Your task, your site, your risk assessment
Every ladder, platform and lift on this site is selected by the people who will use it, for the task and site they know. Before any access equipment goes to work, the person responsible for the job needs to complete a risk assessment. This page covers the basics and points you to the official tools. It is general information only, not advice, and it is not a substitute for your own assessment.
The basic steps
- Identify the hazards. Working at height, manual handling, moving plant, floor surfaces, overhead obstructions, other people in the area.
- Assess the risks. How likely is an incident, and how serious would it be? How high, how often, what is being carried, who is doing the work?
- Control the risks. Work through the hierarchy of controls: eliminate the need to work at height first, then substitute, isolate or use engineering controls (platforms, rails, gates), then administrative controls, then PPE.
- Review. Check the controls are working, and reassess whenever the task, equipment or site changes.
Questions worth answering before choosing access equipment
- How high do you actually need to stand, and how often?
- What are you carrying up and down, and how heavy is it?
- What is the floor like: level, sloped, smooth, wet?
- Who will use it, and do they need rails, gates or a fall-arrest anchor point?
- Does the equipment’s load rating cover the person plus everything they carry?
Official resources
The authoritative guidance comes from the regulators, not from us:
- Safe Work Australia: falls from heights, including the model Code of Practice for managing the risk of falls at workplaces.
- Your state or territory work health and safety regulator (for example WorkSafe Victoria).
Manufacturer resources
StockMaster publishes product risk assessments for each model in the range (Lift-Truk, Mezzalad, Navigator, Step-Thru, Tracker, gates and more), along with the manufacturing standards they are built to, including AS 1892.1:2018. As StockMaster puts it, product risk assessments do not ensure the suitability of an item for any given task; that judgement belongs to the business doing the work.
Where we fit in
Once you know what your assessment calls for, we can help you narrow down the StockMaster range by platform height, load rating and use case. Selection is always your call. Call 0424 254 904 or contact us.