As an owner of the Genie TZ-50, GET, LLC has been impressed by the safety features of this particular aerial lift. Safety should always be paramount when using this piece of equipment with work up to 50 feet from the ground. Alarms do help give operators some level of comfort knowing when trouble arises either working at height or simply setting up on a job site. Genie has rolled out yet another bit of innovation for boom lifts.
Genie announced recently that it has entered into a licensing agreement with Lavendon Group plc. for its "electronic secondary guarding solution" also known as the SkySiren. This system is designed to alert ground personnel when an operator makes contact with the platform control panel. The system interrupts boom movement, sounds an alarm and causes a light to flash.
Based on Lavendon's SkySiren technology, the Genie operator protective alarm (OPA) system can be retrofitted to any Genie articulating or telescopic boom lift manufactured after 2002. It is now available as an aftermarket option but will soon be offered as a factory-installed option.
"Our customers requested an additional option for operator overhead protection and we are responding by offering the Genie operator protective alarm," said Terex Booms Product Manager Frank Schneider. "By offering the OPA along with the Genie operator protective structure, our customers will be able to configure the machine as appropriate to the job site conditions."
The system is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible to operators and features a pressure sensitive horizontal bar that is fitted at around waist height below the boom lift's control panel. When pressure is placed on the bar, as may be the case if an operator makes contact with an overhead obstacle, the system is activated. The system also features a reset button that can be pressed if the system is inadvertently activated. Genie also will continue to offer the operator protective structure (OPS).
"We are incredibly pleased to reach this agreement and hope the global availability of this secondary guarding technology can aid the working at height experience of many end users worldwide," said Lavendon Group Chief Executive Officer Don Kenny.
The SkySiren system has been named the 2012 IOSH Innovation of the Year, the 2012 Construction Health and Safety Group Beaumont Safety Trophy and the 2012 IAPA Contribution to Safe Working at Height and most recently the US Leadership in Lifting Equipment and Access Platforms Platinum Award.
If you have any aerial lift needs and would like to discuss potential solutions, please drop GET, LLC a line via our website at www.get-guam.com or give us a call at 671-797-0789-your authorized Terex/Genie Representative for Guam and Micronesia.