Horizon Platforms Blog

We hire out powered access to the contractors who build data centres. So we counted how many of them there are, and where the work is going.

The two don’t line up.

Why a Powered Access Company Counted Britain’s Data Centres

We hire out scissor lifts and boom lifts. Our customers are the electrical contractors, the mechanical and cooling engineers, and the fit-out crews. They’re the people who turn a big empty shed into a working data centre, and they’re the ones hiring the machines that get them working safely at height.

If you’re looking for an idea of MEWP hire costs, you’re in the right place. The cost of hiring a Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) varies depending on a range of factors. For example, the type and size of the machine, your hire duration, and the scope of service wrapped around the hire.

NEW RESEARCH REVEALS WHAT ACCESS EQUIPMENT FAILURES COST UK CONSTRUCTION

A late delivery. A flat battery. A no-show. A breakdown halfway up a job. Every project manager in UK construction has been on the wrong end of an access equipment hire failure – and every project manager knows it costs them.

What most do not know is how much.

With No Falls Week upon us, it’s the right moment to talk about something we do regularly, and something MEWP operators and managers don’t always consider. Working at height is one of the most dangerous occupational tasks and falls from height remain the leading cause of workplace fatalities in Great Britain (HSE data). These are not statistics we can read and move on from.

No Falls Week gives us a reason to talk publicly about the MEWP safety awareness work we do all year round. Horizon Platforms’ Lead Training Instructor, Adrian Waddington, recently travelled to Sheffield and spent a day with a customer working through something that doesn’t get talked about enough: what to do when someone gets stuck at height on an access platform.

For mechanical and electrical contractors, fit-out companies, and industrial door specialists and commercial maintenance businesses managing large, high-stakes projects, keeping track of dozens of Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs) across multiple live sites isn’t just an administrative task, it’s a critical operational necessity. But it comes with it challenges due to the many moving parts. The last thing you need is to waste hours tied up in admin! Therefore, this article explains why HireHub helps avoid costly MEWP hire admin headaches.