Safety Rope for MEWP

[Gnome]

On the last IPAF course I did the trainer showed us alot of examples from around the world which he had compiled. This was a little extra information not on the official part of the course but we were asked before he showed us the photos.

 

Many of the fatalities were from operators being catapulted from the basket.

 

As MF pointed out connecting at the rear is not going to be fun on the way down. And if the harness has just been been thrown on to make you feel a bit more comfy then you might also find your balls popping like zits with the impact. Not my idea of a good day at the office.

 

Once you go outside the manufacturers instructions and any training recommendations you have received then the can of worms is opened. I'll stick with that mantra.

 

Im all for innovation and thinking out the box mate but when it comes to being deed i'll do as i'm instructed, trained etc.

 

 

If the unlucky did happen I would prefer for them to say "poor bastard, wasn't his fault" rather than "******* clown, his own fault" and I know my family would agree.

[BrendanTreeFeller]

Reading this thread makes me very glad I never use these contraptions!!!

 

 

Me too!

[kimtree]

Why do people fall out of baskets then? Why do they need to be attached to the basket if they are operating within the confines of the basket?

usually from doing something stupid like on a boom lift driving over a unseen void in the pavement. in that scenario there would be nothing close over head to the lift to attach a rope but if the operator had a lanyard or enertia reel on in the basket they would have a better chance than nothing at all.Of cource if the mewp went all the way to the ground the outcome could be different

 

If I am attached to my fall arrester and the machine topples. I may receive a bruise or two, I may be left dangling forty feet up, scared but alive but with nothing like the injuries I would have falling 40 feet with the machine

 

I am just saying that I like to have another option there. I appreciate that there are times when things happen so quickly that I could not grab the rope . In that case I would have thought that it there would be a slightly better chance of survival being thrown clear rather than being taken down with the basket.

 

Frankie Lawrence said he would have received more injuries in his accident had he been attached to the basket.

Frankie Lawrence said he would have been cut in half had he been attached to something else(meaning he was attached to the basket)

 

Dean Lofthouse said much the same about someone who jumped from the basket.

pure chance .Could have been killed just the same

 

Kimtree talks about a motor nearly catching fire!

It didnt but if it had a check valve would have stopped the boom from descending and in any case i bailed out from the machine in less than 1 minute due to having an emergency rope system in place already

 

How would you feel if the fire spread to the hydraulic oil tank and was slowly making its way up the pipework at the same time choking you with black smoke. You would just sit in the basket and wait for a slow and terrible death I suppose if you had no rope.

Every mewp should have a emergency rope descent system secured in the basket at all times and the operator needs to know how to use it

 

But there are other times such as the dustbin lorry reversing, which is usually driven by mad idiots in a hurry, when you can see what is about to happen as the 20 ton beast heads towards your machine and you could well have the time to, well I know I could, hang on to the rope and slide down.

 

 

Treequip, I would like to know the kind of barrier you had in mind to stop a bin lorry. If a bus driver can hit one going forwards i am sure a bin lorry would have no trouble in reverse.

 

 

It is an option. Surely we are talking about being as safe as possible. I keep the machine as well maintained, tested,, greased as I can. Visual inspections before use but accidents do happen and I am just giving myself an extra chance.

Split second it may be, but it is amazing how quick the human body can react when your life depends on it.

the option has already been mentioned.You will need a permanently attached rope system and a descender.But forget trying to grab hold of a 2'' line. That's just mad dont know why but my comments came out in the quote

Edited May 9, 2015 by kimtree
editing

[treequip]

Treequip, I would like to know the kind of barrier you had in mind to stop a bin lorry. If a bus driver can hit one going forwards i am sure a bin lorry would have no trouble in reverse.

.

 

So you maintain the bailing out down a 2" gym rope option as superior option to conventional wisdom?

 

 

Ho hum

[Philip Anderson]

So you maintain the bailing out down a 2" gym rope option as superior option to conventional wisdom?

 

 

Ho hum

 

You can't help some people:thumbup:

[treequip]

You can't help some people:thumbup:

 

I wouldn't mind watching

[Mortimer Firewood]

It is not good but twenty minutes is a long time and it would not take long to call for help on the mobile.

Surely given the option of dangling for a bit or going down with the machine, the dangling has my vote!

 

My original question was about what kind of rope system would you use to exit the cage in the event of a mechanical or electrical failure.

These things happen in spite of Loler and all the checks you should do.

 

Even if you had a groundie the machine may not operate and you need to come down. It cannot be any more unsafe than coming down from a tree or abseiling.

 

At the moment I have the fall arrester which is heavy and cumbersome to rig up but which does the job and gives me free movement in the cage.

I also have this thick hemp rope as another option.

This rigging up time is not so bad as I spend a lot of time in one place when painting.

 

All I was asking was is there a better way as to me lashing myself to the cage is signing your own death warrant.

 

Surely also in a 140 ft Genie there is something very wrong with the design if by pulling a lever you go down so fast that you come out of the cage.

My machine works in a very steady manner.

 

Genie lifts are the best machines on the market but get an operator that does not know the limitations and you would be surprised at the outcome.

Im afraid by the very nature of the job the machines were used beyond there limits 140 ft of jib can be wispy at best

 

My answer is if your not confident in your machines ability or are nervous about falling stay on tera firma. How often is your machine checked.

[Billhook]

So you maintain the bailing out down a 2" gym rope option as superior option to conventional wisdom?

 

 

Ho hum

 

 

So to be quite clear about this, if you had the option of falling 50 feet attached to a MEWP platform or grabbing (literally) a lifeline you would choose to go down with the machine???

 

Don't think you would have done very well on the Titanic with that mentality.

[treequip]

So to be quite clear about this, if you had the option of falling 50 feet attached to a MEWP platform or grabbing (literally) a lifeline you would choose to go down with the machine???

 

Don't think you would have done very well on the Titanic with that mentality.

 

That's a good analogy, RMS Titanic went down with such loss of life because of the failure to plan properly, that's got to tell you something hasn't it?

[Gary Prentice]

That's a good analogy, RMS Titanic went down with such loss of life because of the failure to plan properly, that's got to tell you something hasn't it?

 

I thought it went down because it hit an iceberg:001_tt2: