Aerial Manlift Dangers
Aerial man lifts are personnel lifts such as boom lifts, articulated boom lifts and scissor lifts that utilize an articulated boom or a series of linked, folding supports. These machines enables workers to get up high into previously inaccessible places. In certain ways, these machinery have made construction much safer and easier, however, the general safety that comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has applied a new list of dangers which could inadvertently lead to severe injury or even death to operators who are unaware.
Falls
Falls from a man lift often occurs when employees cannot secure the harness to the lift or fail to or are unable to wear a safety harness. Falls can occur when someone on the platform acts wrongly and takes part in an activity like climbing the guard rails in order to gain extra height. Additionally, accidents could be caused if the operator on the ground causes the machinery to move in an unexpected motion before the employee being properly secured.
Numerous workers also fall because the base of their equipment is inadvertently struck by some other heavy thing. In this situation, the force of the blow below becomes amplified by the length of the lift, hence causing the worker to be abruptly catapulted off of the platform. Clearly this hazardous action has catastrophic results.
Tip-Overs
Unfortunately, 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 could move both vertically and horizontally, they are capable of changing the machine's overall center of gravity. Thus, if the lift is over loaded or parked on a slope of some type, totally extending the boom when it is in the wrong position could cause the machine to tip over.