Aerial Manlift Hazards
Aerial manlifts are equipments which use either a series of linked, folding supports, such as a boom lift or an articulated boom lift or a scissor lift. These industrial pieces of equipment allow workers to get in touch with hard-to-reach places. In certain ways, these types of equipment have made construction a lot easier and safer, however, the general safety which comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has implemented a new list of hazards which can accidentally result in severe injury or even death to unaware operators.
Falls
Usually, falls can happen when workers are unable to correctly secure the lift platform or are unable to wear a safety harness. Falls can happen when a worker on the platform acts wrongly and partakes in an activity like climbing the guard rails to gain added height. Moreover, accidents can be caused if the operator on the ground causes the equipment to move in an unexpected motion prior to the employee being correctly secured.
A lot of employees also fall because the base of their machinery is accidentally struck by some other heavy object. During this situation, the force of the blow below becomes amplified by the length of the lift, therefore causing the worker to be suddenly catapulted off of the platform. Clearly this hazardous action has terrible results.
Tip-Overs
Sadly, boom lifts are easily prone to tipping over. Tip-overs could occur in any kind of lift, but are more frequent in articulated boom lifts. Since boom lifts can move both vertically and horizontally, they could change the equipment's overall center of gravity. Thus, if the lift is parked on a slope of some kind or over loaded, totally extending the boom when it is in the wrong position could cause the equipment to tip over.