Man Lift Types: What are the Different Kinds of Construction Lifts?

Mobile aerial lifts are critical pieces of construction equipment on any job site. There are many types of aerial work machines that share some resemblances but serve distinct purposes, which can make navigating the safety precautions confusing. That’s where proper heavy equipment training comes in, ensuring operators know how to handle each machine confidently. 

So, what is a man lift? What are the different types of construction lifts? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? What types of safety precautions do you need to take? This article aims to demystify the different kinds of man lifts, their distinct features, and their uses.

What Is an Aerial Lift?

An aerial lift's definition is any powered mobile platform used to elevate personnel to various heights.

In other words, it’s a machine with some type of platform or work basket that lifts employees toward high, hard-to-reach work areas.  Aerial lifts are also known as man lifts, aerial work platforms (AWPs), or mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs).

It’s worth noting that while the term is generally used to cover both scissor lifts and boom lifts, OSHA classifies scissor lifts as "mobile scaffolds" instead.

Types of Construction Lifts

A few different types of machines fall under the MEWP definition.

There are two main categories: scissor lifts, which elevate personnel directly above the lift's base using crisscrossed metal supports, and boom lifts, which can lift workers up and over (horizontally from the base) with a movable arm called a boom.

But even within those two categories, there are different types of aerial lifts useful for different applications.

Electric Scissor Lifts

Scissor lifts that run on electricity are ideal for indoor use since they are relatively clean and quiet. In addition to eliminating the exhaust you’d expect from a diesel scissor lift, they’re more likely to have a pneumatic lifting mechanism than a hydraulic one, making them faster, lighter, easier to maintain, and with a smaller footprint. Indoor lifts tend to be more maneuverable with a smaller turning radius.

The downside is that they’re less powerful for lifting a heavy load. Their light weight can also make them less stable, so they should only be operated on level ground.

All of these characteristics combined make electric scissor lifts suitable for indoor or space-limited environments where heavy materials aren’t needed. Applications include indoor maintenance, warehouse work, and window cleaning. The applications for the construction industry lean more toward renovation and repair, as well as the indoor, preparatory stages of demolition.

Diesel Scissor Lifts

Diesel-powered lifts are more heavy-duty than electric lifts. They tend to have hydraulic lifting mechanisms, which can accommodate greater heights, larger platforms, and heavier loads. The weight of the diesel engine and fluid-based lifting mechanism adds stability while limiting maneuverability.

Diesel scissor lifts – with their noisy operation and toxic emissions – are designed for outdoor use only. Unless rated for rough terrain, they’re generally limited to even, level surfaces like building slabs. This makes them useful in sign installation, bricklaying, cleaning or painting exteriors, and similar work.

Rough Terrain (RT) Scissor Lifts

Some fuel-powered scissor lifts come equipped with features that allow them to operate on rough terrain or on sloped ground. Relevant features include heavy-duty tires, four-wheel drive, positive traction control, and leveling outriggers.

RT scissor lifts can be used on landscaping work, construction sites with uneven terrain, mining or quarrying, power line work, and more.

Articulating Boom Lifts

Also called knuckle lifts, articulating boom lifts have a boom with multiple joints to allow rotation and extension. These make articulating booms good for maneuvering in tight quarters around obstacles.

Cherry Pickers

Cherry pickers are a type of articulating boom lift that is mounted in the bed of a truck.

These are common in power line maintenance, tree trimming, and the agricultural work from which they derive their name.

Telescoping Boom Lifts

Unlike knuckle booms, a telescoping boom lift has an arm that telescopes out in a straight line. The arm is typically anchored to a turntable that provides rotation.

What telescoping booms sacrifice in terms of complex maneuverability, they make up with the ability to support greater vertical lifts up to 210 feet. They can also handle a heavier load.

The tallest MEWPs in the world are telescoping booms designed for operations like wind turbine maintenance or high-rise firefighting. More modest telescoping booms are used for exterior construction, bridgework, sports stadium maintenance, and more.

Telescoping boom lifts are often the best construction lifts for high-rise projects due to their larger height and weight capacity. They’re especially useful for exterior work, but they do have limitations.

Speaking of high-rise projects, it’s worth noting that there is one kind of “man lift” that does NOT fall into the MEWP category. Construction hoists are used to move materials and personnel to great heights, but they’re not technically “mobile” like the equipment discussed above, and while they perform the “lifting” function, they’re not designed as work platforms. Still, hoists are a critical piece of construction equipment that picks up where MEWPs leave off.

What Are the Safety Considerations of an Aerial Work Platform?

According to the Center for Construction Research and Training, aerial lifts are responsible for 2-3% of construction deaths every year. Common causes of death include:

• Electrocution after contact with overhead power lines
• Being ejected from the bucket after the lift is struck or suddenly jerks
• The bucket cable or boom broke
• Tip-over

Boom lifts account for 70% of aerial lift deaths, while scissor lifts account for 25%, but regardless of the type, the safest lifts for construction workers are ones that follow OSHA safety protocols.

Below, we’ll discuss just a few of the precautions you need to take to prevent fatalities and injuries.

Inspect the Equipment

Before each use, inspect the construction lift equipment thoroughly.

Look for fluid leaks and loose or missing parts. Check the stability of the guardrails, the break functionality, battery levels, and other key components.

Do not operate the man lift if you find a problem until it's fixed.

Safeguard Against Falls

Falls are a major source of injury when operating an aerial work platform, so take special care to prevent them. Always latch the door behind you once you've entered the lift platform, hook yourself into a fall arrest system, avoid extending yourself over the guardrails, and keep an eye out for nearby obstructions.

Take measures to alert approaching vehicles or personnel that the man lift is in operation – bumps, jerks, and jostles are common causes of ejection.

Avoid Tip-Overs

Another common source of injury in a man lift is equipment tip-over.

Pay attention to the load capacity limits of the work platform and be careful not to exceed them. If you're working on rough terrain or ground that's not level, make sure you're using an aerial lift that's safe for those working conditions. You should also utilize all available safety features to stabilize the unit.

If high winds are in the forecast, check the manufacturer specs of your equipment for recommendations on safe wind speeds.

When using boom lifts, it's possible to cause a tip-over hazard by overloading the basket or overextending the horizontal or vertical reach of the equipment. Check your operator's manual for this information and be careful to stay within bounds.

What Kind of Training Do You Need to Operate a Construction Lift?

OSHA has specific training requirements for anyone who will be operating powered platforms, man lifts, and vehicle-mounted work platforms. They apply to both General Industry and Construction settings.

Generally speaking, such training will cover the following:

• Recognition and prevention of safety hazards associated with working platforms
• Emergency action plan procedures for power failure, equipment failure, and more
• Safe work procedures for the operation, use, and inspection of working platforms
• Personal fall arrest systems and their inspection, care, use, and system performance

Since the hazards and safety precautions vary by the type of aerial work platform, you need training that is specific as well. If you switch from one kind of construction lift equipment to another, you need to complete the training for the new type of lift before you step foot on the machine.

Online training with an OSHA-authorized provider like us can provide an invaluable foundation for the theory and facts of aerial work platform safety with equipment-specific courses. Your lessons are available anytime for your convenience, and you can take the material at your own pace.

Enroll today to get started!