01.11.2013

EWPA issues controller reminder

Australia’s Elevating Work Platform Association has issued a reminder of a bulletin it sent out last year about major concerns raised by a number of contractors regarding aerial lift control box guarding - see: Controller modification warning.

The bulletin covered the identified hazard of a lack of effective protection against inadvertent/accidental operation of the joy-stick. The association, suppliers and manufacturer members identified the problem and solutions were put in place.

The EWPA is now warning that there are still a number of aerial lifts that have yet to have the potential hazard fixed, and is calling on all rental fleet and end user owners to ensure that the issue has been fixed on any aerial lifts they own or are using and asks them to pass on the warning to other owners who may not be aware of the problem.

The association has a dedicated web page with copies of the retrofit bulletins issued by manufacturers and contractors that can downloaded free of charge at: http://ewpa.com.au/resources/mewp-operator-controls.

The new letter issued by the EWPA today is published in full below.

TO: All EWPA Members
FROM: Phil Newby
DATE: 1 November 2013

RE: EWP CONTROLS - Guidance Note from September 2012 - REMINDER

About a year ago there were some major concerns from a number of sites regarding the issue of correctly designed controller box guards.

With the support of the supplier and manufacture members this problem was identified and solutions put in place. This covered off the identified hazard of no effective protection against inadvertent/accidental operation of the joy-stick.

It appears that there are still a number of EWPs that have yet to have this hazard fixed. Could all rental fleet and end user owners ensure their EWPs have eliminated this issue. If you are aware of EWP owners with this problem please forward this reminder to them or let them know they can phone me for confirmation.

Further information and how the manufacturers can help is available on the EWPA Webpage under Resources, or click here. Please find attached the original Guidance Note from September 2012 as a reminder.

Regards,

PHIL NEWBY
Executive Director