Two of the top five most common workplace accidents in Australia involve falling or having a falling item land on a person. As a business owner who is renting a scissor lift for the first time, both of these situations could occur while your employees are operating this device. To prevent your company from joining these accident statistics, here are four safety tips that all first-time scissor lift users should know.

Have Cones Available to Mark Off the Work Area

To avoid items falling from the scissor lift and landing on people underneath, you must have cones available which can be used to mark an area around the scissor lift that warn people not to enter. If you are in an area with a large number of people working, it is advantageous to have a secondary employee stand near the cones to discourage people from cutting through this area. That way if an object does fall, it falls to the ground below with injuring anyone.

Check Above the Scissor Lift Working Area

It is important that the scissor lift operates clear of electrical wires or other hazards above it. Do a visual inspection to make sure there is nothing above the scissor lift which is a potential hazard. Additionally, raise the empty scissor lift to its full height to ensure there is enough working room between the head of the employee and the roof. The last thing you want to be dealing with is a concussed employee trapped high above the floor.

Know the Weight Capacity of the Lift

All scissor lifts have a maximum weight capacity they can operate to. Make sure you know what this rating is before you load up the scissor lift platform with employees and equipment. An overloaded piece of equipment could drop suddenly from a height or topple over if it becomes unbalanced. Both of these situations have potential for employee injury.

Pretest the Scissor Lift Before Use

Finally, before you put anybody or anything on the scissor lift, make sure you give it a test drive first. You need to be confident that your staff know how to use the lift, that they know any override safety mechanisms for the lift, and that the lift is operating correctly before a person sets foot on it. Only when you have a full level of comfort should the scissor lift be put into operation.

If you have any other concerns about the use of a scissor lift at your place of business, talk to a scissor lift supplier such as Instant Scaffolding WA to get all your questions answered.