The three founders of Genie Industries, Lavendon Access Services and smaller rental and training companies from Chile and Singapore were among the winners at the second International Awards for Powered Access held in London on March 25.
More than 430 attendees joined Roger Brown, Ward Bushnell and Bob Wilkerson at the Grange St. Paul’s Hotel to celebrating their Lifetime Achievement Award. Lavendon won the Access Rental Company of the Year Award.
The judges paid tribute to the three founders of Genie: “Roger, Ward and Bob jointly built one of the world’s biggest aerial platform businesses and at the same time helped to develop a rental industry that is now a global business. Although they became a major company, they stayed true to their values of innovation, safety, teamwork and customer satisfaction. Each played a key role in the success of Genie and they leave a legacy of excellence and integrity.”
“Big can often be beautiful,” the judges said of Lavendon. “The judges wanted to recognize Lavendon Access Services’ leadership during a difficult year. While expanding through acquisitions and dealing with the economic challenges, it stayed true to its core values, investing in its health and safety activities and in the development of its employees.”
Other winners included Brad Boehler of Skyjack and Kevin O’Shea of Atlanta-based Mastclimbers LLC (joint winners, IPAF Safety Champion of the Year); Spanish manufacturer Mecaplús (New Product of the Year for the ME12SL self-leveling articulated boom platform) and RSC Equipment Rental (Access Industry Sustainability Award).
RSC Equipment Rentals was the first ever winner of the Sustainability award, with the judges stating that its emissions tracking system “will set the standard for environmental awareness and customer services in the rental business worldwide.”
A total of 85 entries were received for this year’s awards, 20-percent more than for the first awards in 2009. The awards are jointly organized by Access International and IPAF.
The award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges based on information submitted with official entries. The judging panel comprised:
• Paul Adorian, managing director, Powered Access Certification (PAC), U.K.
• John Ball, outgoing IPAF president and managing director, Height for Hire Ireland
• Renzo Pagliero, managing director, Multitel Pagliero, Italy
• Murray Pollok, managing editor, Access International, U.K.
• Andy Studdert, CEO, NES Rentals, U.S.
The next IAPAs will be held on April 14, 2011 in Amsterdam. For more information, visit www.ipaf.org/iapa .
The full list of winners follows:
• Access Rental Company of the Year
Lavendon Access Services
• Access International New Product of the Year
Mecaplús (ME12SL)
• IPAF Safety Champion of the Year
Brad Boehler, Skyjack (joint winner)
Kevin O’Shea, Mastclimbers (joint winner)
• Contribution to Safe Working at Height – Rental Company
A-Plant Powered Access
• Contribution to Safe Working at Height – Manufacturer
Niftylift
• Contribution to Safe Working at Height – End User
Crown House Technologies
• Mast Climbing Work Platform Achievement Award
Harsco Infrastructure (formerly SGB Mastclimbers)
• Access Industry Training Award
Serfin
• Access Industry Sustainability Award
RSC Equipment Rental
• Access International / IPAF Lifetime Achievement Award
Roger Brown, Ward Bushnell, Roger Wilkerson, Genie Industries
• Best Marketing Campaign for IPAF Training
Alo Rentals/Alo Training, Chile
• IPAF Instructor of the Year
Jildou de Jong, Kamphuis Hoogwerkers (joint winner)
Gerry Palmer, HSS Hire/HSS Training (joint winner)
• Best New IPAF Training Center
BS Technology, Singapore
