New MEWP safety guidance
3 February 2023
An updated safety publication is now freely available which provides guidance on reducing risks of trapping and crushing hazards when using mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs).
Published by the Construction Industry Plant Safety Group (CIPSG), the 22-page publication entitled Good Practice Guidance for Reducing Trapping/Crushing Injuries to People in MEWPs has been compiled by the CIPSG for MEWPs which is chaired by the CPA and administered and supported by the International Powered Access Federation IPAF.
The group states that while MEWPs are acknowledged as one of the safest and most efficient means of enabling temporary working at height, between 2016 and 2020 incidents entered into IPAF’s Reporting Portal from 15 countries identified that 73 people died in entrapment incidents globally.
The guidance sets out measures to reduce risks through planning, risk assessment, MEWP selection, operator training, familiarisation and rescue.
Originally published in 2010, the guidance has now been restructured to improve readability and new illustrations have been added. The content takes account of findings from the recently published Health & Safety Executive Research Report (HSE RR1180:2022) which examined the effectiveness of secondary guarding when employed in a range of different entrapment scenarios.
Kevin Minton, Chair of the CIPSG for MEWPs, said: “The guidance will be a vital reference tool for MEWP hire companies, customers, operators and manufacturers. We anticipate it will prove to be a useful training tool as it has been designed to be used in briefings or toolbox talks for supervisors and MEWP operators.”
Brian Parker, IPAF’s Head of Safety & Technical, commented: “This updated guidance has taken a while to develop, but it was much-needed, as data gathered via IPAF’s Reporting Portal shows that entrapment is consistently one of the top five causes of serious injuries and deaths when using MEWPs.”
The publication can be downloaded free from the CPA website here.
