Only experienced sailors can sail across the ocean, right? So when it comes to rolling work platforms, let experienced companies like Tri-Arc help you navigate the oceans of choices and OSHA regulations involved.
What are work platforms?
Grab a seat, because the answer to this question may shock you: Work platforms are platforms used at work.
One official definition, from the United Kingdom’s 2005 Work at Height Regulations, defines them as “any platform used as a place of work or as a means of access to or egress from a place of work (including) any scaffold, suspended scaffold, cradle, mobile platform, trestle, gangway, gantry and stairway which is so used.”
But while the definition seems pretty self-evident, deciding what type of platform you need for a job is not nearly so clear-cut.
A look at the options
Work platforms can be fixed or temporary. Most workplaces use temporary platforms, rolling them here and there, and/or raising and lowering them as needed. Fixed platforms don’t roll around, obviously, but there are adjustable-height options.
Permanent platforms are installed for the long haul. Because no job site is the same, permanent platforms are often designed for individual job sites to provide safe access to elevated spots.
If you are a safety officer, warehouse supervisor, or a manager for a business with a huge inventory, you probably need a temporary platform. They come in many different shapes and sizes, and here are just a few examples:
- Scaffolding. This might be used for work on the third-story windows of a building.
- Hydraulic scissor lifts. These go straight up and down on a mechanism that kind of resembles an X-shaped slinky.
- Rolling ladders with attached platforms, which you see in almost every aisle in Home Depot.
- Models that are folding, adjustable and multi-use.
Again, if you are a safety officer, warehouse supervisor, or manager for a business with a huge inventory, the versatile rolling work platform is probably what you are looking for.
How to select a rolling work platform
First of all, never forget that old ladders should be tossed. Do not sacrifice safety because your workers have climbed up and down “Old Rusty” for years and it has never failed. You might think “Old Rusty” deserves another 10 years, but do you deserve the lawsuits that might be filed against you because of that belief?
As you retire Old Rusty safely, think about where and how your new, mobile work platform will be employed.
- If it will be used outdoors, think about the environment. What type of non-skid platform will you need?
- For indoor use, what type of surfaces will it be moved across and placed on?
- What load capacity to you need? Do you need it to have storage capabilities?
- Who is going to use it, and what type of equipment will they be using?
- What hazards are around or near the potential usage sites?
- Do you have hard-to-reach places that require a cantilever ladder?
- What are the sanitation requirements for the working space?
- Are there any maintenance requirements to consider?
- How slip-resistant do the platform floor and treads need to be?
- Should it be built from aluminum or welded, heavy duty steel?
- What are the ANSI safety standards and OSHA regulations?
OSHA standards for work platforms
We don’t have enough time and space to give all the details here, but we can get you started. While OSHA does not regulate how many breaths per minute you may take on a platform, 29 CFR 1910 Subpart D, which was completely changed in January of 2017, regulates almost everything else.
The four most important new OSHA regulations are:
- If the platform height is more than four feet off the ground, it must be surrounded by handrails to provide fall protection (unless it abuts a wall or something else that provides coverage). Those railings must be at least four feet high and sturdy enough to withstand 200 pounds of force.
- The platform may not be any higher than four times the width of its base. If it is taller, it needs extra support.
- Gates are mandatory around almost every point of egress and access.
- Platforms must be able to support four times the maximum load for which they are intended.
- We said four, but here’s a bonus tip: OSHA also has regulations regarding the depth and length of stairs.
What’s my next step?
Obviously, decisions about which rolling platform to use have lots of “moving” parts (bad pun intended). Thus, you need to trust the company providing the rolling work platform.
Tri-Arc has more than 72 years of experience. Every product it sells is made to order — at its Pittsburgh headquarters — so Tri-Arc can easily customize products for their clients. Tri-Arc has a stellar reputation for getting their jobs done and well done.
For instance, in April 2020, during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in America, a giant retailer needed to add a very task specific work platform to its distribution centers to accommodate social distancing. Upon being contacted, Tri-Arc immediately met with the retailer’s loss prevention and ergonomic teams. Within 10 days of the first meeting, Tri-Arc finished the design, received approval and started production. To date, Tri-Arc has manufactured nearly 35,000 platforms.
Within a week of the first contact, Tri-Arc finished the design, and started production. Ten business days later, Tri-Arc had manufactured and had shipped more than 7,000 platforms. Tri-Arc made and shipped 18,611 units to that retailer by the end of the year.
There’s an old naval saying — or at least there should be: If you’re not a sailor, make sure the other people on your boat are. Ask Tri-Arc to be part of your crew.