Thanks for the comment. Agreed that the risk of crushing/entrapment still exists, even with a Secondary Guarding system. It is important to remember the need for planning, training, supervision and operator responsibility to safely use MEWPs. The latest EWPA information sheet on Secondary Guarding describes these systems as “designed to help reduce the risk of crushing incidents”. This includes the limiting its occurrence and reducing the severity of the outcomes. Note that some systems are designed to trigger if a crush situation has occurred, minimising the harm to the operator. There are also systems that are designed to identify potential hazardous configurations and stop movement before an incident occurs.

Good comment. There is a high risk of falling from height from a scissor lift, so all personnel must remain within the platform. On all MEWPs the guardrails are the primary protection against falls from height. This is the safest way to use an MEWP. In a boom lift the EWPA recommends to wear and connect a harness (full body harness and lanyard with shock absorber) to reduce the risk of ejection from the platform (the catapult effect). Please check out our Good Practice Guide which provides more detail, in short you should always stay in the platform and use a harness for boom lifts.

Don’t need no harness lol