Access Platforms

Forklift Work Platform

How to use a forklift to carry out assembly and renovation work at heights – safely and in accordance with regulations? The answer is work platforms, which allow one person to be transported upwards using standard forklift trucks.

In high-rise facilities, such as industrial plants and warehouses, damage to the infrastructure may occur that is inaccessible from the floor level or from standard ladders. In such cases, the company's forklifts can be used as a passenger lift. The prerequisite is the use of appropriate equipment that guarantees the safety of the personnel, such as a work platform, in accordance with the directives and guidelines of the European Structural Fund and the Office of Technical Inspection.

What is a forklift work platform?

A work platform, also known as a work platform or a passenger basket, is an additional accessory for forklifts used to lift people with them. The baskets are equipped with a non-slip work surface, a mesh wall to protect the employee from contact with the movable forklift mechanisms and a gate with a spring latch. The forklift work platform is mounted by sliding the platform onto the forks. For this purpose, the platform is equipped with appropriately sized pockets with a spacing adapted to standard forklift trucks.

What kind of work can the work platform be used for?

Importantly, the work platform is an accessory not intended for everyday work. According to the regulations, work platforms can be used for incidental and temporary tasks. Their use is particularly justified in a situation where the use of mobile platforms is not possible due to costs, spatial or technical conditions. Examples of acceptable ways to use forklift work platforms are:

• Casual inspection work;
• Periodic maintenance of the infrastructure;
• Minor repairs at height.

In accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Economy on the minimum requirements for occupational health and safety in the use of machinery by employees during work, employees may be lifted only by means of machines and their equipment intended for this purpose. Vehicles that have not been designed to lift workers may be used for this purpose if the employer establishes safe conditions for the operation and supervision of the forklift and the technical and operational documentation of the vehicle permits the use of work platforms and the lifting of persons. If the manufacturer has not provided for such a possibility, the employer may apply to the competent technical inspection unit for permission to use a forklift truck with a platform for lifting people.

Conditions of use of a forklift with a work platform

If your employer is applying for permission to use a forklift work platform, the following conditions must be met:

• All work planned to be carried out with the use of the work platform should be specified in the manual, and their nature must be sporadic and incidental. Work platforms must not be used in the performance of tasks not included in the created documentation and daily warehouse work.
• A forklift truck with a work platform should only be used for work that cannot be carried out with mobile platforms, scaffolding and ladders – whether for technical, spatial, or economic reasons.
• The trolley used to lift the work platform should have a nominal lifting capacity at least 5 times higher than the weight of the working platform with the employee.