When I started working with my Uncle Bob last summer, I assumed that construction would be an easy, fun way to make a few extra bucks. However, I quickly discovered that construction work was serious business, filled with risks, difficulty, and rewards. After almost being creamed by a few backhoe booms, I learned how to stay out of the way. However, staying safe around heavy machinery isn't always easy to do. My blog talks about how to use machinery properly and what you need to do to stay safe so that you can return home to your family each and every day.
Staying Safe Around Heavy Machinery
6 Critical Safety Practices For Aerial Lift Rentals
Ashley Hayes
Whenever an aerial lift rental company delivers a system to a construction site, you need to be sure you can operate it as safely as possible. Take these six precautions to ensure that you mitigate the associated risks.
Training
No one should go near the lift before they've had the proper training. If you're unfamiliar with the best practices, ask the aerial lift rental services firm to walk your supervisors, operators, and safety inspectors through everything. Keep several copies of the safety manuals at the site and in spots where you can locate them if you have questions, too.
Make sure you know the emergency shutdown procedures by heart. The aerial lifts rental services provider will be happy to walk you through them.
Safety Equipment
Hard hats and eye protection are essential in the vicinity of an aerial lift rental. Likewise, anyone going up on a lift should wear harnesses and other fall-protection devices. Everyone should be secure whenever they're in the lift. The same goes for securing materials and equipment that are going up or down.
Zones
Establish clear safety zones and post appropriate signage. No one unfamiliar with the lift's safety procedures and emergency shutdown sequences should venture into these zones.
Constant Inspections
Every time the lift is scheduled to go up or down, a qualified person should inspect it. If they see any evidence of mechanical, electrical, or control failures, they should shut the system down immediately.
Operating Limits
Whenever you employ an aerial lift rental, you need to operate it under its limits. Operating near the limits is dangerous because of the risks associated with winds and translational forces. If you're operating the lift at 99% of its rate capacity, for example, there simply won't be enough overhead when an unexpected force acts on it. A heavy wind gust could collapse the whole thing so always stay significantly below the lift's capacity.
If you're not sure how to balance these issues, contact the aerial lifts rental services company and tell them the current conditions. They can provide a conservative estimate that will keep your people, equipment, and materials safe.
Communicate Well
Construction zones are complex environments with plenty of risks. Always communicate well. If there are cables in the vicinity of a lift, for example, make sure people are checking and clearing them to allow safe operation. Use your radios and go slowly to ensure the operator can get people and things to their destinations in one piece.
For more info about aerial lift rentals, contact a local company.
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