By Justin Wharton, Director of Operations – Canada West, Cooper Equipment Rentals. Published by Equipment Journal.
Aerial construction equipment has always required a heavier dose of caution than equipment that keeps operators closer to the ground.
It also comes with its own unique risks — electric shock from power lines, weather events, falls from heights or even machine tip-overs. Thanks to technological advancements, more reporting and tighter rules and regulations, this equipment is now safer than ever.
Some of these changes have led to new challenges for contractors. But as the saying goes, “in every challenge lives a greater opportunity.”
Batteries may be heavier and equipment more complicated to operate, but it’s led to a big opportunity to improve safety on the jobsite. When you have an operator suspended 30 metres in the air on a 4,500 kg lift with a lot of horsepower, you want to be confident they’re following safety protocols because aerial accidents from those heights almost never end in injury … they end in death.