17.12.2021

Geoffrey ‘Geoff’ Peter Marshall 1934-2021

We have received the sad news that access training veteran Geoff Marshall has died. He passed away on Saturday, December 12th aged 87.

As far as we understand he began his access training career in the 1980s as a trainer with UpRight’s UK distribution subsidiary, Instant Zip-Up, based in Newport, Shropshire. In 1992 he worked with IPAF on drafting the original training manual and quality system that formed the basis for the PAL card and was used with the very first IPAF training centres - 10 member companies that had applied to become training centres in 1991. The fact that his original work has provided the foundation for the global training programme we have today says a great deal about his thoroughness.
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Geoff Marshall

In 1995, Marshall wrote the manual and laid out the quality control procedures and systems for Powered Access Certification (PAC), the notified body that IPAF set up to CE certify aerial work platforms. In order to be certified as an EU notified body the organisation had to be verified and approved by the Department of Trade, achieving this substantial hurdle was very much contingent on the quality of the organisation's manual and operating procedures.

Marshall was also instrumental in getting the IPAF Training Centre audit process rolling and served as the organisation's first auditor and was lead auditor for many years, training many of the people that have followed on in this role. One colleague said: "Geoff was IPAF’s original and at the time, only, auditor and was very well respected with his relaxed, but firm approach."

He was also instrumental in implementing the Continual Professional Development requirements for IPAF instructors. As one ex-colleague put it: “The success of IPAF’s PAL Card training is largely down to some of the quality control systems Geoff put in place.”
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Geoff Marshall in action at an IPAF Summit

He liked to keep fit and swum 50 lengths of the pool every Friday while enjoying a regular round of golf. He retired a few years ago, and sadly his wife Thelma passed away last September.

A seemingly quiet man, he was a professional, consistent, reliable, well liked and always a gentleman and had a great sense of humour. The industry has lost one of its training pioneers this week.

If anyone would like to provide more information on Geoff’s long career, we would be delighted to receive it so that we can update and add to this tribute.