Verification tool allows PAL Cards to be checked online
Published: 08 July, 2011
Site and safety managers can now use the PAL Card (Powered Access Licence) online verification tool at http://www.ipaf.org/ to check if a card is genuine. A valid PAL Card issued by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), or by its North American subsidiary AWPT in the US, is proof that the cardholder has been trained to operate powered access equipment safely and effectively.
IPAF has launched the online verification tool in response to requests from site and safety managers for a quick and easy way to check if a card presented to them is genuine. The yellow, plastic PAL Card already contains several security features. The front side carries the cardholder’s name and photograph. It also shows the expiry date and the machine categories the cardholder has been trained to operate. PAL Cards are valid for five years. The reverse side features an IPAF logo printed as a hologram to minimise counterfeiting risks, and the cardholder’s signature.
“PAL Cards are valuable because there are many job sites where operators without a valid card will not be allowed to operate powered access equipment, and there have been a small handful of cases involving forged PAL Cards,” says Tim Whiteman, IPAF CEO. “The online verification tool gives site and safety managers added security and confidence in the system.”
IPAF’s PAL Card operator training programme is certified by TÜV as conforming to ISO 18878. More than 80,000 PAL Cards are issued each year through a network of over 400 IPAF-approved training centres worldwide.
For further information please visit: http://www.ipaf.org/
