The advancement of technology in the Work At Height sector has been more and more evident in recent times and has now extended into the virtual world.
 
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) recently showcased their new Virtual Reality (VR) simulator at Intermat 2018 in Paris, France, and then at Vertikal Days 2018 in Donington Park, UK, allowing users to experience operating boom lifts and scissor lifts in a variety of scenarios without their feet ever leaving the ground.
 
RSC Training Director Richard Chapman tried the VR simulator at Vertikal Days and commented on the experience:
 
“I was really looking forward to Vertikal Days this year as I was eager to try the new VR simulator that everyone has been talking about, and it did not disappoint! The graphics and the effects of being in the simulator were so realistic, you really do feel like you are elevating even though you know your feet are still on the ground!
 
I went through a couple of the scenarios available, including completing an entire mock scissor test (which I passed!) and was very impressed with the level of detail and how the simulator identified you immediately of any faults you made.”
 
The technology seems to have been a hit with everyone who has used it, however IPAF are keen to get feedback on the simulator and ways it could be improved. They are actively inviting anyone who has used the simulator to have their say in IPAFs online consultation by filling out a short survey at www.ipaf.org/VRconsultation.
 
Richard added: “It will be interesting to see where this technology goes and how it can be integrated into training and other aspects surrounding Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs). I don’t think it will replace the need for a traditional training course, but it will find its place somewhere.”
 
Not to be outdone by IPAF, the Prefabricated Access Suppliers & Manufacturers Association (PASMA) have also recently launched their own VR simulator for Mobile Access Towers. This was recently on display at the Annual Members Conference in Coventry, UK.
 
Richard commented: "I’ve not yet used the PASMA VR simulator, though I did witness a few others have a go with some interesting and humorous results! People I know who have been working within the industry for many more years than me testing the effects of what falling from a tower would be like, including some physically falling over!
 
It’s a work in progress with PASMA, and I’m sure it will get better and better. As with IPAF, we will wait and see as to where this technology integrates into our industry in the next few years."

WernerCo, the US based owner of Boss, have recently launched their updated and improved range of Cantilever towers, including the End-Linked Tower and the Extended End Tower pictured above, as featured in the above article, in to the market.

​At RSC Training, one of the Advanced PASMA Training Courses we provide is the PASMA Towers With Cantilevers course, which is aimed at persons who already hold a valid PASMA Towers For Users PhotoID card and who's work includes or will include being responsible for the assembly, dismantling, altering and moving of mobile access towers with cantilevers and how to safely do so without risk of personal injury to themselves or others.

​As Boss is one of the most well known and well used manufacturers of Mobile Tower Scaffolding, we have therefore chosen to use their equipment on our training courses too. The pictured Extended End Cantilever tower shown above is the tower you can expect to build when attending one of our PASMA Towers With Cantilevers courses at our Training Centre in Woolwich, London.

​For more information or to book on to a course, contact us on 0203 794 0798 or email info@rsc-training.co.uk

Who doesn't want to work all day on a Friday??

Neither do we! So with that in mind, we've introduced on our Course Calendar a Half Day Friday, to be run on the last Friday of every month and give you the option of planning in one of our half day training courses. These are the courses we have available to choose from:​

Why not look to get yourself booked on to one of these courses? We can run these courses in either a morning or an afternoon session. Courses will be booked on a first come first served basis, but other dates can be made available, and are all subject to availability.

​Speak to us about Half Day Friday courses on 0203 794 0798 or info@rsc-training.co.uk

It has seemed like an eternity to wait, but finally we have got our Nifty 90 machine back from the repair shop, and as you can see from the above pictures, it's looking good! We are now in a position to be able to offer Static Boom (1b) training again as well as our regular Mobile Vertical (3a) and Mobile Boom (3b) categories.

​The Static Boom category is arguably the most diverse that IPAF have, which opens the Operator up to many different types of machines, including the following:

​Trailer Mounted (as our Nifty 90 is)
Truck/Lorry Mounted
Vehicle/Van Mounted
​Track Mounted (Spider machines)

Why not look to get yourself trained on this category, or add this category to your existing card? You can cover this category either on its own via our Single Category course or as a combination via our Dual Category course.

​Speak to us about Static Boom training on 0203 794 0798 or info@rsc-training.co.uk

​To get a brief overview of our Nifty 90 machine before you come on the course, see the below Manufacturer's video.
​

After a bit of a discussion at RSC Training HQ, it was decided that having a pizza lunch ourselves was going to be too much pizza for us to eat, not to mention the New Year healthy eating plans that some of us were going to be doing, so we discussed ideas for what to do with several large pizzas!

​The idea was then mentioned of giving the pizzas away to someone less fortunate than us in the local area. So we put it out on social media for suggestions for a local charity that would appreciate and benefit from having a lunch on us, and after a few people offered their suggestions, the decision was taken to donate the pizzas to Emmaus Greenwich.

​The decision was not a difficult one either, as it turns out RSC Training Director Lyndsey Wright went to school with one of the managers of our local Emmaus branch, Clare Cowen. So once Emmaus was suggested, they got to talking and arrangements were made for representatives of RSC Training to be shown round their main branch in Plumstead by Clare and then for the pizzas to be delivered there that same evening.

As part of our aims at RSC Training Ltd to try and help our customers get the best value and best quality training for their employees, we are pleased to be able to offer the following deals for 2017

View our PASMA Training Courses.

View our IPAF Training Courses.

For more information or to book on to a course, contact us or call us on 0203 794 0798.

Working Well With Towers

PASMA Tower Safety Week may be over for another year, but working well with towers should be a continuing practice. As an Official Partner of Tower Week, RSC Training Ltd were provided with four infographics which we shared on our social media platforms throughout the week to promote working well with towers.

We want people to continue working well with towers, so we want YOU to visit the Infographics Page on the Tower Week website and use these graphics to help share this knowledge with all tower users to help keep them safe.

High Tower Challenge

Although RSC Training Ltd was not specifically involved in it, the Hire/Assembly and Hire/Dealer Partners for Tower Safety Week again took part in the High Tower Challenge, measuring the combined height of towers built by them or by others using their equipment.

This year, members managed to amass a total height for the week of 2891m, surpassing last years total by 1022m! PASMA also committed to donate a pound per metre, so raising £2891.00 for their chosen charity, MacMillan Cancer Support.
Great Work!

Tower Selfie GO!

There was 3 awards up for grabs during Tower Safety Week for 3 challenges in the Tower Selfie GO! section. The first was the Tower Master award, and this went to RSC Training Ltd's very own Director and Instructor Richard Chapman! A separate post can be found here for more details.

The other two awards were the Most Popular award, for the most likes and retweets, and Staff Choice For Humour award, for the one that made the PASMA office chuckle the most. These were the winners:

For more details and to find out how you can get involved next year, visit the PASMA Tower Safety Week website.

View our PASMA Training Courses.

For more information or to book on to a course, contact us or call us on 0203 794 0798.

RSC Training Ltd Director and Instructor Richard Chapman has won PASMA Tower Week's Tower Master title for 2016!

This challenge was one of three within the Tower Selfie GO! section, which included getting photos taken with the big foam hand with as many different types, configurations and brands of tower as possible. Richard blew away the competition by getting his selfie with 6 different examples of towers, including a 3T & AGR Standard Towers, a Tower On Stairs, a High Clearance Unit, a Low Level Podium Step Unit and a Low Level Folding Tower Unit.

As a result of winning this challenge, PASMA will be sending Richard and 5 colleagues at RSC Training Ltd a Dominos pizza lunch on them!