IPAF Safety Champion of the Year
Ken McDougall
Ken McDougall, president of Skyjack Inc, has been at the forefront of promoting the safe use of aerial platforms in the access industry. He has made sure that Skyjack plays a full role in helping to shape new standards and regulations in the industry – giving his staff the time and resources to work with a wide range of industry bodies.
Under his leadership, Skyjack has also become a powerful advocate for operator training. More than that, Ken has been prepared to stand up and comment publicly on the important role that manufacturers can have in fostering a safe access industry. His speech at last year’s APEX conference – during which he called for manufacturers to get behind the idea of a global, consistent approach to operator training – was a powerful example this.
Kevin O’Shea
In little over 18 months, Kevin O’shea of Atlanta-based Mastclimbers Inc and become a guru for the safe use of mast climbing work platforms in North America, helping to educate regulators, contractors, unions and others in the role that mast climbers can play, and of the need for well-recognised safe work practices.
Chair person of IPAF’s international mast climber committee, Kevin has rewritten into a North American format various mast climbing training programs, safety codes and best working practice documents. It is a remarkable achievement to have made such an impact in so large a country in so short a period.
Andy Studdert
The access industry needs leaders who are prepared to make safety a priority in their business. Andy Studdert, chief executive officer of NES Rentals in the US, one of the largest aerial platform rental companies in North America, is a great example.
His safety credentials go back to his time as chief operating officer at United Airlines, where he was instrumental in grounding US air traffic in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Since taking over at NES in 2004, Andy has made safety a top priority: creating a ‘safety first’ culture at the company through training programmes; establishing award schemes to recognise staff efforts in safety; and by participating in and encouraging industry safety initiatives such as the recent IPAF-AWPT executive level summits in the US. He is not scared to put safety at the heart of the business, whatever the cost: shortly after he arrived at NES he immediately shut down all company operations when a company vehicle was involved in a serious traffic incident.
Andy Wright, Lavendon Access Services
In his two and a half years with Lavendon Access Services, chief executive Andy Wright and made a profound impact on the company’s approach to safety. Andy believes that as a market leader in access rental in Europe, Lavendon must also lead when it comes to safety standards.
That has led to a number of important initiatives to place a safety ethos at the heart of the company. These include the ‘Safety Starts with You’ campaign, which has now successfully been introduced at all 55 UK depots and which includes the appointment of health & safety representatives at each location. Lavendon used outside expertise from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) to help create the campaign.
More practical safety measures, meanwhile, include the recent decision that all thorough examinations on equipment be carried out by external bodies, a practice that Lavendon hopes the entire industry will follow.
© 2012 KHL Group or its affiliated companies.