What is a MEWP?
MEWP stands for mobile elevating work platform: a machine that lifts people, with their tools and materials, to work at height from a platform with guardrails. You will also hear them called access platforms, powered access and aerial work platforms. Jointed boom-type MEWPs are often called cherry pickers.
The main types of MEWP
Every MEWP either goes straight up or reaches up and out on a boom. Within those two groups, the machine you need depends on the job, the ground and the way in.
A wide deck that rises straight up on folding supports. Good for crews working overhead on firm, level ground. IPAF 3a.
A compact one-person platform on a vertical mast, small enough for aisles, doorways and passenger lifts. IPAF 1a for static models and 3a if it drives while raised. Push-around models also have their own IPAF PAV category.
A jointed boom that bends up and over obstacles. This is what most people mean by a cherry picker. IPAF 3b.
A straight boom that extends for the longest reach from one spot. Usually just called a boom lift, though people often search for it as a cherry picker. IPAF 3b.
A compact boom lift on tracks that sets up on outriggers, often called a tracked cherry picker. IPAF 1b.
A boom lift built onto a road vehicle for work from the kerb, often called a van or truck mounted cherry picker. IPAF 1b.
How the IPAF categories work
IPAF categories combine two questions. Does the machine work from a fixed position (1) or can it drive while raised (3)? And does the platform go straight up (a) or out on a boom (b)? That gives 1a static vertical, 1b static boom, 3a mobile vertical and 3b mobile boom.
Operators should hold an IPAF PAL card for the category of machine they use. Each machine page on this site shows its category.
Is a cherry picker a MEWP?
Yes. Cherry picker is not a technical category, it is the everyday name for a boom-type MEWP. Boom lift is the machine type, articulated or telescopic. Cherry picker most accurately describes the jointed, up-and-over kind: articulated booms, van, truck and trailer mounts and spider lifts. Telescopic straight booms are usually just called boom lifts, although people search for both names. Scissor lifts and mast lifts are MEWPs too, but they only go straight up, so they are never cherry pickers.
When straight up is enough, and when you need a boom that reaches over.
Working height and platform height
Platform height is how high the floor of the basket or deck goes. Working height adds roughly two metres for a person standing and reaching, so it is the figure to match to the job.
Outreach matters as well on a boom lift: it is how far the platform can reach sideways from the base.
Questions
- What does MEWP stand for?
- Mobile elevating work platform. It covers scissor lifts, mast lifts, boom lifts, spider lifts and vehicle mounted platforms.
- Is a MEWP the same as an aerial work platform?
- Yes. Aerial work platform, access platform and powered access are other names for the same kind of machine.
- Is a scissor lift a MEWP?
- Yes. A scissor lift is a vertical MEWP, IPAF category 3a. It is not a cherry picker, because it has no boom.
- Do I need a licence to use a MEWP?
- Anyone operating a MEWP should be trained for that type of machine. The IPAF PAL card is the standard UK proof, and it lists the categories the holder can operate.
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