UK Safe Digging Industry Experiences a ‘Searching Surge’

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IPAF ePAL surpasses quarter of a million downloads

The ePAL mobile app for operators of mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) and mast-climbing work platforms (MCWPs) from the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has now surpassed a quarter of a million first-time downloads.

IPAF’s ePAL app was launched in June 2021, with the global roll-out completed earlier this year. The app allows digital certification of training, including IPAF’s Powered Access Licence (PAL) Card. It is free to use and is available in seven languages. The app allows IPAF to communicate safety messages to operators around the globe. It also offers benefits to users in terms of storing and sharing training certification and logging machine time, and reporting incidents or near-misses to IPAF’s portal. The app is available in all territories where IPAF certifies training, and to date has active users in more than 160 countries worldwide. Peter Douglas, IPAF’s CEO and Managing Director, comments: “We developed ePAL in partnership with our member firm Track unit in part to offer operators and supervisors a digital tool to share training certification and log equipment time, and also as part of our ongoing digitalisation project. We are streamlining processing of IPAF licences and have significantly reduced the carbon footprint involved in sending hundreds of thousands of plastic PAL Cards and paper certificates all around the globe each year.

Take Up Snowballs

“We have been rolling the app out since mid-2021, and while the emphasis was on newly certified training candidates in the first few months, take-up has snowballed and now it is encouraging to see that ePAL is being downloaded by ever increasing numbers of people around the world. “It’s fantastic that we’ve surpassed 250,000 first-time downloads; this allows IPAF to engage directly with a growing global network of operators and managers. It’s also a significant milestone in our drive towards ensuring that the majority of all valid PAL Cards and training certification is digital. “Anyone can download the ePAL app free of charge and can store their training certification digitally. It’s a quick and easy way to verify validity, check on expiry dates, and the cost of renewing a PAL Card digitally is cheaper, provided a physical card is not required for any reason. “It means that users’ training can be updated quickly and easily whenever licences are added or renewed, and it makes it impossible to ever ‘lose’ your PAL Card, meaning you shouldn’t ever have to pay a fee to get it replaced, as used to happen when a physical card was lost. “IPAF’s global network of approved Training Centres is working together to assist us in driving this digital revolution in certification. There are many benefits to using the app – in addition to storing their digital credentials, operators can log and share machine experience, benefit from safety and technical advice and quickly and easily log accidents and near-misses, anonymously if preferred, directly to the IPAF Portal.

More Benefits

“There are other benefits too – such as being able to show a QR code to share training certification instantly with other users – and there are new developments being worked on behind the scenes that will be added to improve functionality and the overall user experience. Indeed, users of the ePAL app can give their feedback and suggest additions in functionality or improvements to the interface via the app itself, directly to our development team. “We do hope users of the app continue to interact with and enjoy ePAL, and we invite feedback from all, whether negative or positive. We also urge those who haven’t yet downloaded ePAL to do so without delay, to begin to enjoy the benefits the app brings and to join the growing digital revolution in IPAF training certification and safety.” To find out more about the new IPAF ePAL mobile app, see www.ipaf.org/ePAL. The app is available for Apple iOS and Android through Google Play and will be updated with additional features as usage demands and evolving technology allows.

UK Safe Digging Industry Experiences a ‘Searching Surge’

Record-breaking numbers of people in the UK are checking for underground pipes and cables before they start digging projects, according to LSBUD, the UK’s leading online safe digging resource.

There were over 33,500 new registrations on LSBUD’s central search portal between January and September. This represents an 18 percent increase over the same time period last year and is 37 percent up on 2020, highlighting how much more committed the UK has become to safe digging. Reflecting this momentum, the number of actual search enquiries is on the rise too. There have already been 2,828,562 search requests placed in 2022, which equates to more than 314,250 enquires passing through LSBUD’s portal each month. This is 12 percent increase on 2021, and a 25 percent rise on 2020. The 2.83 million searches over the course of nine months also means that LSBUD is on for its biggest year to date, with numbers suggesting it will reach 3.75 million searches by the end of 2022, exceeding the 3.4 million record set last year. Richard Broome, MD at LSBUD, comments: “Last year I spoke about potentially breaking the 3.5 million milestone, and just what it would mean for the UK’s safe digging industries, and it looks like we are going to outstrip that number by some way. It is fantastic, because it means more and more people are staying safe by planning their digging work before it begins. “In March, a record 4,120 new Users joined us, which equates to 133 new people per day. Keeping people safe is our purpose, so to know 133 new people every day are educating themselves on what is buried beneath them before they start work is truly inspiring for all those involved with LSBUD. And it is not just contractors and professionals joining, it is farmers checking before replacing fences, and the general public making sure they are clear to build their new shed. “We want to thank every single person – fencing contractors, landscape gardeners, construction workers, highways contractors, those operating on behalf of telecoms, water, gas and electricity companies and those digging at home – you are keeping yourself safe, and protecting our underground pipe and cable infrastructure at the same time. It is great. Always search before you dig.” LSBUD now has over 110 members signed up to its collaborative portal, including 100 percent of the UK’s major gas distribution networks, 92 percent of electricity distribution networks and 99 percent of fuel/oil pipeline operators. For more information about LSBUD, visit http://www.lsbud.co.uk/