This document discusses guidelines and safety precautions for operating cherry pickers. It notes that while cherry pickers are valuable for construction and building maintenance, they also pose health and safety risks if not operated properly. The document outlines precautions like ensuring operators are trained, wearing protective gear like harnesses, avoiding distractions, and being aware of overhead and ground obstructions. Proper training and adherence to health and safety standards are emphasized as important for safe cherry picker operation.

1. Practicing Precaution
When Using Cherry
Pickers
CLASSIC HIRE
Address: 421 Carrington Street Hamilton Hill WA 6163
Contact Number: (08) 9336 2500
E-mail: hamilton@classichire.net.au

2. Cherry pickers are called such because
the original intended purpose of these
mechanisms was to pick fruits in large
orchards. Today, however, its top use is
for construction and building
maintenance. This specific equipment has
helped the construction industry
significantly. While it is valuable, it also
poses several risks when it comes to
health and safety standards.
Earlier this June, a man was pinned between his deck and the basket of the
cherry picker he was in. Two months before, a cherry picker crashed into a
bridge. The cases are piling up and it’s a cause of alarm now. The problem
today is not only in terms of proper usage of the heavy lifting equipment,
but also concerns the maintenance of health and safety standards, more
importantly.
Guidelines and Regulations
It’s a little unclear whether
companies using cherry pickers are
not working alongside guidelines
and regulations, or if users of this
heavy lifting equipment are simply
unaware of safety standards when
using it. Standards may vary per
industry using cherry pickers, but
anyone exposed to the daily
hazards and risks that come with
the equipment should be aware
with government specified safety
standards.

3. To illustrate, a construction employee
expected to mount a cherry picker to
complete a task should practice
precaution to avoid trapping, crushing,
falling and deaths by ensuring the
employee is properly trained and
competent to utilise the equipment
and that they are wearing proper
clothes, protective gear and a harness.
Roofing tasks at critical angles are
some of the riskiest uses of cherry
pickers.
Obstructions and Precautions
In these instances, it’s crucial to identify hazards and possible causal factors.
For overhead obstructions, safety guidebooks would recommend choosing a
route that ensures sufficient clearance instead. Avoiding situations when
lighting conditions obstruct efficient completion of tasks is crucial in avoiding
losing control of the platform and losing sight of other obstructions.
Avoiding all forms of distraction
during completion of tasks is the
most basic control measure each
person expected to utilise the
equipment should know about and
practice. Uneven ground, areas
with objects or people in the
ground should generally be
avoided to avoid furthering
damage. Essentially, preparedness
is the most important safety
precaution all are expected to
practice.

4. Given the heights a cherry picker can go, there are many risk factors that
need battling and dodging. Cherry pickers are used in the industry of
construction and building maintenance to make tasks easier and the results
better. It will be unlikely to have a more efficient process if the employees
are not well-trained and informed of these health and safety standards.
Reference:
http://www.classichire.net.au/equipment/lifting-equipment-hire/cherry-
picker
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/swa/about/publications/Documen
ts/349/National_Code_Practice_for_the_prevention_of_falls_in_housing_con
struction_2010.pdf
http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/yatala-man-killed-when-he-was-
pinned-between-a-deck-and-the-basket-of-a-cherry-picker-he-was-in/story-
fnj94j0t-1227380359261