Two men were injured yesterday when a scissor lift is said to have suffered a structural failure, causing them to fall around five meters (15 feet) to the ground at a shopping center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Details of the incident are minimal, all that we have is a statement from the Boston Fire department which said:
“Firefighters responded to the Landmark center, at 401 Park Drive, shortly after 8pm. Two men were injured after their scissor lift broke causing them to fall around 20 ft. The men were strapped into the lift when it broke, and they fell to the ground along with the apparatus. Both suffered what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.”
Structural failures on scissor lifts are very rare, but they do happen, these two might have fared better if they had not been wearing a harness and lanyard? IPAF advice is generally not to wear harness in scissor lifts, unless a risk assessment shows that the in particular application it would be safer than not.