Plan to counter MEWP operator trappings

A Strategic Forum working party has agreed a three-pronged strategy to counter the trapping of MEWP operators against overhead obstructions and the subsequent involuntary activation of the basket controls.

By the end of the year, the group will publish best practice guidance for MEWP managers looking at purchasing policies and procedures relating to working on sites with confined overhead space. At around the same time, guidance for MEWP operators will be published and this is likely to take the form of bullet point checks.

Finally, there will be guidance for rental and hire companies reflecting the likely demands from contractors and other customers for safety devices and alarms to be fitted to access machines working on confined sites.

Kevin Minton of the Construction Plant-hire Association, who chaired the MEWP working party, said the group would support the BSI technical committee on design changes to the machinery.