As the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) continues to promote the safe and effective use of powered access equipment worldwide, the organization released its Annual Report for the year 2024. They report a year of remarkable achievements and substantial growth across various sectors of the powered access industry.
Key highlights include:
- Membership: IPAF membership grew to 1,818 members across 82 countries, training numbers have reached 230,370 individuals (an increase of 6.9 percent)
- Safety First – IPAF’s Crushing Can Kill global safety campaign raised awareness on entrapment risks.
- Training Expansion – A new MEWP Operator Training Course was finalised, integrating behavioural science, as well as new Hoist Installer and Advanced Installer courses.
- Digital Growth – Over 800,000 downloads of the IPAF ePAL app, with 66.3% of PAL Cards issued digitally.
- Global Reach – New markets in Paraguay and Serbia, plus increased focus on North America, China, India, and Saudi Arabia.
- Financial Strength – Turnover grew by £613.1k (6.9%), with training income contributing 81%.
- Audits and Compliance – Expanded auditing worldwide and the introduction of mQuest, a new digital audit system.
- IPAF Rental+ - Singapore adopted the scheme, and IPAF Rental+ certification became a mandatory requirement for gaining and maintaining IPAF rental membership status on the island.
Released on March 18, the IPAF Annual Report 2024 has been published to coincide with the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and is available in English to read now or as a digital download via www.ipaf.org/annual-report.
IPAF Annual General Meeting 2025
As reported by IPAF:
At this year’s meeting, IPAF’s Managing Director and CEO Peter Douglas opened with his report ahead of the IPAF Summit, highlighting another successful year for the federation. Reiterating how the organization has increased its membership and the number of people completing IPAF training in 2024, he added how training outside the UK saw a 13.6 percent increase year-on-year, now making up 41 percent of training income.
In 2024, IPAF's turnover increased by £613.1k (6.9 percent) to £9.41m (approximately €11.1m or US$12m) compared to 2023. Training income, the largest contributor at 81 percent of total turnover, rose by £657k to £7.72m.
"Over the past four years, IPAF has carefully managed economic challenges, absorbing rising costs. However, due to ongoing market conditions in 2024, IPAF made the difficult decision to increase fees for all training applications. Despite this, through cost-saving measures and revenue growth, IPAF achieved a surplus of £148k, representing 22% year-on-year growth.
“There was significant year-on-year membership growth outside the UK”, he continued, “China saw an increase of 16 members, an increase of 30%, and Ireland saw a growth of membership from 61 to 74 members. IPAF also expanded into two new countries, Paraguay and Serbia, ending the year with a presence in 82 countries around the world.”
—IPAF Managing Director and CEO, Peter Douglas
In 2024, 60 new training centers joined IPAF, bringing the total to 676, a 5.5 percent increase, with 88 percent actively conducting training over the past 12 months. The association also added nine new members in the GCC, comprising five in the UAE, three in Saudi Arabia and one in Qatar. IPAF training is now delivered in 62 territories around the world with new centers opening in Hungary, Paraguay, and Taiwan.
In the President’s Report, Karel Huijser praised IPAF’s accident reporting program recording 1,032 incidents from 33 countries, with reference to the importance of storytelling and the new “Share Your Story” campaign. “The purpose of these stories is to get into the detail of an accident or incident and learn from it so others don’t make the same mistake; a powerful addition to IPAF’s accident reporting program," says Huijser.
Looking at 2025, he said one of the key measures that the team have is to ensure that more than 50 percent of IPAF income is generated outside the UK. This is now 49 percent and he expects to go through this barrier and beyond 51 percent during 2025, which will be the first time in IPAF’s history that this has been achieved. Karel added that in 2025, IPAF aims to achieve one million live PAL Cards, and one million downloads of the ePAL app.
The AGM closed with two award presentations. The President’s Award went to Jason Woods of IPAF for his outstanding contributions in the Middle East and India, achieving 15% training growth and expanding membership and training centers in the region. Mauro Potrich of CTE was awarded the Founders’ Award, recognising his longstanding dedication to IPAF training in Italy, mentoring instructors, and supporting industry-wide improvements.
