13.02.2006

Two Scissor lift accidents

We have received a steady stream of emails and calls over the past few weeks on the case of two serious accidents in the UK. Until now we have chosen not to publish any reports as we have not been able to obtain sufficient details on what went wrong to warrant publication.

However the number of requests for information has reached a point that demands that we at least try and stem some of the wilder rumours, while we wait for the relevant investigations to be completed.

The first unit a JLG500RTS Megadeck owned by the Platform Company went over, fatally injuring an engineer. The Platform Company has said that the incident has understandably caused a great deal of upset among family, friends and colleagues of the deceased.

It has stated that the lift was not subject to any of the sudden or dramatic failures that many of the reports that are circulating claim. It also says that a thorough internal check of its systems and procedures and equipment confirm that they have not been at all compromised.

The company also states that safety remains, as always, its highest priority and that it is helping the relevant authorities fully investigate the events.
More information will be provided when the formal investigations are complete.

The second accident concerns an UpRight LX50 owned by SGB, in this case the operator who was working at height, walked away uninjured. We understand that the accident, which occurred in the Kettering area, was not caused by any structural or other failure. This does of course does suggest operator error, or ground failure, but we are not able to confirm this at this time.