25.10.2005

Beware of misinformation

A Health and Safety "Officer" approached two workers on a UK site today, when he saw them operating two JLG 1930's.

He relayed to them an accident, that had occurred “within the last few days, where two men operating one of these 19ft orange and cream coloured scissors lifts were tipped out of the basket when a weld failed. One was killed and the other is critically ill and fighting for his life in hospital”. He said

The workers using the JLG’s immediately stopped work and called their employer, refusing to continue to use the machines, and asked that they be replaced!

It appears that the site manager’s office had received an email that has been circulating these past two months, concerning an old accident that occurred on a 1996 Skyjack machine some time ago.

The unit should have been modified as part of a mandatory recall, but hadn’t. No one died in the incident nor was either of the two occupants seriously injured.

In spite of this, someone on site had seen fit to dispense this information to all height workers causing mayhem, concern and disruption for no reason. Simply because they had not checked out the facts before passing on this misleading and inaccurate information. The emails had themselves sufaced in a similar fashion from a Bechtel office via email this summer and was then passed on and multiplied by a Ford plant that received it..

The power of email can result in such pieces of information being whisked around the world in a matter of days. Thus if such a report is received the very least someone can do is carefully check the details. (In this case units were stopped that had nothing in common with the units in the email, apart from the platform height!)

If after checking the information you do find that such a warning does cover the same series of machine you are using then stop, take the serial number down and call the manufacturer, dealer or rental company they will always be more than willing to help and can usually clear up the doubt within minutes.

Details on the 1999 and 2000 recalls that the Skyjack 19ft machines were subject to have been published in the October issue of Cranes&Access. No units officially imported into Europe are thought not to have been modified. However in spite of repeated bulletins, publicity and letters to the original owners insisting that machines are reported so that Skyjack can rework them on a fully paid basis, there remain a number of unmodified units in the Americas.

Skyjack would very much like to hear from anyone with a pre 1998 19ft scissor that is not sure and can quickly check if it has been modified or not.