The country's market leading powered access rental company, Nationwide Access, will be among the key speakers at the forthcoming inaugural SEMA [Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association] safety conference and exhibition. Carlo Vinci, Nationwide's National Accounts Manager, and Mike Ripton, the company's external Training Manager, will be jointly presenting an illustrated paper entitled "The Safe Use of Access Equipment".

As part of Europe's leading powered access business, which has over 12,000 machines and 100 depots, Nationwide is uniquely placed to highlight the legal position regarding safe working practices and training that is essential if powered access is to retain its safe working reputation. The company runs fully accredited fast-track operator training schemes that are approved by the CITB [Construction Industry Training Board] and IPAF [International Powered Access Federation].

The speakers will focus on how to ensure that powered access is used safely in the workplace. They will also describe in some detail the most common apparent reasons for accidents involving powered access equipment, before going on to identify the underlying causes.

To round off, the various powered access options - scissor lifts, self-propelled booms and truck mounts - will be overviewed in the presentation to indicate the particular suitability of each type of machine and the contribution they can make to improved safety in the logistics sector.