Aerial Manlift Dangers
Aerial man lifts are personnel lifts such as scissor lifts, boom lifts, and articulated booms lifts that utilize an articulated boom or a series of folding, linked supports. These machinery allows employees to get up high into previously inaccessible places. In certain ways, these kinds of machines have made construction much safer and easier, although, the overall safety which comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has implemented a new list of hazards that could accidentally cause severe injury or even death to operators who are unaware.
Falls
Falls from a man lift normally happens when employees fail to or are unable to wear a safety harness or cannot secure the harness to the lift. Falls can take place when someone on the platform acts inappropriately and takes part in an activity like climbing the guard rails to gain additional height. In addition, mishaps could be caused if the operator on the ground causes the equipment to move in an unexpected motion prior to the employee being correctly secured.
Lots of employees also fall because the base of their machine is inadvertently struck by some other heavy thing. In this situation, the force of the blow below becomes amplified by the lift's length, thus causing the employee to be suddenly catapulted off of the platform. Clearly this dangerous action has terrible outcome.
Tip-Overs
Unfortunately, boom lifts are easily prone to tipping over. Tip-overs can take place in any type of lift, but are more common in articulated boom lifts. Because boom lifts are able to move both horizontally and vertically, they can change the overall center of gravity of the equipment. Thus, if the lift is parked on an incline of some kind or over loaded, totally extending the boom when it is in the wrong position can lead to a tip-over situation.