Using a scissor lift can be a great way of improving productivity and reducing manual handling-related injuries at industrial and warehouse sites. There are some safety risks associated with using this equipment, though, as there are with any tools, equipment or machinery. So follow our safety guide to make sure you minimise the risks to you and your personnel.
Make sure your equipment is good quality
This might sound obvious, but if you buy a cheap, second-hand or otherwise sub-par scissor lift your health and safety risks increase accordingly. There are so many different parts and pieces to a scissor lift that, if even one hose, bolt or other component fails, you could be looking at a catastrophic failure.
As part of ‘making sure your equipment is good quality’, you should also be inspecting your scissor-lifting table frequently. Full mechanical inspections are essential, but so is giving the equipment a visual inspection before each use. Make sure that the table is positioned on a flat, level, non-slippery surface, ensure that all the safety features are in place and functional (emergency stop, for example), and test lift and lower the platform before you start to load it. You are looking to make sure that it operates exactly as you would expect, with no new noises, slow lifting or fast lowering.
Use the right scissor lift
Not all scissor lift equipment is created equal – there are different load capacities, platform sizes and lift heights to consider, for example. Using the wrong scissor lift can be unsafe; overloading the lift can cause a failure, lifting heavy goods to a lower point than required can lead to the same manual handling issues you were trying to avoid (as personnel attempt to then lift the items for the remaining distance), and if your platform is too small then the load could easily fall off. Always make sure that your equipment is suited to the task at hand, otherwise you could be putting your people at unnecessary risk.
Follow the rules
Any good quality modern scissor lift will come packed with safety features, including hose burst valves, a dead man’s switch, electrical overload protection, mechanical locks and wheel brakes (on mobile versions). It is very important that these are always used – operators with a lot of experience in using this kind of equipment can sometimes be tempted to take shortcuts or otherwise attempt to bypass some safety features to speed up the work process, but they are putting themselves, their colleagues, your equipment and your stock at risk.
A good way to ensure consistent use of safety features, and the safe use of the equipment in general, is to conduct regular training, even for those who use the lift every day. It is important to explain the risks associated with using the equipment and highlight the expectations that you have for the people using it.
The British Standard
When it comes to lifting tables, you should ensure that your equipment is certified to BS EN 1570-1. This is the standard set for safety requirements associated with this type of equipment and it ensures that the lifting table meets essential minimum safety requirements.
