Skyjack issues maintenance reminder after scissor failure

Skyjack Europe has issued a reminder to owners to carry out regular inspections of machines following the failure of one of its model 8841 scissors on a Kier Group site in November.

The scissor, manufactured in 1999, appears to have failed when scissor arms sheared from their pivot-pin connectors, leading to the collapse of the platform at one end. The scissor was 2.0 m high at the time of the accident and the two men on board escaped with minor injuries. A Kier safety alert called for all 8841 models on its sites to be taken out of service pending inspection by an engineer, and for all other scissor lifts to be inspected.

The machine, believed to have been supplied by rental company Nationwide, is being examined by both Skyjack and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

Brad Boehler, director of product safety at Skyjack, told Access International that the failure was consistent with a "fatigue failure that should have been caught with a proper maintenance and inspection regimen."

Mr Boehler said there was absolutely no requirement for a general recall on the scissor lift, and said instead that it reinforced the need for regular inspections.

The Skyjack advisory note said; "All pins, weldments and pivot points are subject to high stress, and special consideration should be given to these particular areas as with any load bearing points. Older machines in particular may have seized pins or joints, and if there is any doubt regarding the integrity of particular assemblies, they should be stripped and inspected further."

Meanwhile, Kier said that operators and users of scissor lifts were to be given safety briefings, with special emphasis on the requirements for daily/weekly checks; the need to be alert to any developing faults; and the importance of taking a machine out of service if there are any doubts about its safety.