MEWP and Cherry Picker Statistics UK: 2026 Facts, Data & Key Insights

MEWPs and Cherry Pickers: Productive but Potentially Fatal

Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs) — commonly known as cherry pickers, scissor lifts, boom lifts, and aerial work platforms — are among the most widely used methods of working at height in the UK. Across construction, facilities management, arboriculture, telecommunications, and dozens of other sectors, MEWPs provide access to heights that would otherwise require extensive scaffolding, while offering speed, flexibility, and relative safety compared to many other height access methods.

Yet MEWP accidents, when they occur, are frequently fatal. The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) Global Safety Report 2025 — covering 2024 data — recorded 170 incident reports globally, involving deaths and major injuries. A 26% reduction in fatalities in 2024 is welcome progress, but the report simultaneously identified alarming increases in entrapment incidents and fatalities.

For the broader height work context see our Falls from Height Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide.

Key Facts & Figures (Overview)

MEWP Types and Risk Profiles

MEWPs are categorised by IPAF into groups based on their movement type and lift mechanism:

Category 1 — Vertical mast lifts (1a) and vehicle/trailer-mounted booms (1b): Category 1a machines are push-around verticals designed for indoor use. Category 1b machines are vehicle or trailer-mounted boom lifts — the traditional "cherry picker" widely used in telecommunications, electrical work, and tree surgery. 1b machines were the most common type involved in fatal and major accidents in 2024 (34% of incidents).

Category 3 — Self-propelled MEWPs: Category 3a machines are mobile vertical lifts (scissor lifts) — widely used in construction, warehousing, and facilities management. Category 3b machines are self-propelled boom lifts — highly versatile and widely used across construction and industrial sectors. 3a and 3b machines each accounted for 26% of fatal and major incidents in 2024.

The Three Leading MEWP Accident Causes

Overturns: A MEWP overturn occurs when the machine tips over due to loss of stability — from ground conditions (soft ground, slopes, voids), from positioning errors, from contact with overhead obstacles while moving, or from working on uneven ground beyond the machine's rated stability parameters. Overturn incidents were the 2025 IPAF global safety campaign focus — reflecting their persistent, decade-long prominence as the most common type of MEWP incident. In 2024, overturns caused 11 fatalities and 19 major injuries.

Entrapment: Entrapment occurs when the MEWP operator or an occupant becomes trapped or crushed between the platform controls or guardrails and an immovable object. Common scenarios: the operator drives the platform into a structural obstruction while looking upward, or ground controls are used to move the platform while someone is in it, bringing them into contact with overhead steelwork. Entrapment has an extremely high fatality rate — in 2024, entrapment caused 28 fatalities, the highest fatality count of any MEWP accident cause. Over the past decade, entrapment has killed 118 people and caused 16 major injuries. The 75% increase in entrapment fatalities from 2023 to 2024 is among the most alarming trends in the 2025 IPAF report.

Falls from the platform: Falls occur when an occupant falls or is thrown from the MEWP platform — from inadequate guardrails, from being struck by an external object, from working outside the guardrail envelope, from not wearing a harness when required, or from machine movement. Falls from MEWPs at significant heights almost always result in severe or fatal injury. In 2024, falls from the platform caused 20 fatalities.

Training: The Single Most Important Control

IPAF global accident data consistently demonstrates one finding: the vast majority of MEWP accidents involve operators who have not undergone structured training. The conclusion is straightforward — MEWP operator training is the most important preventive intervention available.

IPAF operator training provides:

The IPAF PAL (Powered Access Licence) card is the recognised UK standard for MEWP operator competence. Operators without a valid PAL card for the category of machine they are using are not competent — and their employers are not compliant with the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Legal Requirements for MEWP Use

Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, MEWPs must be:

Written by Working at Height Experts

This guide was produced by the team at Working at Heights Course, a UK provider of RoSPA and CPD-accredited online working at height training. For related data see our Falls from Height Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide, Working at Height Statistics UK, Construction Falls from Height Statistics UK, and Work at Height Regulations Statistics UK.

Sources & References