Climbing out the cage. (Of a bucket truck.)

[bigclive]

There's a job I do where there's little choice but to gain access to a ledge by the use of a cherry picker. It's seasonal lighting on a monument which is surrounded by deep muddy earth making the use of a ladder or scaffold dangerous.

Up to now I've been under the impression that there was a blanket rule that said cherry pickers were just not to be used for access like this at all. However, while renewing my IPAF licence (an expensive British training scam!) I took the opportunity to discuss this with the trainer. It appears that here in the UK the Health and Safety executive have backed off this rule, and allow the use of a bucket truck or cherry picker to gain access to areas that would be hard to reach by ladder or scaffold. They do emphasise that it must be covered in the jobs risk assessment though. (More red tape twaddle.)

As long as common sense precautions are taken like use of a two lanyard harness to allow attachment at all times during the transfer from cage to surface, and as long as the cage is put into a suitably safe transfer position it seems OK.

This forum came to mind because of a previous thread where an American contractor had been fined significantly when one of their operatives used a bucket truck to gain access to a sign platform.

[paul321]

I don't get it. If the ground is unstable for the use of ladders, how do you get a truck in there. The wieght of the truck would make it extremley unstable causing the bucket to turn over.

If you have to tie off at both ends while making the transfer and the truck shifts...you will be a human rubberband.

Common sense precautions ? There is none. Even a broken clock is right twice a day

[bigclive]

Yeah, broken clock etc.... (WTF?)

The monument is in the middle of a tarmac public square and has a large flower bed that surrounds it on all sides. My cherry picker comfortably reaches across the deep, squishy and heavily planted flower bed from the nice robust tarmac and gives me solid access to the wide ledge on the base of the monument with the safety harness anchor points all round it.

By the way, I see your name is Paul and you named your company Paul Signs...... You named it after yourself. Isn't that just adorable.