The Best Safety Tips When Using Lifts

Aerial lifts are essential in accessing hard-to-reach places for different construction purposes, maintenance, and emergencies. It is also often used in roof repairs and installing HVAC equipment, roof hatches, and roof access safety rails. Unfortunately, because of the aerial lift's size, scale, and structure, they can potentially pose certain substantial risks and have the potential to cause serious injury if you don't follow effective safety measures. 

When using aerial lifts, you must conduct a safety checklist to prevent unwanted accidents that lead to severe complications for your company. This article is another one of the job site safety topics that you will certainly need to be your guide. 

1. Keep a Clear Base 

Aerial lifts are enormous, and the person driving the vehicle may have certain blind spots. Therefore, keeping the base area clear of any personnel or other equipment is better to avoid crucial accidents. The circumference and scope of the lift are often significant, and tools can fall from the platform and could seriously hurt anyone who may be standing below. 

There are also rare circumstances of aerial lifts tipping. Keeping the area under and around the aerial lift clear will ensure that no one can get severely injured if the entire structure tips over.

2. Hire Trained Lift Operations

Make sure that you hire trained professionals when working with lifts. The trained personnel will be able to maintain relevant safety measurements. When hiring, verify if the person is certified to operate. You can also test them by assigning a hands-on operation to test their skills when working with the lift. This process can also help you quickly determine potential operation problems. If problems do occur, you can efficiently address them before any accidents can happen. 

3. Always Wear Your Harness 

This precaution is one of the simple tasks, but it is also one of the most important ones. Make sure that you appropriately use the harness, and the lanyard is fully secured. Although the chances of falling off a platform may be slim, there are some instances that these scenarios could happen, so it is better to be safe than regret. The guard rail keeps your worker inside the platform, but there are cases that there will be strong winds or lift malfunction; therefore, wearing a harness can reduce risks and save lives.

4. Avoid Going Over The Weight Limit

Each aerial lift has a specific weight capacity that the professionals must strictly follow. Going beyond the required weight limit can cause the machine to tip over even just a little bit. Remember to calculate the exact weight of the operator and materials before proceeding with the job to avoid any potential casualties. Also, note to avoid lifting heavy materials or supplies when using the lift. 

5. Don't Sit and Climb On The Outer Edges 

Aerial lifts contain guardrails responsible for protecting workers from falling, and therefore, your workers should not use this structure to climb or sit. Sitting on the edge of barriers could potentially cause the lift to tip over or could put your employees at the risk of falling. 

It might also be tempting for your workers to climb over the edge instead of moving the entire lift to reach it. This action is prohibited because there will be a big chance that your worker might fall from the platform. 

6. Avoid Windy Circumstances

The wind is not your best friend when dealing with aerial lifts. When aerial lifts are extended very high, the wind can pose a threat to the equipment. You should avoid using boom lifts in highly windy conditions or in other harsh weather conditions to prevent the probability of an aerial lift potentially falling over. Aerial lifts also have a limit of how much wind they can withstand. 

7. Operate on an Even Ground 

The height of the aerial lift and how long it can extend can make this equipment vulnerable to tipping over, so professionals must operate the lifts on level ground or a stable base. Ensuring this will help keep the operator and surrounding workers safe from any hazardous events. In addition, using the boom lift brakes correctly is one way to help stabilize the boom lift base when operating.

It is vital to keep track of safety precautions in any construction project to avoid unwanted accidents and life-threatening events for your employees. By following the precautions listed above, you will surely know what to do if there are circumstances that you will utilize an aerial lift for your projects. 

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