SAFETY OPINION
46
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2013
prove experience and knowledge and formal
training is vital. Most competent persons are
severely deficient in the area of demonstrable
qualifications and employers fall short by not
giving the competent person(s) the necessary
authority to discharge their obligations.
A nominated competent person who has no
training and no authority is a liability to him/
herself, to the employer and to everyone on the
jobsite.
“I’ve been putting this stuff up for years,” is
not evidence of competency.
Who inspected the equipment before it left
the premises/Is that person qualified?
Manufacturers have documented inspection
requirements. These are found in the owner’s
manual. The ANSI (American National Standards
Institute) standard for mast climbing work
platforms, ANSI A92.9 – 2011 also documents
inspection requirements. The basic premise is
as follows:
‘Sound principles of safety, training,
inspection, erection, maintenance, application,
and operation consistent with all data available
regarding the parameters of intended use and
expected environment shall be applied in the
performance of the responsibilities of owners
with due consideration of knowledge that the
unit will be carrying personnel’.
ANSI details the responsibilities of owners,
and among those responsibilities is:
■
7.4.2 Responsibilities upon purchase
■
d) Shall, if the MCWP is used, ensure that
frequent and annual inspections are current.
■
e) Shall become familiar with and conform
with the responsibilities of owners as set forth
in the Manual of Responsibilities for MCWP’s.
A Frequent Inspection is an inspection of
equipment which has been in service for
3 months, or out of service for more than
3 months. An Annual inspection should be
completed no later than 13 months from the
date of the prior annual inspection. Both must
be completed by ‘a person qualified on the
specific make and model of the MCWP’
Once the inspections are complete, and
necessary repairs have been identified,
remember the following vital information:
■
Repairs must be done by a Qualified
Person (e.g. Certified welder), and repairs and
inspections MUST be documented and kept in
the machine history file.
■
When parts or components are replaced,
they shall be identical or superior to original
MCWP parts or components.
■
Written records of trainees and their training,
frequent and annual inspections and other
vital information must be retained on file for a
minimum of three years.
Manage your liabilities
Train, educate, inspect, maintain, record,
discharge your responsibilities diligently, and
empower your key people with authority. There
is absolutely nothing in the previous sentence
which will harm your business, but it will all
protect your business against potential
liability.
■
to get busy many equipment owners put this
equipment quickly back into service without
the proper procedures which, in the event of
an accident, will protect them from a large
percentage of potential liability.
If a mast climber, or its associated
components, has been lying in the bushes and
long grass at the back of the yard, in standing
water, for 2-3 years, it’s totally unrealistic to
assume that it can be put back into service in
24 hours.
The Strength in Procedures
and Qualified Personnel
If you are unlucky enough to have an accident,
possibly because of equipment failure, ask
yourself the questions which the OSHA officer
will likely ask when he or she arrives on the
jobsite:
■
Who is your Competent Person?
■
Is your Competent Person ‘Qualified’?
■
Who inspected the equipment before it left
the premises?
■
Is that person qualified?
■
Do you have records of inspections for the
equipment, as required by the manufacturer,
or ANSI?
Who is your competent person/is that
person qualified?
“Competent person” means one who is capable
of identifying existing and predictable hazards
in the surroundings or working conditions
which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous
to employees, and who has authorization to
take prompt corrective measures to eliminate
them. A competent person has to be able to
Make sure to inspect equipment that has
been out of service for a period of time.
When parts or components are replaced,
they must be identical to the originals.
