Electrocutions and Electric Shocks Top Cause of MEWP Fatalities in 2025, IPAF Report Shows
Key Highlights
- A 15% decrease in fatal and major incidents in 2025.
- A 24% decrease in powered access fatalities in 2025.
- Most incidents occurred on construction sites, followed by arboriculture and facilities management.
- The top three causes of accidents were electrocutions, falls from the platform and overturns.
IPAF’s Global Safety Report 2026 reveals that electrocutions and electric shocks were the top cause of fatalities and major incidents involving powered access in 2025. The findings are based on comprehensive analysis of incidents submitted through its global Accident Reporting Portal throughout 2025.
Launched during a live webinar on September 2, the IPAF Global Safety Report 2026 examines accident data spanning 2016 to 2025, with a focus on the most recent year-over-year trends. With an analysis of global data, IPAF aims to equip the industry with insights to reduce accidents and improve safety performance across all powered access operations.
This year’s report shows that in 2025, there were 15 percent fewer fatal and major incidents reported, with 170 incident reports made compared to 201 reports in 2024. There were 76 fatalities reported, down from 100 in 2024, a 24-percent decrease. A total of 192 people were involved in incidents (9 percent fewer than in 2024), and reports came from 25 countries (one fewer than in 2024).
In terms of incidents resulting in deaths or major injury, electrocutions and electric shocks were the leading cause of accidents in 2025. IPAF received 28 reports in this category from six countries, which included 20 fatalities. The majority of reported incidents (71 percent) were from the United States. Falls from the platform and overturns were the next most frequently reported causes.
Most incidents occurred on construction sites (37 percent), followed by other (14 percent), arboriculture (13 percent) and rental activity (13 percent). The top MEWP categories involved were 3b (26 percent) and 3a machines (25 percent). 3b machines refer to self-propelled boom lifts, and 3a machines refer to mobile vertical machines: scissor lifts and vertical personnel platforms.
Other key statistics from the report include:
- A 14-percent increase in falls from the platform reports but 24 percent decrease in fatalities from 2024 to 2025.
- A 68-percent reduction in reports of entrapment and 63 percent decrease in fatalities.
- A 58-percent decrease in reports of overturns and 53-percent decrease in fatalities.
- A 20-percent increase in incident reports of people or machines being hit by a falling object but a 50-percent decrease in fatalities.
- A 125-percent increase in fatalities attributed to being hit by a vehicle or machine.
- A 200-percent increase in incident reports related to mast climbing work platforms and construction hoists, with a 700-percent increase in fatalities (eight fatalities).
“A 24-percent reduction in fatalities is encouraging and demonstrates that sustained industry focus can make a real difference, but we cannot allow this progress to lead to complacency,” said Brian Parker, head of safety & technical at IPAF. “Every reported incident provides valuable learning, and the data highlights where our attention must remain firmly fixed – particularly around electrocutions, falls from the platform, overturns, and the emerging increase in incidents involving MCWPs and Construction Hoists. The Global Safety Report gives the powered access industry the evidence it needs to act, by strengthening planning and supervision, improving operator and frontline supervisor training, and reinforcing safe behaviors at every stage of powered access operations. By working together and continuing to share accident data, we can target our safety efforts where they are most needed and help reduce serious incidents and fatalities globally.”
To view the full Global Safety Report 2026, visit www.ipaf.org/accident. The launch webinar is available to watch via IPAF’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@ipaforg
Source: IPAF
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.