Aerial Manlift Dangers
Aerial man lifts are personnel lifts like scissor lifts, boom lifts, and articulated booms lifts that use an articulated boom or a series of folding, linked supports. These machines enables employees to get up high into previously inaccessible areas. In some ways, these machinery have made construction much easier and safer, although, the overall safety which comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has applied a new list of dangers that can inadvertently lead to severe injury or even death to drivers who are unaware.
Falls
Typically, falls can occur when employees are unable to correctly secure the lift platform or are unable to wear a safety harness. Falls could happen when a worker on the platform acts inappropriately and participates in an activity like climbing the guard rails in order to gain additional height. Moreover, accidents can be caused if the ground-based operator causes the machine to move in an unexpected motion before the employee being correctly secured.
Sometimes employees can fall when the base of the lift is struck inadvertently by a heavy thing. In this situation, the force of the blow below becomes amplified by the length of the lift, therefore causing the employee to be suddenly catapulted off of the platform. Obviously this hazardous action has terrible results.
Tip-Overs
Boom lifts are susceptible to tipping over. Tip overs are more common in articulated boom lifts, but can happen in any type of lift. As boom lifts are able to move both horizontally and vertically, they are capable of changing 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 could cause the machinery to tip over.