Aerial Lifts

Aerial forklifts can be utilized to accomplish many unique duties performed in hard to reach aerial spaces. Some of the odd jobs associated with this kind of lift include performing regular upkeep on buildings with elevated ceilings, repairing telephone and power lines, raising heavy shelving units, and pruning tree branches. A ladder could also be utilized for some of the aforementioned jobs, although aerial lifts offer more security and strength when properly used.

There are a number of different designs of aerial forklifts available, each being capable of performing slightly different jobs. Painters will usually use a scissor lift platform, which is able to be used to reach the 2nd story of buildings. The scissor aerial platform lifts use criss-cross braces to stretch out and lengthen upwards. There is a table attached to the top of the braces that rises simultaneously as the criss-cross braces raise.

Bucket trucks and cherry pickers are another type of aerial lift. They possess a bucket platform on top of an extended arm. As this arm unfolds, the attached platform rises. Forklifts use a pronged arm that rises upwards as the lever is moved. Boom lifts have a hydraulic arm that extends outward and raises the platform. Every one of these aerial lift trucks require special training to operate.

Training programs presented through Occupational Safety & Health Association, known also as OSHA, deal with safety steps, system operation, upkeep and inspection and device cargo capacities. Successful completion of these training courses earns a special certified certificate. Only properly licensed individuals who have OSHA operating licenses should run aerial lift trucks. The Occupational Safety & Health Organization has established guidelines to uphold safety and prevent injury while using aerial hoists. Common sense rules such as not utilizing this piece of equipment to give rides and ensuring all tires on aerial lifts are braced so as to prevent machine tipping are observed within the guidelines.

Unfortunately, data expose that in excess of 20 aerial lift operators die each year when operating and almost ten percent of those are commercial painters. The majority of these incidents were brought on by inadequate tie bracing, therefore many of these may well have been prevented. Operators should ensure that all wheels are locked and braces as a critical safety precaution to stop the machine from toppling over.

Other rules involve marking the surrounding area of the device in an observable way to protect passers-by and to ensure they do not approach too close to the operating machine. It is vital to ensure that there are also 10 feet of clearance amid any utility cables and the aerial hoist. Operators of this apparatus are also highly recommended to always have on the proper safety harness when up in the air.

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