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5 Safety Tips Australians Need to Follow When Using Elevated Work Platforms

A study from 2016 to 2017 estimated that 100,000 Australians were sent to the hospital due to accidents related to falling. If you divide that number every day, you get at least 273 people falling from high places and acquiring injuries. And if you were to talk about fall accidents that happened in a construction site, you can find that 709 Australian workers in 2019 lost their lives.

If you have a construction company that involves having workers reach high places, you will need to have quality elevated work platforms in Australia. If you have a new company, you need to learn the best safety tips on using the platforms. The better you understand them, the better you create a safer construction environment all the time.

Safety Tip #1: Perform pre-inspections on the lifts

Before any of your workers start using the lifts, they need to inspect it from top to bottom and ensure nothing is loose or broken. You do not want them to end up in hospital because the lift suddenly seized. Pre-inspections are always necessary on any construction equipment to ensure the problems can be fixed right away before anyone can use them.

Safety Tip #2: Inspect the area

If you move the elevated work platform to another area within the site, make sure that you check the area where you plan on placing it. You will never know if dangerous factors like uneven ground or slippery surfaces could make the lift unstable. Your Australian workers need to watch out for any potential threats around the area to keep the lift and the user safe from possible fall injuries.

Safety Tip #3: Wear fall protection safety equipment

When you have quality elevated work platforms in Australia, you should never forget that your workers should also wear the best fall protection safety equipment. Examples of equipment they can wear include hard hats and harnesses. The harnesses are extremely important because they hold the worker in place, preventing them from falling over the platform if they lose their balance.

Safety Tip #4: Never put your entire weight on the platform guardrails

One safety risk that could cause the workers to fall off the work platform is when they lean too much on the guardrails. They are meant to protect you from falling over, but they will not stop you from falling if you keep leaning on them all the time. Your Australian workers should always stay in the middle and only hold the guardrails to maintain balance.

Safety Tip #5: Never climb down when the platform is high

Your Australian workers might have the idea that it is safe to hop off of the work platform even when it is not fully retracted because they think they can handle the height. You should never climb off the work platform if it is nowhere near the safe clearance level because you might injure yourself by straining your ankles once you land on the ground. You also save yourself the trip to the construction site’s medical area since you got off the platform at a safe height.

Do not let your workers be part of the Australian fall statistics by considering the different safety tips when using an elevated work platform.

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