Product of the Month – Genie GR20 Runabout mast boom
For most people, working from a ladder can be scary.
Just climbing a metre or so from the ground takes many of us out of our comfort zone.
That is because they know – you could say, they feel – the consequences of falling off can be very serious indeed.
Despite this, ladders are still commonly used across many commercial and industrial sectors.
Effective procedures to control the use of ladders do minimise risks. But people will be people, and there is a much safer and more productive alternative.
That’s our Product of the Month for June, the Genie GR20 Runabout mast boom.
Accelerating working practices
The Genie GR20 can be used as a direct replacement for a ladder or aluminium tower system.
The electric-battery powered personnel mast provides a spacious and stable platform for working at heights up to 8.1m.
Also, unlike static tower platforms, it allows the operative to move from one location to another, at height, safely speeding up working practices.
All that said, businesses of all types are still wedded to using ladders to work at height – even though an increasing number of companies, especially in the construction and building maintenance industries, are banning them from their sites.
Falls from height statistics tell the story of why there is real concern – and why agencies like the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are keen that ladders should only be used to work at height in very specific circumstances, and with rigorous procedures.
Fall from ladder fatalities
The HSE’s figures for 2022-23 show 8% of all reported non-fatal workplace injuries were falls from height. The HSE does not say how many of those were falls from ladders.
However, in another report, the agency analyses data from the food and drink industry. It found that, out of 150 falls from height in that sector, investigated over three years, 40% of them were falls from ladders.
The HSE’s data shows 40 workplace fatalities were caused by falls from height in 2022-23. It is, therefore, likely that a good number of those fatalities will involve falls from ladders.
Analysis of the most recent HSE prosecutions support the argument that falls from ladders are serious incidents, for both those who fall and for the companies they work for.
In one case, a company was fined £1.1m after a worker fell from a ladder and nearly bled to death.
Experience shows that many of these kinds of ladder falls can be avoided by selecting a safer method for working at height.
Compact and precise
For example, the Genie GR20 mast boom in Hird’s access hire fleet is specifically designed to support product picking in warehouses – making the process safer and more productive.
Its platform raises to a height of 6.1m, yet the mast boom is just 1980mm high, 1350mm tall and 800mm wide when stowed for transport, allowing it to be driven easily through a double doorway.
Its low-profile base is designed to fit under racking systems to allow the operative to gain best access to items of work positions.
The Genie GR20 Runabout personnel mast has a maximum capacity of 200kg, which is more than enough to carry an operator, plus tools and materials.
It can be driven at full height and its proportional controls, combined with a zero inside turning radius, allow the platform to be positioned with precision in the best location for safe and productive working.
Solid, non-marking tyres make it ideal for working in clean environments.
Hird’s Genie GR20 mast boom is ideal for a wide range of low level working at height tasks – warehouse product picking, as mentioned, electrical and mechanical installation, building inspection, HVAC system installation, painting and decorating, and cleaning among them.
Low-level access training
We do not think it is too over-the-top to say, also, it can be used to prevent serious injury and save people’s lives.
In many cases, ladders are still used because, well, they have been always used. It is easy for businesses to be complacent. Also, when their employees overcome their initial fright, they can become blasé too.
Then, it may be only a matter of time before a fall occurs.
Using a Genie GR20 mast boom supplied by Hird will minimise that risk. It is also likely to make working practices more efficient and effective.
Hird can supply other low-level platforms, including the BoSS X3X, a push-around scissor lift with a maximum working height of 5.2m, and the JLG T10 articulating electric mast boom, which can work at heights up to 10.1m.
Our mast booms should only be operated by people who are properly trained to use them, which is why Hird also delivers the IPAF mobile vertical (3a) training course.
Find out more
Talk to Hird today about hiring the Genie GR20 mast boom. If you are using ladders to work at height, it could be a safer and more productive alternative.
Email: [email protected]