The Industry Lifting Lead Appointed Person Group (ILLAPG) held its 39th meeting on 9 October 2025 at GGR UNIC House in Haddenham, with over 80 industry professionals taking part – around 20 in the room and more than 60 online. The meeting, chaired by Darren Biggs, delivered another well-attended and engaging session covering current projects, regulatory updates and technical best practice.
A particular highlight was a presentation by Andrew Lloyd of Select Plant Hire on Piking Crawler Cranes on Luffing Jibs – Best Practice (Our Opinion), which explored safe planning, responsibilities and procedural considerations when piking cranes fitted with luffing jibs. The talk generated valuable discussion around real-world challenges, manufacturer guidance, and the importance of site-specific procedures.
The meeting also reinforced the importance of knowledge sharing across the lifting sector, highlighted by the recent release of Sir Robert McAlpine’s Tower Crane Schedule of Common Lifts, now freely available online and in the ILLAPG members’ area. This open approach to document sharing was strongly encouraged by members as a positive step toward raising standards industry-wide.
Other agenda items included updates on the LOLER Call for Evidence, standards activity (BSI, CEN and ISO), CPA and CITB updates, and the latest work from the Tier 1 Fatal Risk Group. The session once again demonstrated the ILLAPG’s role as a key collaborative forum for sharing knowledge and advancing lifting operations standards across the UK.
The ILLAPG Chairs will be speaking at LiftEx 2025 in Liverpool (18–19 November 2025), where they will highlight the group’s ongoing work and future priorities. In addition, Katie Kelleher will be speaking at the World Crane & Transport Summit (WCTS) in Dublin on 18–19 November 2025, taking part in a round-table discussion on The People Problem: Finding and Keeping a Skilled Workforce, underscoring the critical challenge of workforce retention across our sector.