sit near the top of our list in which tickets actually get you contract work. They're short courses, and they come up on site after site. For the employer's side of the same rules, see working at height during maintenance.

What to do on Monday

1. Check the expiry date and categories on your IPAF and PASMA cards. If either is close, book it now. See keeping your tickets in date.
2. Next time you're on a MEWP you haven't used, ask for the familiarisation on its controls and ground lowering.
3. Before any night job at height, agree who's on the ground for rescue.
4. Look at the last three jobs you did at height. Could any have been done from the ground?

* MEWP examination interval, the 4m tower moving height, and the 2 metre and 7-day tower inspection rules correct as of 25 October 2026. Check HSE's MEWP page and HSE's tower scaffold page for the latest.