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GT Access Training

IPAF MEWP Operator and PASMA Tower Training at Fifteen Centres

GT Access Training is a powered access specialist. Almost the entire catalogue is IPAF operator training across the three machine categories that cover most site work — static boom, mobile scissor and mobile boom — delivered from fifteen centres spanning the Midlands, South West, South East, East Anglia and South Wales. Combination courses are available at every one of those centres, which matters commercially: a single delegate can leave with two or three categories on one PAL card for considerably less than sitting the courses separately. PASMA tower training and a first aid course round out the range.

Single category IPAF operator courses
Three IPAF categories run individually. 1b Static Boom covers vehicle-mounted and trailer booms — the machine that is driven to position, then set up on outriggers. 3a Mobile Vertical is the scissor lift, which travels while elevated but only goes straight up. 3b Mobile Boom is the self-propelled boom that travels elevated and reaches out as well as up. 1b runs at sixteen locations, 3a and 3b at fifteen each. If you are only ever on one machine type, the single category is the cheapest route.
Dual and triple combination courses
The Dual 3a and 3b course is the most commonly booked ticket in powered access, because scissors and mobile booms are the two machines most operatives actually encounter. The Triple 1b, 3a and 3b adds static boom for people who also work from vehicle-mounted platforms. Both run at all fifteen centres. The theory element is shared across categories, so a combination course takes appreciably less time than the same categories taken one at a time — and puts all of them on a single PAL card with one expiry date to track.
MEWPs for Managers and e-learning
MEWPs for Managers is available as e-learning and is aimed at the people who plan, select and supervise powered access work rather than operate the machine. It covers selection, ground conditions, rescue planning and the manager’s duties — it is not an operator ticket and does not permit anyone to drive a MEWP. There is also an IPAF operator e-learning course covering the theory element, with the practical assessment still completed at a centre.
PASMA tower training
PASMA Towers for Users runs at Brentwood, Bromsgrove, Gloucester, Hailsham, Hereford, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Peterborough. It covers assembling, altering, inspecting and dismantling mobile access towers safely, and the card lasts five years. Towers and MEWPs solve different problems — a tower is better for sustained work in one position, a MEWP for reach and repositioning — and plenty of sites need people ticketed for both. See the wider working at height range.
First aid
Emergency First Aid at Work runs at Bromsgrove as a one-day course. Worth pairing with powered access training where a site’s rescue plan depends on someone at ground level being able to respond — MEWP rescue planning assumes a competent person is available below. Browse all first aid courses.
Which category do you actually need?
The categories describe the machine, not the job, and booking the wrong one is the most common mistake here. The quick test: does it travel while elevated? If no, it is a 1b static boom. If yes and it only goes vertically, it is a 3a scissor. If yes and it also reaches outwards, it is a 3b mobile boom. If you are hiring rather than owning, ask the hire company which category the machine falls into before booking the course — the PAL card is category-specific and a 3a ticket will not cover a 3b machine.
Keep the PAL card current
IPAF PAL cards run five years, and renewal means retaking the course rather than a shortened refresher. PASMA cards also run five years. Where a delegate holds several categories on one card from a combination course, they all expire together, which is simpler to diary but means one lapsed renewal takes every category with it. Set the reminder when the card arrives rather than when it expires.
Training a whole team?

Envico can source on-site delivery at your own premises from across our provider network — your dates, no travel, better value per delegate.