Page 18 - Occupational Health & Safety, November/December 2019

FALL PROTECTION
Winning the Safety Race
Why scissor lifts take first.
BY JUSTIN KISSINGER
Whether young or old, short or tall, every employee has the right to be safe while performing tasks on the jobsite, and high-reach work in the construction industry is no exception. Proper ladder usage may seem like common sense, yet according to OSHA, falls remain the No. 1 cause of death in the construc- tion industry. The good news? These falls are almost always preventable. It all starts with putting ladders in their place, and introducing low-level scissor lifts as their best ally.
The Problem with Ladders
Ladders have long been the go-to tools for work-at- height jobs; they are inexpensive, compact and con- venient, but that all comes at a cost, and a high one at that—safety.
There will always be a time and place for ladders and when set up and used correctly they can be a great tool for getting high-reach work done. However, setup and usage are also where the problems with ladders arise, and the result of not following proper guidelines can lead to injuries and costs.
OSHA recommends users place extension ladders at a 75-degree angle, set it one-quarter of the working height away from a wall, and ensure the top of a ladder extends three feet higher than the elevated surface. Users must also choose ladders that are the appropri- ate Duty Rating for the task, which ensures it can hold your weight and the weight of your load. While work-
ing on or climbing up and down a ladder, the “Three Point Rule” should always be enforced. This means us- ers must maintain three points of contact at all times to minimize the risk of slipping and falling.
Ladder setup and usage doesn’t sound so common sense anymore, and these are just a few guidelines. It’s no wonder training on proper ladder set up and usage gets overlooked. In fact, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study of 1,400 ladder accidents, 66 percent who were injured had not been trained on how to inspect and set up the ladder. Ladders are of- ten misunderstood as convenient and jobsite-ready, but because of the many associated risks, they should be considered last for any job. There is, however, equipment that does show up to the jobsite ready, such as low-level scissor lifts, which give users more enhanced safety.
Ladders Don’t Size Up
Low-level scissor lifts allow workers to reach up to 22-foot working heights, which accounts for about 90 percent of high-reach work. While many think a lift’s overall size is a setback, low-level units are quite compact and in some cases take up less space than a ladder. For instance, the legs of a 12-foot stepladder spread nearly 80 inches apart, which means the lad- der consumes about 19.43 square feet of floor space. A low-level push-around lift with a 10-foot platform, however, takes up just 10.45 square feet of space. Both offer 16-foot working heights, yet the scissor lift has a 46 percent smaller footprint, enabling it to be used in more confined areas.
What about when it comes to navigating through doorways, around tight corners or throughout con- fined areas? A ladder may be fairly simple to move by collapsing it or folding it up, but the taller it gets, the more cumbersome moving it becomes. Not only do ladders get heavier as they get taller, but those taller heights also make it challenging to get around cor- ners and into tight spaces. Low-level lifts, on the other hand, take lifting and awkward maneuvering out of the equation. Operators can simply lower the units down to an overall height as low as 63.6 inches, and if it’s a self-propelled lift, use the controls on the plat- form to navigate to the next area. In addition, a zero- turn radius feature on some lifts, coupled with widths as narrow as 30 inches, means maneuvering around 32-inch doorways and down hallways is hassle-free. A lift also eliminates the risk of a strain associated with lugging around a heavy ladder.
Low-level scissor lifts can never compete with lad- ders’ light weight, but some of the lightest scissor lift
18 Occupational Health & Safety | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
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