Aerial Manlift Dangers
Aerial man lifts are personnel lifts like scissor lifts, boom lifts, and articulated booms lifts which use an articulated boom or a series of linked, folding supports. These machinery enables workers to get up high into previously inaccessible places. In some ways, these machinery have made construction much easier and safer, although, the general safety that comes with the unparalleled mobility of aerial manlifts has applied a new list of dangers that can inadvertently result in serious injury or even death to unaware drivers.
Falls
Falls from a man lift often happens when employees fail to or are unable to wear a safety harness or cannot secure the harness to the lift. Falls could happen when someone on the platform acts wrongly and takes part in an activity such as climbing the guard rails to gain extra height. Moreover, mishaps can be caused if the ground-based operator causes the machine to move in an unexpected motion prior to the employee being properly secured.
At times workers could fall when the base of the lift is struck accidentally by a heavy object. During this situation, the force of the blow below becomes amplified by the lift's length, hence causing the worker to be abruptly catapulted off of the platform. Obviously this dangerous action has terrible outcome.
Tip-Overs
Sadly, boom lifts are easily prone to tipping over. Tip-overs could happen in any kind of lift, but are more frequent in articulated boom lifts. As boom lifts could move both horizontally and vertically, they can change the overall center of gravity of the machine. Therefore, if the lift is parked on an incline of some sort or over loaded, extending the boom completely when it is in the wrong position could lead to a tip-over situation.