Posted By Safety Couch Could you be a bit more specific?

Posted By Dave Merchant One thing you'll have to consider is how the driver can escape if the cab jams in the elevated position. That may involve them using a harness, so in turn they'd probably need to wear it all the time even though it wasn't connected before the escape.

Posted By Safety Couch Also consider segregation measures and MH assessment of what you are actually picking..re- weights, load etc..

Posted By Martin Taylor Sorry TOE I must employ my humble opinion and disagree with yours. The use of order picking is widespread throughout warehousing and a perfectly acceptable method if some basic precautions are taken. By extending pickfaces vertically the amount of walking that pickers need to do is reduced as is the ammount of mobile equipment movements. Consider the 25kg load discussed in the original post - it is probably better for manual handling to 'pick' this at a 'good' height (chest) which can be adjusted by the height of the truck rather than stooping to pick it from floor level. There are certainly limits to the weights to be picked but this applies if picking at floor level as well The issues of falling from the truck and working at heights need to be considered of course but I am not aware of any specific guidance on the need to use harnesses as there is in the MEWP field and I conclude that this is because there have not been significant issues warrenting such measures - how many people on this forum use harnesses in man riser pick trucks - be interesting to find out. The issue of rescue is important as well - I always assumed that these type of units were hydraulic elevated and fitted with low level valves to allow the unit to be safely lowered to the ground - again is this always the case or are there devices that can fail in the up position Plenty of material on this thread so please keep contributing thanks all Martin

Posted By Brian Hagyard I tend to agree with Martin on this one. Have seen this type of operation used very successful in a number of warehouses. It is a system that can be used to (almost) totally eliminating pedestrians in a warehouse thereby reducing the risk of them being struck. The order picking trucks I have seen have good inbuilt fall protection so I can see no need for a harness, unless there is a situation a previous poster has mentioned. The units have also had the ground level release valve system Martin describes. That's not to say the operation is without risk. Still needs to be a manual handling assessment that concentrates on more than just weight. I have also investigated an accident where one of these trucks "toppled" from its full extension and the driver fell out onto his load. Fortunately this broke his fall and he only suffered severe bruising! It appeared another truck had come up behind him and gave him a "nudge" but could never prove it. Picking systems were changed to keep trucks apart. When I was last involved in this type of operation there were two types of trucks available. Some could be moved with the mast extended (so the driver was at a high level) which tended to include some automatic speed restriction to maintain stability. Others should be brought down to ground level for moving. Had to be careful you knew which was which. Brian

Posted By Gary L A couple of interesting points brought up here. 1. As previously stated, has the machine got a hydrolic release valve, so the man-up cage can be lowered in an emergency. If not then the only way for the employee to get down safely is to use a harness/lanyard or absail. 2. "Don`t do it" Doesn`t always work. For example...In warehousing if a pallet has slid off 1 of the racking bars and is sitting dangerously & the forks cannot get into the pallet, the only way to make this situation safe, is to get an employee into a man-up cage and for them to handball the stock off the pallet. As a forklift instructor i would always say that a harness must be used, when using a man-up cage. It is also advisable to nominate 1 forklift only for the use of a man-up cage, and get that fitted with a hydrolic release system.

Posted By IanS There is an HSE document, WORKING PLATFORMS (NON-INTEGRATED) ON FORKLIFT TRUCKS Guidance Note PM28, that may well cover this. Paragraphs 12, 13 & 14 are particularly apposite.