Axis Capital Group, Singapore: Safety Tips and Warnings for Operating Aerial Lifts

Ensure that you have received apt training in addition to getting used to the MEWP that you will use. Carefully read the operator’s manual and safety signs on the machine, plus know and understand the purpose and location of every safety devices and controls prior to beginning operation.

Make it a habit to read, understand and follow employer’s safety rules and worksite protocols, in addition to all relevant local, governmental or provincial regulations that apply to MEWP operation in advance of operating the machine.

Carry out at all times a pre-operation inspection and function tests on the MEWP in advance each shift. If a level sensor, alarm or any other safety device has been deactivated or has malfunctioned, it cannot do its job. Make certain it is instantly tagged and removed from service until it can be repaired by a qualified service technician if the machine fails any of these tests.

Continuously accomplish a workplace risk assessment previous to moving the MEWP to the jobsite. Find drop-offs and holes, slopes, slippery or wobbly surfaces, overhead obstacles, power lines and any other hazards that may possibly exist. Then and there willfully deliberate about and elude those hazards by all phases of machine operation. A complete list of dangers you must be conscious of can be seen in the operator’s manual for the machine you are operating. Axis Capital Group, Singapore has started trainings in SE Asian countries such as Bangkok Thailand and Jakarta Indonesia.

At all times wear the proper fall protection the minute you started operating either a telescopic or articulating boom. An appropriately fitted full body harness and suitable lanyard or self-retracting lifeline is definitely a requirement. Many of the operators do not realize the impending for being hurled from the platform of a boom. The slightest jar at the base of the machine may result into an unexpected and powerful blow at the platform that may likely toss the operator into the air. Wearing the right fall protection may decrease the risks of serious injury or even death if this were to happen.

Except you have been well trained to do so, always keep 100% tie-off, and are in possession of an approval letter from the manufacturer that offers the correct guidance, never exit an elevated boom or scissor lift platform.

Never climb down from the platform when it is raised. Each and every time possible, keep a cell phone or two-way radio with you whenever you are in the platform. Constantly have a rescue plan if ever the MEWP is not equipped with an auxiliary lowering system or if that system failures. Rescue plans should at a least include steps to guarantee that other personnel are conscious that you are operating the MEWP and that they have been qualified and used to operate the machine from the ground controls.