The festive season wouldn't be the same without the Christmas trees and light displays that illuminate town centres and public buildings across the world, with the help of powered access platforms.

Councils, private companies and individuals setting up giant trees or Christmas light displays, rely on powered access to work safely at heights with electricity and to lift and install the thousands of feet of cable and hundreds of bulbs that light up buildings and structures.

Setting up Christmas decorations on an industrial scale poses a number of health and safety risks including working with electricity, installation in tight spaces or areas with restricted access, and trying to get the job done in adverse winter weather conditions including wind, rain or snow.

Using powered access tackles these problems as platforms are mobile, stable and suitable for working inside and outside. They can get specialist equipment to the required place, even in tight spaces.  Models like the Dino Lift 185XTC meet a number of requirements at once. It is compact, tracked for all terrain access, and has an operational spider lift platform for working in challenging conditions, indoors and out. It can fit into tight spaces and stabilise on sloped ground with low ground clearance and minimal risk of damage to floors and more fragile surfaces.

Vehicle or truck mounted lifts can be used for multiple tasks onsite, for example moving around a town centre to set up lights. They can be moved quickly and easily and vastly reduce the time taken to complete the job. They improve on safety by offering a stable platform to carry out the work and are used for a wide range of similar tasks through the rest of the year including installing electrical signage on buildings or carrying out maintenance on streetlights.

This year, Christmas displays across the UK have been bigger and brighter than ever. Longleat House in Wiltshire has a 50 foot Christmas tree that was transported in 18 sections and assembled on site. It is decorated in almost one million lights, requiring more than six miles of lighting cable. Despite these intimidating statistics, using powered access platforms meant the tree was set up and operational in a fraction of the time taken by using manual climbing and lifting equipment.

Powered access platforms are suitbale for public or private use; indoor or outdoor Christmas displays; and lifting heavy weights and awkward shapes. Though they have hundreds of practical uses throughout the rest of the year, popular Christmas displays are installed faster, safer and more efficiently using mobile and accessible powered access platforms.