The construction industry is very important to the American economy. The United States has the second largest construction market on the planet, it can claim a market share that hovers around 10%. This industry employs about 7.8 million production workers around the country. Forklifts and crane man baskets are used on construction sites around the nation. To protect workers who use these kids of equipment, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set very specific guidelines for personal lifting baskets and rollover protection systems. If your business relies on the use of crane and crane man baskets, there are things you can do to keep your workers safe.

1. Make sure everyone receives the right training. One of the most important things you can do to protect your workers when they use crane man baskets. You should make sure everyone has access to and is encouraged to become familiar with the owner’s manual for the forklift and the safety cage for forklifts. The training you provide to your workers needs to be of the hands on variety. They need real world experience working with the equipment. Each worker who uses the forklift needs to understand their responsibility in the safe operation of that equipment. They need to understand how to correctly operate it and prevent accidents while using it.
2. Safety procedures need to be followed at all heights. It is crucial that all of the workers who will use the crane and the crane man baskets understand that they need to adhere to your safety procedures at any height they work at. It is easy to think that when crane operators are working at a lower height that they can be more lax with the rules about safety but workers can be very badly injured even when they are working at heights that are considered to be fairly low. For instance, if a worker is doing any work from a forklift man basket, it needs to be secured to the forklift. It does not matter how high the forklift is when the work is being done. Following all of the safety policies is critical to keeping all workers safe and secure on the job site.
3. Workers need to stay at the controls when others are on the platform. One clear rule that most companies have and need to enforce is that workers are not allowed to leave their post at the controls when other workers are on the platform. There should be one person who is designated to signal to the operator at the controls. Having one person be responsible for this job makes it a lot easier for the operator at the controls to be clear on what they need to do and keep control of the equipment.
4. Give your workers clear instructions for mounting and dismounting. Before a job is started, the platform needs to be mounted correctly. No work should start before this happens to keep everyone in the crane man baskets as safe as possible. When the job is completed, the platform needs to be dismounted. It is important to store the platforms in a different spot than where you store the forklift truck. You should have areas on the worksite that are designated for storing the different kinds of equipment that are used. This area needs to be large enough so that the workers who operate it have the space they need to conduct proper inspections of the equipment. You should post your safety standards in the same area where the equipment is stored so everyone can see it and refer to it as needed.
5. Tain everyone on the proper use of fall protection equipment. You need to provide harnesses and other safety equipment for your workers. They also need to be trained on using it correctly. The need to know the ins and outs of using your fall arrest systems and know how to make the most of your rollover protection systems. These safety systems do not do you any good if workers do not know how to use them.

Safety on job sites is every worker’s responsibility. These tips will help make your site as safe as possible.