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Anyway, when I came to Southwest Florida, I had never seen a mast climber. But they were in use on virtually every construction project under my purview so I had to learn quickly. A call to the local OSHA office informed me that they didn't know much about them either. They told me to "deal with them as if they are a supported scaffold." Well, I guess they are, but there is a lot more to this equipment too.
If you have a copy of the February 2009 Professional Safety magazine, turn to page 12 and read the article on "Aerial Work Safety." It refers to Mast Climbing Work Platforms or MCWPs and cites some interesting statistics:
- An average of 12,600 people use MCWPs each day.
- About 4,200 units operate each day in the U.S.
- More than 2.5 million work hours are spent erecting and dismantling MCWPs each year.
- About 7 to 8 near-hits occur on MCWPs each work day in the U.S.
- insubstantial planking on the front edge of the platform causing either a trip or fall hazard,
- inadequate anchor installation and testing,
- anchors over- or undertightened,
- ties temporarily removed and inadequately reinstated during use,
- inadequately trained and assessed installers and users.
Here is a photo that I took of an installer operating in an unsafe manner. The "diving board" on which he is working was common practice - at least until I spotted him.Anyway, if you have had trouble finding any documentation on mast climber safety, visit www.ipaf.org and/or www.awpt.org - they have some useful information. There is a 29 page at awpt.org entitled "IPAF Guidelines for the Safe Use of Mast Climbing Work Platforms" that you might find interesting.
Staffing crane operators requires attention to detail, work ethic, training, and pre work history. Construction Staffing companies specialize in Crane Operator Staffing for the commercial and industrial construction industry and recently for solar power industries.
ReplyDeleteSadly, lots of lives have been lost in crane accidents lately. Certifications are becoming more stringent and rightly so, the focus on training is essential to the safety of the job and the life of the crane operator.
Crane Operator Staffing is a service of Grus Construction Personnel. Grus employees NCCER and NCCCO certified crane operators with proven work history and a clean work ethic.
The equipment in most of these accidents is the cause of the loss of life. Contractors must take necessary measure to inspect heavy equipment in much the same way as a pilot does a walk around of his aircraft before flight. A checklist should be used and standards for the inspection need to be developed. A walk around should be done before the day begins and before the equipment is stopped and started for any duration of time; lunch, pee break, all START and STOP actions should demand a walk around.
Crane Operator Staffing can be accomplished safely by following the exacting standards of OSHA, NCCCO, and other like minded peoples, groups, and organization.
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