Dear RER:
First and foremost, kuddos on your AWPT article: “20 Tips to Cultivate an AWP Safety Culture,” March 2012 RER — well done.
I wish to add some afterthoughts. Your No. 1 Tip: Read the Manual — excellent point and worthy of being No. 1. Contrary to popular belief, most all operation manuals are available through Aerial Specialists. There really is no reason at all for an operator to be without the original equipment manufacturers' handbook. Most all 75 U.S.-based original aerial access companies are supported by Aerial Specialists.
Your Tip No.18: Ensure that decals are legible, a most important detail indeed. I wish to add that along with making sure ALL unit decals are legible, an AWPT instructor should point out during training that all units must have a legible upper control box placard. There are many, many, many units in the field (especially here in the U.S.) that are being operated with UCB panels covered over by paint and/or other foreign matter. Worst of all, I personally have witnessed units being operated where the UCB panel is completely missing and a label maker or a waterproof marker has been used to fill in the particular function of a toggle switch or joystick, leaving absent the simple verbiage of the unit's rated load capacity. This practice is unsafe indeed!
I also wish to comment on the photo submitted by executive vice president of American Work Platform Training, Tony Groat, shown on page 29. This picture illustrates someone's tie-down practice on an older MEC scissorlift. Bearing down on the guardrails as shown in this picture puts undue pressure on the guardrail piping causing it to stay in a deformed state and thereby weakening the guardrail structure as a whole. You can see the down pressure in the picture illustration. I am sure that this was NOT the manufacturer's original preferred way of transport. Utilizing chain binders instead of fabric strapping and/or a come-along is a much preferred (and safer) way for transport.
In conclusion, I again wish to congratulate you on another fine issue. Keep up the fine work.
Best regards,
Craig Ihde, president/CEO
Aerial Specialists Inc. USA
www.aerialspecialists.com
