The Ultimate Guide to Aerial Lift Inspections: Key to Job Site Safety and Equipment Longevity
Aerial lifts are designed to be stable and secure, ensuring the safety of workers at great heights. By providing a safer alternative to traditional methods of accessing elevated areas, aerial lifts eliminate the risks associated with climbing ladders or working from unstable platforms.
But working on an aerial lift in an unsafe environment can be more dangerous than traditional methods. This is why it's essential to know how to pick the one that is best for your job site. In addition, it's important to know the OSHA safety requirements for your machine as well as how to keep up regular maintenance and routine inspections to have a safe job site and keep equipment in good condition.
Understanding Aerial Lift Inspections: What Does it Involve
It's essential to meet the safety inspection standards when performing an aerial lift inspection, not only to prevent accidents but if you fail to meet the OSHA requirements then you may face fines. Aerial lifts can do a variety of jobs and have many different parts but this article will go over a few of the critical components.
The visual inspection comes first. It includes a visual examination of the lift, the platform, boom, controls, and any potential wear. Next is the inspection of the structural components. This is where you must focus on structural integrity by looking for cracks, rust, deformities, etc.
Meeting OSHA Requirements for Aerial Lift and Boom Lift Inspections
While you'll get a more comprehensive understanding of requirements for your specific lift during your certification, you should also have basic to intermediate knowledge of boom lifts. There are 3 typical types of inspections to perform: the initial inspection, frequent inspections, and annual inspections. The initial inspection ensures that the lift has no defects and is in safe operating condition and it must be completed by a qualified member of the crew.
Frequent inspections should occur every day or on a per-shift basis. This is where structural components, safety devices, controls, and operational functions are all checked. Planned maintenance scheduling is incredibly valuable because it'll address issues before they have a chance to impact your job site. Being proactive about maintenance and inspections helps keep your machine in good condition and helps keep you on schedule.
Annual inspections only occur once a year (or as directed by your manufacturer). These inspections cover its overall condition, as well as a thorough evaluation of its individual components and safety features. If the equipment fails to meet the standard for any of these checks it must be corrected before use.
Without thoroughly understanding OSHA operator guidelines and having proper certifications, both operators and the rest of the crew are put at risk.
Conducting an Effective Aerial or Boom Lift Inspection
It can be challenging to know how to conduct safety inspections which is why ensuring that you have your OSHA certification is important. By ensuring that you have processes in place for conducting routine inspections with the proper certifications, you're increasing your equipment's longevity, and preventing unnecessary wear and tear. Skipping inspection puts lives on the line and could impact your bottom line with expensive OSHA fines.
Pre-Operation Inspection: Ensuring Equipment Safety Before Use
The leading cause of construction accidents in the United States is due to aerial lifts, as reported by The Center for Construction Research and Training, showcasing the importance of verifying all aspects of your aerial lift routinely.
One way to ensure that you don't miss any steps in your inspection is to make a checklist. This list should include key components of both the vehicle and the lift. For the vehicle components, make sure that you check out the fluid levels (oil, hydraulic, fuel, and coolant), any potential fluid leaks, wheels and tires (make sure your tires reach their minimum PSI limit), steering and breaks, and lower-level controls.
For lift checklists, look over the operating and emergency controls, air, hydraulic, pneumatic, fuel, electrical systems, and other insulating components. This is especially important if you will be using your aerial lift outdoors. Ensure that your mechanical fasteners and locking pins are there and locked in place and that any additional equipment like outriggers or stabilizers is in working condition.
The Role of Training in Aerial Lift Inspections
Although having a checklist is incredibly helpful in dotting your i's and crossing your t's, workers need a baseline knowledge of the equipment and how to use safely it in its intended way. This is where the OSHA certification can come in handy.
The OSHA certification doesn't just teach workers how to use or not use aerial lifts, but also when a machine has reached its limits. If the OSHA standards are not met there are not only fines and a delay on your job site, but increased risk of your workers and potential for lawsuits.
Documenting Inspections: Keeping Track of Safety and Compliance
It's important to document inspections to keep track of the machinery's condition over time and for legal reasons. Documenting proven to be helpful to track recurring problems, identify patterns, and schedule maintenance, it has also proven beneficial from a legal perspective. Documenting inspections and maintenance showcase legal and regulatory compliance, which helps you avoid and prevent penalties or liability claims.
By reviewing these records, you can identify trends, assess the efficiency and reliability of the machinery, and make informed decisions regarding repairs, upgrades, or replacements. This means that you are able to more easily able to have transparency around safety on the job site.
Renting Boom Lifts from DOZR
With all the different inspections and safety precautions that must be taken on the job site, it can relieve pressure to not have to worry about the equipment off-site. This is why renting equipment through DOZR is easy. It guarantees that you have quality equipment you don't have to worry about until you need it.
It's crucial to recognize that working on an aerial lift in an unsafe environment can pose greater risks compared to traditional methods. Therefore, it becomes essential to get certified with the OSHA safety requirements specific to the machine being used for a safe and efficient job site.
Performing regular boom lift inspections and equipment maintenance ensures the safety of the crew, the efficiency of the crew, and equipment longevity. Furthermore, maintaining regular upkeep and conducting routine inspections are imperative to promote a safe job site and ensure the equipment remains in optimal condition.
