A new safety campaign to encourage all users of boom type platforms to wear a full body harness with a short lanyard attached to a suitable anchor point has been launched by Aerial Work Platform Training (AWPT) in North America. Called “Click It!”, the campaign has received the approval of the Scaffold Industry Association (SIA) and is similar to successful promotional campaigns encouraging people to wear their seatbelts when riding in a car
The new program’s initiative came from companies frustrated with the fact that people are dying in boom type lifts because they are not wearing a harness that would keep them from being thrown or catapulted from the platform. To remind and encourage people to wear a harness, AWPT had that advice printed on stickers that can be placed on the boom lift where they can be seen by all occupants in the platform. In addition, AWPT has made available a document titled “Technical Guidance Note AWPT H1” that provides information on their recommendation for the proper use of harnesses and lanyards on different types of aerial platforms. Information on both can be found on-line at www.awpt.org.
