MEWP
Mobile elevating work platform
A machine that lifts people to work at height on a platform: scissor lifts, boom lifts and cherry pickers, operated by IPAF-trained people under LOLER, PUWER and the Work at Height Regulations.
MEWPs are the preferred way of working at height for many tasks because they provide a guarded platform and can be positioned precisely. They are also lifting equipment for people, so LOLER requires a six-monthly thorough examination, and the Work at Height Regulations require planning, supervision and rescue arrangements. The main risks are overturning (ground conditions, outriggers, wind, exceeding the safe working load), entrapment and crushing against overhead structures (particularly with booms), falls from the platform, and being struck by vehicles.
Controls: a ground assessment and the machine positioned on firm level ground with outriggers set where fitted; a pre-use check including function tests of controls and the emergency descent; operators trained (IPAF category matching the machine type) and familiarised with the specific model; harnesses with short restraint lanyards in boom-type machines; a rescue plan for a stranded platform that does not depend on the person in it; an exclusion zone below; and a look up before every movement.
Where it comes from
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998: six-monthly thorough examination as equipment for lifting people.
- Work at Height Regulations 2005 regs.4 to 6 and Schedule 3.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
- BS EN 280 (Mobile elevating work platforms: design, stability, safety) and the IPAF operator training scheme.
Questions people ask
Do I need a harness in a scissor lift?
Generally no, if the guardrails are complete and the work stays inside them; the risk assessment decides. In a boom-type machine, yes: a harness with a short restraint lanyard clipped to the designated anchor, to stop the occupant being catapulted out.
What is the rescue plan for?
A platform stranded at height with a sick or injured occupant, or a machine failure. Someone on the ground must know how to operate the ground controls and the emergency descent, and it must be tested at the pre-use check.
MEWP, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
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