Load Limit Versus the Actual Cladding Panel
A mobile tower is set up to a platform height of 6 m with a stated safe working load (SWL) for the platform. The cladding team plans to land packs of composite panels on the platform and pass them up by hand. Each pack weighs about 180 kg and they intend to place two packs on the platform at once, plus three operatives (assume 80 kg each) and their tools. The platform is a single working deck with a manufacturer's SWL you have on the data plate. The site is sheltered on three sides but open to the prevailing wind on the fourth. The team lead says they have 'always done it this way' on other towers.
1. Explain how you determine whether the proposed loading is acceptable, and what the likely outcome is.
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The SWL on the data plate is a total imposed load limit for the platform in its rated configuration, and it includes people, tools and materials - not just the panels.
Estimate the imposed load:
- 2 packs × 180 kg = 360 kg
- 3 operatives × 80 kg = 240 kg
- tools/equipment ≈ 20–40 kg
- Total ≈ 620–640 kg on one deck.
Most mobile tower platforms are rated well below this (commonly in the region of 150–275 kg per deck depending on the system). Even allowing for uncertainty in the exact SWL, 620+ kg on a single 6 m deck is almost certainly far over the limit. 'Always done it this way' is not evidence of compliance.
Conclusion: the proposed loading is not acceptable. The platform must not be loaded beyond its data-plate SWL, and the load must be distributed as the manual requires.
2. What is a compliant method of working, and what operating controls apply?
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Compliant approach:
- Do not stockpile panels on the platform. Bring up panels a few at a time so the combined people + tools + panels stay within the SWL, or use a suitable lifting method (hoist/telehandler) to land panels at the workface rather than storing them on the deck.
- Keep the load centred and spread as the manual directs; avoid eccentric loading that could destabilise a free-standing tower.
- Respect the wind class - the open fourth side matters. Stop work and lower or secure the tower if gusts exceed the tower's rated wind speed; a tall deck with large panels acts as a sail.
- Control access: only trained operatives on the platform, guardrails and toe boards in place, no climbing the frame.
- Brief the team that the SWL is a hard limit and the old habit is being replaced; record the revised method and the SWL used.