MEWP or Climbing?

[Philip Anderson]

What are ropes and harnesses if not man made also should we arrive on site by horse rather than truck ? In all climbing there is an equipment element to trust in eg Petzl Zig Zag also trees sometimes have hidden faults made by nature .

[Philip Anderson]

Hi Paulo,

 

In principle, because of the 'in-situ' guard-rails requiring no intervention or action from the operator, it is deemed that MEWPs do protect for falls from height for anyone and everyone who step into them (hence the 'collective protective measures' phrase.)

 

"Yes," in practice, MEWPs fail and people get harmed, sadly, but in terms of the 'access hierarchy' which must be applied when planning and organising work at height (because regulation / 'law' says so.) Whilst I don't have any figures to hand, and I doubt HSE could supply any, it would be interesting to compare how many actual 'falls from height' occur from MEWPs in treework as opposed to WP...my guess would be fewer. However, I accept that 'proportionally', i.e. considering the nos. trees climbed as opposed to MEWP'd, it is probably not so clear.

 

Please don't misunderstand me, I fully understand as a climber myself, albeit a long time ago, why arborists feel safer with WP BUT as I am now, principally, a H&S manager my role is to ensure people working in our industry understand the implications of regulations and meet their duties as employers.

 

Interestingly, whilst I am aware of several accidents / incidents involving significant injuries, and sometimes fatalities, I cannot recall one which resulted from the operator actually falling out of the MEWP bucket, it is usually to do with other factors resulting in the MEWP failing / toppling / crushes etc. (academic to some extent as the outcome is the important bit but it does highlight the point...perhaps.)

 

Sorry, I'm droning on , fundamentally we need to understand the implications of W@H BUT follow a robust risk assessment process and that will dictate the most appropriate, and yes 'cost effective', safe system of work.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Best..

Paul

Hi Paul , IPAF have issued last years figures for mewp fatalities there were 32 deaths up on previous years of those 9 were falls 8 electrocutions 6 overturns 4 entrapment and 4 mechanical failures 20 of those deaths were in the USA 2 in the Uk they estimate that there are 1.5 million mewps working worldwide.

I would expect all the falls occurred because operatives were not harnessed up they do not go into trade specific accidents but most will be construction related,I also think the collective measures include harnesses as well as guard rails .

[Hedge hunter]

That I fully agree with skyhuck, if I didn't climb I'd be twice my current size and even more grumpy, .

 

 

stop eatin then...

[dannyT]

im less knackered when i work from a MEWP..................

 

(They have there uses )

[wood cutter]

Some lv jobs we can cut live but bit without an insulated bucket, every tool surves a purpose. I would rather climb than mewp but would father mewp then risk getting fried!!

 

 

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[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Hi Paul , IPAF have issued last years figures for mewp fatalities there were 32 deaths up on previous years of those 9 were falls 8 electrocutions 6 overturns 4 entrapment and 4 mechanical failures 20 of those deaths were in the USA 2 in the Uk they estimate that there are 1.5 million mewps working worldwide.

I would expect all the falls occurred because operatives were not harnessed up they do not go into trade specific accidents but most will be construction related,I also think the collective measures include harnesses as well as guard rails .

 

Thanks Phil, very useful.

 

Whether 'CPMs' includes harness and lanyard I don't know but clearly it's both a sensible thing to do and accords with industry good practice.

 

Cheers..

Paul

[markieg31]

think about that knarly thorn hedge that needs topping off, head hight, under th lv- o and its three spans long.

 

yeah pass me the keys to the mewp!!

[skyhuck]

think about that knarly thorn hedge that needs topping off, head hight, under th lv- o and its three spans long.

 

yeah pass me the keys to the mewp!!

 

Many years ago I actually hired a MEWP for almost that exact task, half way through the first day I parked it up and just climbed into the hedge, much, much faster.

[Treemon]

Chap in Leicester was thrown from a MEWP on Saturday after a bus hit the arm , seems to be in a very serious condition

 

 

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[Dean Lofthouse]

One reason when working roadside I always place the truck to force traffic out and away from the work zone and always be aware where the boom is in relation to the road