Rank: New forum user 
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In our workplace we have a safety standard that anyone using any form of MEWP must wear a harness with a fixed lanyard and be anchored into the basket (via a recognised anchor point). Personnel undergoing training on scissor lifts are told that they need not wear a harness.
Is there a safety reason for not wearinga harness in a scissor lift or is it purely a "don't have to".
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Because scissor lifts are 'fenced' there is no requirement to be harnessed in. The training should also cover not moving a scissor lift whilst extended.
Cherry pickers require harnesses because of the physics involved, the boom can bounce and throw operators out.
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 1 user thanked SNS for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Thanks SNS, Totally aware of the physics etc for booms, I just didn't know of a safety reason for not wearing harnesses in scissor lifts i.e. that wearing one creates another risk. Cheers
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Rank: Super forum user 
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There is no requirement to wear a harness in a scissor lift. The catapult effect can only occur with a boom lift.
When operating a scissor lift, the operator must walk right around the basket to ensure that there is nothing below before and during the lowering action. This cannot be done when wearing a fall restraint harness as the length of the lanyard will not allow it. If the lanyard is long enough to walk right around the cage, then it is too long to restrain an operator in the cage, so no point in having it.
The next issue that you have is finding an anchor point in a sicssor lift, there are none, because there is no requirement to wear a harness. If you are in doubt with anything that I have written, check with IPAF, because that is basically what I was told during my last IPAF update course, I have a user ticket for 1a, 3a, & 3b. I beleive that there is such information available on the IPAF web site. There is also a new course which has come about for this exact reason, where H&S and supervision are demanding that operators utilise MEWPS in contravention of their IPAF training, and this is a perfect example. The course is MEWPS for managers. Apparently it teaches the basic safety rules such as this, to ensure that operators are not being "managed" and "told" and "threatened" to use MEWPS in unsafe manners.
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2 users thanked paul.skyrme for this useful post.
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PH2 on 09/12/2018(UTC), webstar on 10/12/2018(UTC)
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Rank: Forum user 
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One of the biggest risks in using boom-type platforms is being thrown out of the basket if the boom swings, jolts or tilts away from the machine’s centre of gravity, or if the operator overreaches (usually by standing on the guard rails). They are often operated in areas which are more exposed to wind conditions than a scissor and are less sturdy due to the boom nature of the basket and are more likely to be buffeted by wind etc. hence the requirement to wear a work restraint lanyard and harness.
Once positioned a scissor lift is generally operated in a fixed position straight up and down the side of a building for example and has less potential reach, is sat over a wider area in relation to its base and therefore a little more stable than a boom type MEWP.
When training operatives we advised harness and lanyard at all times in a boom and harness and lanyard in a scissor when you were moving it from one place to the next. Afterall once scaffolding is erected and secure operatives accessing platforms do not have to wear a harness and lanyard and the scissor platform when in position is effectively a smaller version of a scaffold platfrom.
However, please note the HSE expect that any risk assessment must still consider the use of personal fall protection equipment when using any type of MEWP. The principle being to prevent operatives over reaching. Just because you are in a scissor and not a boom this can still take place. You will also find some scissors with the mandatory blue and white sign for harness and lanyard and eye bolts fitted into the platforms for that very reason.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Check current IPAF guidance here: https://www.ipaf.org/en/resource-library/fall-protection-mewps-h1
Retrived 10/12/18
Updated by IPAF January 2018. This agrees with what I was taught on my course, and I've yet to see a scissor lift with suitable restraint attachment points. That does not mean that they do not exist.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Some useful info here: https://fallprotectionxs.com/fall-protection-cherry-picker/ Only thing I'd add is that the restraint should be a length to prevent them climbing onto/from the cage.
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