The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, is expected to update standards for access equipment design standards in late 2017. To comply with the new standards, North American manufacturers and operators will need to take new safety features into consideration.
“The new ANSI standard will broadly bring North American machines in line with equipment currently in the European market, reducing global variances,” said Barry Greenaway, product manager, Skyjack.
The ANSI standards dictate stability, testing and safety requirements to access equipment manufacturers to ensure the marketplace receives and uses certified machines. This allows for a consistency of approach, equipment and training throughout the USA.
The ANSI A92 Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) Design, Safe-use and Training Standards, which includes A92.22 for safe use and A92.24 for training, will replace the current standards A92.5 for boom supported platform and A92.6 for scissor type platform. The new standard includes new requirements such as active load sensing, new wind ratings and stability testing. It also uses the mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) terminology instead of aerial work platform (AWP). With the new changes, new training and familiarization will be needed.
Core changes
The new ANSI A92.20 standard includes the following six major changes:
Familiarization and training
One year after the new standard is published, manufacturers will stop producing machines to meet ANSI A92.5/A92.6 standard and produce to the new standard. Existing machines in service remain approved for use and there is no need to update old machines to the new standard.
Unlike the current manual of responsibilities, which is divided into multiple machine-specific versions, the new ANSI standard has one single document that covers the responsibilities for all MEWPs. To provide flexibility in training, the A92.20 standard allows qualified operators to self-familiarize and also recognizes online theory training for operators.
Besides MEWP operators, supervisors who monitor operator performance will also need to train and become familiar with the new standard. Supervisors will need to learn about proper MEWP selection, applicable rules and regulations, potential hazards associated with the MEWP's use, and be knowledgeable about the manufacturer’s operation manuals.
Occupants in MEWPs will also require training under the new A92.20 standard. The training covers the use of fall protection; knowledge about factors that affect stability, hazards and their avoidance related to the task at hand; safe use of MEWP accessories; site-specific work procedures; manufacturer’s warnings and instructions; site risk assessment; and general knowledge of MEWP operation, such as how to lower the MEWP in the event that the operator is unable to do so.
“Education and proper training will be key for rental companies and operators when it comes to successfully adapting to the new ANSI changes,” Greenaway said. “We also recommend rental companies allocate adequate resources to respond to customer inquiries about the new ANSI standards.”
