Aerial Lifts

Aerial lift trucks can be used to accomplish numerous unique tasks executed in hard to reach aerial places. A few of the tasks associated with this type of lift include performing regular preservation on structures with prominent ceilings, repairing telephone and utility lines, raising heavy shelving units, and trimming tree branches. A ladder could also be used for many of the aforementioned tasks, although aerial platform lifts offer more safety and stability when properly used.

There are a variety of distinctive designs of aerial lift trucks accessible, each being able to perform moderately different tasks. Painters will usually use a scissor lift platform, which can be used to reach the 2nd story of buildings. The scissor aerial platform lifts use criss-cross braces to stretch out and lengthen upwards. There is a platform attached to the top of the braces that rises simultaneously as the criss-cross braces elevate.

Container trucks and cherry pickers are a different kind of aerial hoist. They possess a bucket platform on top of an extended arm. As this arm unfolds, the attached platform rises. Platform lifts utilize a pronged arm that rises upwards as the handle is moved. Boom hoists have a hydraulic arm that extends outward and hoists the platform. All of these aerial lift trucks call for special training to operate.

Through the Occupational Safety & Health Association, also labeled OSHA, education courses are offered to help make certain the employees satisfy occupational values for safety, system operation, inspection and maintenance and machine load capacities. Employees receive certification upon completion of the course and only OSHA qualified workers should run aerial lifts. The Occupational Safety & Health Organization has formed rules to uphold safety and prevent injury while utilizing aerial hoists. Common sense rules such as not using this apparatus to give rides and making sure all tires on aerial lifts are braced in order to prevent machine tipping are noted within the guidelines.

Unfortunately, statistics expose that more than 20 aerial lift operators die each year when operating and just about ten percent of those are commercial painters. The bulk of these mishaps were triggered by improper tie bracing, for that reason several of these might have been prevented. Operators should make certain that all wheels are locked and braces as a critical safety precaution to stop the machine from toppling over.

Additional suggestions include marking the encircling area of the device in an obvious way to safeguard passers-by and to guarantee they do not come too close to the operating machine. It is vital to ensure that there are also 10 feet of clearance between any electrical lines and the aerial lift. Operators of this machinery are also highly recommended to always have on the appropriate security harness while up in the air.

Click to Download the pdf