Boom Lifts

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celtic

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Scaffolders are working more and more out of boom lifts, with your EWP ticket You put on your harness, hook on your retractable or lanyard and away you go

IPAF/ OSHA mention fall arrest anchorages must be good for 22.2 kN,

I am guessing that this is in case one operator gets chucked out, not 2 ?,

my main question is, is the boom lift bucket/boom/hydraulics etc good for the permissable anchor point 22.2kN load ?

The SWL for a cherry picker is always around 225 kg, which is around 10 times less than 1 anchor point SWL is.

Further to the first bit, what if the 2 guys fall out at once?

Celtic
 
how high can you go with this method , heard about it

---------- Post added at 05:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 PM ----------

my m8 spoke of working out of one of those putting on handrails before going on thr lift , sounds a bit crazy , be as well usin the step ?
 
hi celtic i cannot see this method working as retractable lanyard are not aloud on mewps as far as a 22. kn ancourage point that would have to be a serious peice of kit, plus the ancourage point for the rectracable would have to be alot higher than the lift.

---------- Post added at 06:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:25 PM ----------

i wish i was back on the rope sometimes!
 
We are on a project where mewps are used to build scaffolds, stick built up on big modules 30 m up in the air.

Hence the question, can these machines take the shock load of a bloke/ blokes bouncing out and being in fall arrest?
 
I not sure but iknow you can't even were a fall arrest harness it will all be in the operaters manual which should be on site or in the machine are you erecting independent or hangers
 
Hangers, and there's loads to do, so the guys will be going through this process for 2 more years.

Local distributor will not comment, manufacturer does'nt want to know ("read the book")

Industry groups have vested interests.

when the lads are in these machines you get 2 types of effect,

1. they dont trust/like them as they bounce around.
2. they get used to them and then the machines are taken for granted.

I just want to know if anyone has seen anything in black and white about the subject of big loads being imposed on the anchor point and more importantly onto the machine thereafter.:worried:
 
Interesting one CB,There would be something seriously wrong if a 90 kilo man (times 2)falling 2 metre's would destabilise a mewps, the balancing act and height makes this a distinct possibility. Steveo points out harnesses may not be allowed. As usual seems theres no one to give you clear guidelines,another grey area to safe working. Cant blame the lads for being worried. Cant HSE advise.
 
Hi Celtic

I was under the impression that fixed length lanyards were to be used on MEWPS which were so short you could not get out of the cage, hence no shock loads. As for 22.2kN anchorage points I cant imagine where this comes from. From memory, and i am sure there is a rope access man or 2 on here who can put me right, anchorages need to be tested to 6.5kN. In another life i used to do a bit of climbing and if you take a shock load of 22kN you will probably break your back or crush your insides so badly you would be better off not surviving.
 
Hi fredrik imean not your typical scaffs fall arrest harness. Hanger sounds like fun to me as I learn't how to scaffold down before up.
 
Steveprower,

The short lanyard is surely the way to go and legislated for in the UK.

But we are in Oz, the mewps suppliers suggest we use rope grab lanyards with built in shock absorber, the lads can run out the grab to 2 m and generally dont shorten the rope.

We supply mini lites so you can still move around and the lanyard shortens automatically.

However we have seen a machine hydraulicaly fail here recently and the bucket inverted, short lanyard, retractable or whatever can the machine act as a fall arrest anchorage when the s**t hits the fan?

I do agree short lanyards should be mandatory everywhere though, less chance to bounce out.
 
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