Hazard Identification and Job-Site Risk Assessment
Job-site risk assessment is the first duty in every lift task, and the exam tests whether you can build a documented, task-specific assessment rather than recite slogans.
What the assessment must cover
ANSI/SAIA A92.22 expects the employer to assess the task, the site, and the machine before work starts, and to keep a rescue plan ready. Survey at minimum:
- Electrical: overhead and underground lines, service drops, voltage, required clearance.
- Ground: slope, voids, vaults, uncompacted fill, drop-offs, bearing pressure.
- Overhead: limbs, bridges, signage, structure, other lifts.
- Traffic and public: vehicles, pedestrians, blind corners.
- Environment: wind (many MEWP placards cap at 28 mph / 12.5 m/s), rain, ice, heat, dust.
- Machine fit: reach envelope, capacity, terrain rating, transport route.
Rank each hazard by severity and likelihood, then apply controls in order: eliminate the exposure (move the work), engineer it (barricades, outrigger pads, de-energizing), administrate it (permits, spotters, sequencing), and only then rely on PPE.
Worked example
A crew must clear gutter debris from a two-storey retail building. The parking lot has a 12.47 kV service drop 14 ft off the facade, a 4% slope near the drain, and delivery trucks passing hourly. Reasoning: the line fixes the set-back; if the platform or any part of the load can come within the minimum approach distance, either have the utility de-energize or reposition to another elevation. The slope exceeds many manufacturers' 2–3° limit, so re-site the lift on the flat and use pads. Traffic drives a taper, cones, and a dedicated spotter.
Traps
- Treating the assessment as a form signed in the truck; conditions change with wind, deliveries, and daylight.
- Assuming a hazard "belongs to" the utility or the general contractor.
- Forgetting the rescue plan until after someone is suspended.