Hi, do any of you by any chance have a method statement (safe system of work) for a forklift working platform (man riding cage) that you wouldn't mind sharing with me? It would be greatly appreciated.

Hi JW - on top of what Brian has already said you also need to consider whether this is a purpose built machine such as an order picker and whether the task requires someone to exit the cage, e.g. to access racking which throws lots of extra issues into the mix.

It's probably unlikely that you will get a method statement from someone else on these Forums which fits your circumstances, given the number of possible variables.

Originally Posted by: Kate

I have previously prepared a RAMS for this.  It reads in full "Don't even think about buying that."

Me too the exact same phrase, except I didn’t actually write it down. I just walked past someone with one on their computer screen with a price next to it.

Their argument went as far as “But!!”

To which my response was “don’t care, do it properly.”

Chris

Along with the other answers above, with which I agree, before you start looking at risk assessments I would contact your FLT Inspector and request a 6 monthly Loler inspection rather than 12 as you now want the FLT to be used with a working platform.

You may well find that they refuse to complete the inspection for this purpose (particularly if tied in with your insurer) and direct ou towards a MEWP or other access solution.

Our insurers quite happily continue to certify our man cage - the only report to date has been to ensure that hook-on points were clearly identfied and the cage contained instruction to clip on.

Whilst MEWP are better suited to matters such as changing a blown bulb in a factory hiring them to a site is a considerable logistical effort for what can often be a couple of minutes of actual use.

Given the alternative of an employee carrying tubes up and down a tall ladder..

We have a non-intergrated forklift cage, which our insurers are also ok with. It has been used in the past to change high bay lights that our MEWP can't reach (normally ones above machines) and fixing a stuck roller door. In both cases the single man up/down platform wouldn't have been able to reach the area safely. They would have had to lean out of the platform to reach the light, and the roller door is on a slope.

When we have scheduled maintenance we hire equipment in, but in both circumstances it was an emergency. If anybody can think of a safer reasonably practicable way for a relatively small business to carry out these one off situations than I would love to get rid of the cage. but until I hear a safer option that is also cost effective and timely then I have no choice but to keep using it.

To answer the OP, we don't have RAMS, as this suggests forethought. When we use the cage it is because we have exhausted other avenues. We do have a SSOW which includes the usual things (i.e. the guidance on the HSE) and also includes the circumstances for which it is permissable to use the cage (unplanned maintenance that the single man mewp is not sufficient). We then do a dynamic, recorded risk assessment for the work we are to carry out, including a rescue plan.