MEWPS Fall Hazards

Fall Hazards

The causes of scissor lift falls were unknown for over half of the fall deaths; in one-fifth of the falls, the worker was ejected from the scissor lift, mostly when the scissor lift was struck by an object. The rest of the fall deaths occurred after removal of chains or guardrails, or while standing on or leaning over railings.

An average of 26 construction workers die each year from using aerial lifts. This is 2 to 3% of all construction deaths. On aerial lifts, the major causes are falls, electrocutions, and collapses or tip-overs. lifts as mobile scaffolds, not aerial lifts). There are also 2 to 3 deaths each year from working on crane personnel platforms.

Electricians had the most deaths (25%), followed by construction laborers (15%), electrical power installers and repairers (13%), painters (8%), and carpenters (5%). These results do not show which trade is most at risk, because we don’t know how many workers in the various trades use aerial lifts.