Cambridge Aerial Platform Training - Aerial hoists can be utilized to accomplish certain distinctive tasks executed in hard to reach aerial places. Some of the duties associated with this style of jack include performing routine repair on structures with lofty ceilings, repairing telephone and utility lines, lifting heavy shelving units, and pruning tree branches. A ladder could also be utilized for some of the aforementioned tasks, although aerial hoists provide more safety and strength when properly used.
There are many designs of aerial lift trucks existing on the market depending on what the task needed involves. Painters sometimes use scissor aerial hoists for instance, which are classified as mobile scaffolding, useful in painting trim and reaching the 2nd story and above on buildings. The scissor aerial platform lifts use criss-cross braces to stretch and enlarge upwards. There is a table attached to the top of the braces that rises simultaneously as the criss-cross braces raise.
Cherry pickers and bucket trucks are a further variety of the aerial hoist. Typically, they possess a bucket at the end of a long arm and as the arm unfolds, the attached bucket platform rises. Platform lifts utilize a pronged arm that rises upwards as the lever is moved. Boom hoists have a hydraulic arm that extends outward and lifts the platform. Every one of these aerial lift trucks require special training to operate.
Training courses offered through Occupational Safety & Health Association, known also as OSHA, cover safety strategies, system operation, upkeep and inspection and machine cargo capacities. Successful completion of these education courses earns a special certified certificate. Only properly certified individuals who have OSHA operating licenses should run aerial platform lifts. The Occupational Safety & Health Organization has developed guidelines to uphold safety and prevent injury while utilizing aerial hoists. Common sense rules such as not using this piece of equipment to give rides and ensuring all tires on aerial hoists are braced in order to prevent machine tipping are referred to within the rules.
Sadly, figures show that in excess of 20 operators die each year when running aerial platform lifts and 8% of those are commercial painters. Most of these mishaps are due to improper tire bracing and the lift falling over; for that reason many of these deaths had been preventable. Operators should ensure that all wheels are locked and braces as a critical safety precaution to stop the device from toppling over.
Additional rules include marking the encircling area of the device in a visible manner to protect passers-by and to ensure they do not approach too close to the operating machine. It is imperative to ensure that there are also 10 feet of clearance between any power cables and the aerial hoist. Operators of this apparatus are also highly recommended to always wear the appropriate security harness when up in the air.