# MEWP Safe Use Plan



## DaveySimps (Sep 7, 2021)

We are reworking our MEWP Safe Use Plan for our Genie lift. I was hoping some helpful folks might be willing to share theirs, especially for a Group A Type 1 lift or any plan in an educational setting. I have the Genie Safe Use Plan Guidance document, but I was hoping to read over a few plans that have been implemented specifically in a theatrical setting.

Thanks!

~Dave


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## What Rigger? (Sep 8, 2021)

Hey @DaveySimps ! I'd love to share documents- but my employer definitely don't allow that. One idea that leaps to mind here is: for the educational setting you're in now, does the Facilites/Maintenance department have a plan? Can you use that document as your starting off point? (Keeping in mind my wife is a teacher, so I'm pretty sure I know the answer...but hope springs eternal). 

Another baseline to start with is, of course, the documentation from the manufacturer and anything from your local AHJ or OSHA organization.


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## DaveySimps (Sep 8, 2021)

Thanks for the reply. The district has nothing. I am usually the leader on this stuff. I have the Genie guidelines and took the USITT webinar last week on it so I am certain I could come up with something. I was just trying not to reinvent the wheel, and to see what people are doing that is specific to a deployment in a theatre setting. I have no local AHJ or OSHA resource. Unfortunately being proactive around here is not always encouraged.

~Dave


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## mrtrudeau23 (Sep 8, 2021)

We recently formalized our MEWP procedures with assistance (pushing) from our Risk Assessment Department on campus. Every 8 hours we have to do a pre-op check list for the lift in use and we have to do a risk assessment of the space the lift is being used in and a communicated rescue plan. Anyone who drives a lift needs to successfully pass an operator's class and test, and anyone who rides in a 2 person lift must complete occupant training which basically covers how the lift works and how to bring the lift down if the operator is incapacitated.
I'd also like to share documents, but am not able, but that is basically our procedure for MEWPs.


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## DaveySimps (Sep 9, 2021)

Thanks for the reply. Yup, most of those are listed requirements for any plan. I understand about not being able to share content. 

~Dave


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## nealgrover (Sep 15, 2021)

Always I’m going to be the newbie though I’m 64 and I’ve worked extensively in new construction, rehab and repair outside of theater snd education.
1. What is MEWP? We have a genie lift and a volunteer who is very experienced with its use. We need it often lately because the curtains are fragile and often handled roughly. Further, the trees FOH are best accessible via genie, the whole theater is in a state of neglect and I am building a student stage crew from scratch. Central admin never does anything without being asked three times over the course of several months. When we were out-of-the-blue told first not to use it and then later not to leave evidence of School District complicity in our use of it… I just shrugged and so did the non-employee volunteer. Doing anything in the theater is outside my music teaching job description but kids need to be seen snd heard on stage and that’s that. 

Without a lot of acronyms, I’d love to know what school districts do. Parent volunteers (qualified) are all over the lifts in our nearest neighboring district. Is there a special insurance rider the stage boosters can pay for?


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## RonHebbard (Sep 15, 2021)

nealgrover said:


> Always I’m going to be the newbie though I’m 64 and I’ve worked extensively in new construction, rehab and repair outside of theater and education.
> 1. What is MEWP? We have a Genie lift and a volunteer who is very experienced with its use. We need it often lately because the curtains are fragile and often handled roughly. Further, the trees FOH are best accessible via genie, the whole theater is in a state of neglect and I am building a student stage crew from scratch. Central admin never does anything without being asked three times over the course of several months. When we were out-of-the-blue told first not to use it and then later not to leave evidence of School District complicity in our use of it… I just shrugged and so did the non-employee volunteer. Doing anything in the theater is outside my music teaching job description but kids need to be seen and heard on stage and that’s that.
> 
> Without a lot of acronyms, I’d love to know what school districts do. Parent volunteers (qualified) are all over the lifts in our nearest neighboring district. Is there a special insurance rider the stage boosters can pay for?


* @nealgrover* Left click on MEWP in your post; words underlined in yellow have definitions / explanations provided. 
Mobile Elevated Work Platform. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## egilson1 (Sep 15, 2021)

nealgrover said:


> Always I’m going to be the newbie though I’m 64 and I’ve worked extensively in new construction, rehab and repair outside of theater snd education.
> 1. What is MEWP? We have a genie lift and a volunteer who is very experienced with its use. We need it often lately because the curtains are fragile and often handled roughly. Further, the trees FOH are best accessible via genie, the whole theater is in a state of neglect and I am building a student stage crew from scratch. Central admin never does anything without being asked three times over the course of several months. When we were out-of-the-blue told first not to use it and then later not to leave evidence of School District complicity in our use of it… I just shrugged and so did the non-employee volunteer. Doing anything in the theater is outside my music teaching job description but kids need to be seen snd heard on stage and that’s that.
> 
> Without a lot of acronyms, I’d love to know what school districts do. Parent volunteers (qualified) are all over the lifts in our nearest neighboring district. Is there a special insurance rider the stage boosters can pay for?


in June of 2020 a updated version of the ANSI A92 suite of standards was updated. This standard suite deals with what we use to call Aerial lifts or Aerial Work Platforms. One of the changes was the name of the devices. MEWP stands for Mobile Elevated Work Platform. The other major change was that all users (including passengers) need to be trained both by classroom instruction as well as hands on evaluation. There is no grandfather provision, so if you had a "lift card" before, it is no longer valid as proof of training. 

It is also unlikely that OSHA would NOT expect you to follow the new standard even though the 2020 version of A92 is not yet specifically referenced by OSHA law. The previous version is, and updates are usually assumed to be applicable via that reference.


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## 120208 (Sep 15, 2021)

Hi Dave,
You can read my views on how to comply with the new ANSI/SAIA standards in this _Protocol_ article. If you're 100% certain that you'll ONLY have A-1 MEWPs in your "care, custody and control", then write your SUP and Rescue Plan to focus narrowly on the push-around models. Focus-test your SUP with average operators- is it easily understood? Your written plan will have to be approved by your organization, so expect some foot-dragging, but don't give up. Once the ink dries, you should document each person's Qualified Operator training, including when they read through the SUP and had an opportunity to receive clarification on anything they don't understand. I don't work in a school setting, but I've always wondered how you folks address the bad (prohibited) habit of pushing the lift across the stage while elevated?


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## DaveySimps (Sep 29, 2021)

Thanks for the link. I appreciate it. We would only have this one lift. I take great care of it, and protect it from abuse by others in the district who cannot find theirs, or find theirs not operable. 

We shrug through and do a focus by coming up and down in the lift each time. Not fun, but it is our reality. We work from a rep plot, so it is as flexible as I can be with what we have. We do not rehang and focus constantly as other have to.

~Dave


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