& 
NPORS MEWP Scissor Training (N109)
A scissor lift looks like the safe one, which is exactly why it gets driven over a service cover, loaded past its rating or parked under a beam. The NPORS N109 is the operator ticket for vertical platforms. IPAF is the better known powered access scheme, so we will tell you plainly which of the two your client is likely to ask for before you book.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N109 MEWP Scissor different
About this course
The NPORS N109 MEWP Scissor category covers vertical platforms: self propelled and push around scissor lifts and similar machines where the platform rises straight up on a scissor mechanism rather than out on an arm. They are the most common powered access machines on UK sites and in warehouses, used for ceiling work, mechanical and electrical installation, cladding, lighting, racking work, painting and maintenance.
The legal frame is the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which put a MEWP high in the hierarchy of measures because it provides a working platform with edge protection. PUWER 1998 requires the operator to be adequately trained, and LOLER 1998 applies because the machine lifts people. That last point has a practical consequence that plenty of fleets miss: lifting equipment used for lifting persons is thoroughly examined at least every six months rather than the twelve months that applies to other lifting equipment.
In training, the emphasis falls on the things that actually put scissor lifts over. Almost all of them are ground related: a machine driven onto a service cover or a gully, a wheel over the edge of a slab or a kerb, an unconsolidated backfill, a slope beyond the manufacturer's limit, or a load on the platform that was within the total rating but concentrated at one end. Add the hazards that come from the platform being an easy place to stand: overloading with tools and material, climbing on the guardrail to gain a few hundred millimetres, working under a beam or a soffit where the platform can trap an occupant, and using a machine indoors that was rated for indoor use only. Fall protection in a vertical platform is not normally required, other than in exceptional circumstances, and the course explains why rather than leaving operators to guess.
- The legal frame: the Work at Height Regulations 2005, PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998, and the code of practice for the safe use of MEWPs
- Why a MEWP is thoroughly examined at least every six months rather than twelve, and what the report should show
- Machine types, ratings, indoor and outdoor use, controls and safety devices including pothole protection
- Siting: ground assessment, covers, gullies, voids, kerbs, slopes and proximity to excavations
- Platform loading: total rating, distribution, tools and materials, and what overloading does
- Working near structures, beams and soffits, and the crushing risk from above
- Why fall protection is not normally required in a vertical platform, and the exceptions
- Wind and weather for outdoor rated machines, and the limits the manufacturer sets
- Rescue planning, emergency lowering, pre use checks and familiarisation on a machine the operator has not used before
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N109 MEWP Scissor category on the operator's NPORS record
- An NPORS card carrying the CSCS logo while a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass is in date, or a traditional NPORS card outside construction
- Operators who look at the ground before they site the machine and refuse to guess
- A site with a rescue arrangement for a scissor lift that someone has actually practised
Who should attend?
Construction, fit out, mechanical and electrical installation, cladding, painting and decorating, warehousing and racking work, facilities and building maintenance, retail and events. It suits operators new to powered access, tradespeople who hire a scissor lift occasionally, and cardholders coming up for renewal. It covers vertical platforms only: boom type machines are the N108 MEWP Boom category, and many operators hold both. Where the person plans and supervises powered access work rather than operating, the N035 MEWP Supervisor Awareness course is the better fit.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen for most site work, fit enough to work at height for a full shift and to get into and out of a raised platform, with eyesight and hearing adequate for the work, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, with reading support available on request. Tell us about any condition affected by working at height, because the practical takes place on a raised platform. No prior card is needed for the novice route. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass taken within the last two years, which we can book. Tell us at enquiry what machines your operators will use, whether they are indoor or outdoor rated and whether the site or client has specified a card scheme.
Ready to take the next step?
Choose a delivery option, compare dates and book with confidence, or ask MB and get an answer straight away.
Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the law, machine knowledge, siting and rescue, then practical set up and operation of the platform, finishing with the NPORS theory and practical test.
The law, the machine and working at height
- The Work at Height Regulations 2005, PUWER 1998 and LOLER 1998 as they apply to a MEWP
- Thorough examination at least every six months because the machine lifts persons
- Vertical platform types, indoor and outdoor ratings, controls and safety devices
- Ground assessment: covers, gullies, voids, kerbs, backfill, slopes and excavation edges
- Stability, pothole protection, extension decks and what happens when one is deployed
- Platform loading: total rating, distribution, tools and materials
- Crushing and trapping risks from beams, soffits and structures above the platform
- Fall protection in vertical platforms: why it is not normally required and what the exceptions look like
- Rescue planning, emergency lowering and familiarisation on a specific model
Operating the machine
- Pre use inspection of the machine and the platform, including gates and guardrails
- Checking the thorough examination record and the machine handbook before use
- Assessing the ground and siting the machine, including using barriers below
- Elevating, positioning and lowering under control
- Travelling with the platform raised only where the machine permits it
- Loading the platform correctly and working from it without climbing the rail
- Working near a structure with crushing risk in mind
- Emergency lowering from the ground controls, and lowering from the platform
- Shutting down, securing the machine and reporting defects
Method of assessment
How the N109 MEWP scissor test works
NPORS assess the category with a theory test and a practical test on the machine. Both run with us, because Acadame is an NPORS test centre as well as a training provider, and the pass goes onto the operator's record without a second booking.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many operators you have, what machines they will use and whether your client has specified a card scheme. NPORS allow four candidates with one instructor and one machine on the training routes and six on the experienced worker test. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We confirm the route each operator needs, check any existing cards, check whether the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date for the CSCS logo version, look at the machine and its thorough examination record, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the law, machine knowledge, siting and rescue, then practical operation on the machine your operators will actually use.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test covering legislation, machine knowledge, siting, ground conditions, loading, wind and rescue.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, assess the ground, site and operate the machine, demonstrate emergency lowering and shut down, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and the N109 category goes on the card. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test the card carries the CSCS logo.
After the course
Where NPORS sits alongside IPAF, honestly
IPAF, the International Powered Access Federation, runs the PAL card and it is the best known powered access qualification in the UK and internationally. Many hire companies, and some principal contractors, name it in their own rules, and if your client's requirement says IPAF then IPAF is what you need. NPORS is a recognised alternative that trains and tests to a comparable operator standard, and where the operator holds a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test the NPORS card carries the CSCS logo, which the PAL card does not. We will not claim NPORS is accepted everywhere IPAF is, because it is not, and it is a five minute conversation with your client before you book rather than a problem at the gate.
Whichever card an operator holds, it does not replace familiarisation on the machine in front of them. Controls, extension decks, pothole protection and emergency systems differ between models. Two other things are worth having in place: a rescue arrangement with somebody at ground level trained on the emergency lowering controls, and a check that your machines are on the right thorough examination cycle, which for a MEWP is at least every six months because it lifts people.
- Machine specific familiarisation for each model your operators use
- A written rescue arrangement, with someone trained on the ground controls
- N108 MEWP Boom where the same operators also use boom type machines
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us for the CSCS logo version of the card
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N109 MEWP Scissor FAQs
Often, but not always. IPAF is the better known powered access scheme and some hire companies and principal contractors specify the PAL card by name, in which case that is what you need. NPORS trains and tests operators to a comparable standard and, with a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test, its card carries the CSCS logo, which the PAL card does not. Check your client's requirement before booking and we will give you a straight answer on which route fits.
Not normally. Industry guidance published by IPAF and supported by HSE is that occupants of vertical platforms such as scissor lifts do not require fall protection other than in exceptional circumstances, because the platform has full edge protection. Boom type platforms are different, and there a harness with a short restraint lanyard is recommended. The course explains the difference so operators are not guessing.
The ground, almost every time. A wheel on a service cover or a gully, a slab over a void, an unconsolidated backfill, a kerb edge or a slope beyond the manufacturer's limit. That is why siting takes up so much of the day and why the practical includes assessing the ground before the machine moves.
One day for a novice on the NPORS test sheet, with four candidates on one machine. An operator already doing the work can sit the shorter experienced worker test, which allows six. Adding the boom category normally adds time rather than fitting into the same day, and we will say so rather than promising both in a morning.
At least every six months, because it is lifting equipment used to lift persons. That is shorter than the twelve month interval for lifting equipment that does not lift people, and it is a common gap in owned fleets. If you hire, ask for the report before the machine is used.
Only if it is rated for it. Many machines are indoor rated and have no wind rating at all, and using one outdoors is a straightforward way to put it over. The course covers how to find the rating and the wind limit for the specific machine rather than assuming.
The category covers vertical platforms, but no card removes the need for familiarisation on the specific machine. Controls, extension decks and emergency systems vary by model, and an operator should be shown the machine in front of them before using it.
Yes, and it is the better option because familiarisation happens at the same time. We need a machine with a current thorough examination and space to operate it safely. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when your operators and the machine can be released.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
From the blog
Course guides and news
The latest plain-English guides to choosing the right course, card or qualification.
Training for a team?
One contact for all your workforce training
Book this course for a group at your site or ours, roll it into a managed training plan and let us handle the scheduling, certificates and renewals.