Fall Protection
Controls( see graphic A) encourages employers to utilize active travel restraint. This solution requires users to connect a fixed-length travel restraint lanyard from their body harness to the scissor lift’ s anchor point. The restraint lanyard should be long enough to allow the worker to freely move around the basket, but not allow them to be ejected from the platform if they lose their balance or start to fall off the lift. There are adjustable-length travel restraint lanyards available, but they require vigilance on the user’ s part to repeatedly adjust their lanyard whenever they change working positions. If the lanyard is too long when the fall occurs, the user is at risk of being ejected from the lift and would have no shock absorption equipment to mitigate fall forces. Injuries incurred from pure freefall can range from severe to fatal.
Self-retracting lifelines( SRLs) put the worker in active fall arrest, per
the hierarchy. While SRLs are only effective once a user falls out of the lift, the device would significantly decrease the amount of free fall and would also absorb some of the fall forces incurred. However, since the anchor point is below the level of the user’ s dorsal d-ring on their harness, users would be required to use a Class 2 SRL to comply with current American National Standards Institute( ANSI) Z359 guidelines.
Fall protection equipment instructions almost always reference ANSI Z359 in their instruction manuals, and as previously mentioned, following manufacturer instructions are required by OSHA. Employers may be tempted to provide more cost-effective fall arrest solutions like 6 foot shock-absorbing lanyards, but these devices typically require a minimum of 18.5 feet of fall clearance to guarantee safe operation. If the scissor lift operator is less than the required minimum fall clearance
as set forth by the manufacturer, their user runs the risk of an unsuccessful fall arrest and contact with the ground during their fall. If a fall is not fully arrested before the user contacts the ground, fall forces will not be absorbed by the equipment and will be felt by the user— causing more severe injuries and increasing the risk of fatality.
Articulating Boom Lifts
Due to the more dangerous nature of articulating boom lifts and their risks, whether self-propelled or vehicle-mounted, almost all platforms or baskets contain an engineered fall protection anchor point for workers. As opposed to scissor lifts, federal OSHA explicitly states that fall protection is always required on boom lifts. But again, employers must decide if they want to provide active travel restraint or fall arrest equipment to the worker. At the end of the day, the equipment
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