Aerial lifts

Key points

1. 1Only run a lift if you've been trained and authorized on that type of machine. If you're not sure how a control works, stop and ask.
2. 2Do a walk-around and test the controls before every shift. Check tires, hydraulic leaks, guardrails, the gate, and the emergency lowering. Tag out anything that's not right.
3. 3In a boom lift, wear your harness and clip your lanyard to the anchor point in the basket, never to the guardrail, a beam, or anything outside the lift.
4. 4Keep both feet on the platform floor. Don't sit, stand, or climb on the guardrails, and don't use planks, ladders, or buckets to get higher.
5. 5Check the ground before you set up or drive. Stay away from holes, soft dirt, drop-offs, and slopes, and use outriggers when the machine has them.
6. 6Know the load limit and don't go over it, counting people, tools, and material. Never use the lift as a crane.
7. 7Look up before you raise. Keep well clear of power lines, and watch for beams, ducts, and ceilings so you don't get crushed against them.

Talk it over

• Where on this site is the ground soft, sloped, or near an edge where a lift could tip?
• What overhead hazards, like power lines or steel, do we have near our lift work this week?
• If someone gets stuck up in the basket, who knows how to bring it down from the ground controls?

Also in the other language: Plataformas elevadoras

Official sources

• 29 CFR 1926.453 — Aerial liftsecfr.gov

More toolbox talks

• Lockout and tagging of circuits
• First aid and reporting injuries
• Working near roof edges