A tree surgeon needs to get a crown reduction done over a conservatory in Parkstone. A builder wants gutters and fascias done on a three-storey block off Wimborne Road. Neither wants to chance a ladder, so a cherry picker goes on the list. It sounds simple. But IPAF published new guidance on 8 October about fitting extra systems and devices to MEWPs, and it’s worth knowing what that means from the hirer’s side.
The guidance is aimed at owners, competent persons and service providers who add, manage and inspect extra equipment on access platforms. Cameras, sensors, work lights, tool trays, anything bolted on after the machine left the factory. The point is that a modification changes how the platform behaves, and someone has to check it still works safely. That’s a sound reason to hire from a firm that looks after its own fleet, rather than a machine that’s been passed between hands.
What should you expect when a platform turns up on site? A trained operator holding a current IPAF PAL card. A proper ground check, because a 33-metre Ruthmann Steiger T330 on soft verge or a drain cover won’t be forgiven, so outriggers go on spreader pads. A thorough examination certificate under LOLER, which for equipment lifting people is every six months. And an exclusion zone at the base with cones or barriers, plus traffic management if the machine is on the road.
Reach is the other thing people get wrong. The Bronto 38 XDT, for instance, has outreach up to 25.8 metres, and that’s measured with the boom out at an angle, not straight up. Work out the horizontal distance over the garden, hedge or roof before you book, not on the day. A free site survey sorts that out in ten minutes and saves you paying for a machine that won’t reach.
Around Poole, Bournemouth and across Dorset, Eagle Access Platforms Ltd supply truck mounted platforms with trained operators. If you’ve got work coming up and you want the right machine for the job, get in touch with Eagle Access Platforms about access platforms in Poole and ask for a site survey first.