Rob Vetter is technical director and managing partner with the Ives Training Group, in Blaine, WA, USA, a leader in North American mobile equipment training systems since 1981.
There are a lot of questions around the use of forklifts, particularly rough-terrain telehandlers (variable-reach, telescopic boom-type forklifts) to elevate personnel. This practice is not illegal as most regulations point toward the instructions of the manufacturer for guidance. However, many telehandler manufacturers prohibit it completely and regulatory authorities frown upon it in favour of utilising other - more suitable - means for putting people into the air, like ladders, scaffolds and aerial lifts.
I agree with avoiding the use of forklifts as personnel elevating devices. Several local and regional safety directors within the equipment rental industry tell me that it is a practice they discourage among customers and one prohibits it among their own employees.
Forklifts are designed to handle materials, not personnel. As such, they are not well suited to the task of providing a stable base for lifting people.
The trouble with aerial lifts is that they are rarely rated with enough load capacity to accommodate most tasks within the construction industry - that involve getting people and materials to elevated work locations. Forklifts, with their higher load capacities, are the preferred choice where the gross load weight of platform, tools, equipment and personnel exceeds 1,000 lb. (454 kg).
Be careful though: in North America where the B56 standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) are incorporated by reference in almost every jurisdiction, there are clear guidelines on the design, construction and safe use of forklift-mounted elevating work platforms. One of the lesser-known standards calls for a significant reduction of capacity whenever a platform attached to the forklift is used to lift people. The ANSI B56.1 standard states that the weight of the platform plus all tools, equipment and any personnel in it must not exceed one half of the unit's overall rated capacity. The B56.6 standard (for rough-terrain forklifts like telehandlers) down-rates that even further to one-third of overall capacity!
With telehandlers, there are a number of other considerations to take into account. Firstly, the maximum rated capacity of a telehandler is dependent on the configuration of the machine at the time of the lift. The user must factor in how the use of outriggers/stabilisers (if equipped) affects capacity as well as the angle and extension of the (telescopic) boom. Telehandlers have various load charts which must be consulted. These charts list variations in load capacity as they relate to the use of various attachments, deployment of outriggers/stabilisers and, of course, boom angle and extension. Although a telehandler that is set up and level on outriggers with a completely retracted boom may be rated for 8,000 lb. (3,628 kg), that same machine may only be able to lift 2,000 lb. (907 kg) on rubber with the boom fully extended at a low angle (closer to horizontal).
The requirements for using forklifts, particularly telehandlers, are many, and those mentioned above are but a few of the total. The use of forklifts, with particular emphasis on telehandlers, to elevate personnel is a practice that, although legal in the strictest sense, is one that the prudent user should avoid as much as is possible. However, if the conditions are such that no other practical means is available, it is a high-risk activity that must be performed with a heightened awareness of safety. So if you have to do it, be careful...be
very careful.