Aerial Manlift Dangers
Aerial man lifts are personnel lifts such as articulated boom lifts, scissor lifts and boom lifts that utilize an articulated boom or a series of linked, folding supports. These machines allows workers to get up high into previously inaccessible areas. In certain ways, these equipment have made construction a lot easier and safer, although, the general safety that comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has applied a new list of dangers that could accidentally cause severe injury or even death to unaware drivers.
Falls
Falls from a man lift normally happens when employees cannot secure the harness to the lift or fail to or are unable to wear a safety harness. Falls can occur when a worker on the platform acts unsuitably and partakes in an activity like for example climbing the guard rails to be able to gain extra height. Furthermore, accidents could be caused if the operator on the ground causes the machinery to move in an unexpected motion prior to the worker being correctly secured.
Lots of workers also fall because the base of their machine is accidentally struck by some other heavy thing. During 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 prone to tipping over. Tip overs are more common in articulated boom lifts, but can happen in any type of lift. Since boom lifts could move both horizontally and vertically, they are capable of changing the overall center of gravity of the equipment. Therefore, if the lift is over loaded or parked on an incline of some sort, totally extending the boom when it is in the wrong position can cause the machine to tip over.