Aerial Manlift Dangers
Aerial man lifts are personnel lifts such as boom lifts, articulated boom lifts and scissor lifts which utilize an articulated boom or a series of folding, linked supports. These machinery enables employees to get up high into previously inaccessible areas. In some ways, these machines have made construction a lot easier and safer, although, the overall safety which comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has applied a new list of dangers that could accidentally cause serious injury or even death to operators who are unaware.
Falls
Usually, falls could occur when employees are unable to wear a safety harness or are unable to correctly secure the lift platform. Falls could occur when a worker on the platform acts inappropriately and partakes in an activity such as climbing the guard rails to be able to gain additional height. As well, accidents can be caused if the ground-based operator causes the equipment to move in an unexpected motion before the worker being properly secured.
A lot of employees also fall because the base of their machinery is accidentally struck by some other heavy object. In this situation, the force of the blow below becomes amplified by the length of the lift, therefore causing the employee to be abruptly catapulted off of the platform. Clearly this hazardous action has terrible outcome.
Tip-Overs
Boom lifts are prone to tipping over. Tip overs are more frequent in articulated boom lifts, but could happen in any kind of lift. Because boom lifts can move both vertically and horizontally, they are capable of changing the overall center of gravity of the machine. Thus, if the lift is over loaded or parked on a slope of some kind, extending the boom completely when it is in the wrong position could lead to a tip-over situation.