Manlifts

Scope

Manlifts consist of platforms or brackets and accompanying handholds mounted on, or attached to an endless belt, operating vertically in one direction only and being supported by, and driven through pulleys, at the top and bottom. These manlifts are intended for conveyance of persons only. This does not cover moving stairways, elevators with enclosed platforms, gravity lifts, or conveyors used only for conveying material. This only applies to manlifts used to carry only personnel trained and authorized by the employer in their use.

Regulatory citations

• 29 CFR 1910.68 — Manlifts

Key definitions

• Limit switch: A device, the purpose of which is to cut off the power to the motor and apply the brake to stop the carrier in the event that a loaded step passes the terminal landing.
• Manlift: A device consisting of a power-driven endless belt moving in one direction only, and provided with steps or platforms and handholds attached to it for the transportation of personnel from floor to floor.
• Rated speed: Rated speed is the speed for which the device is designed and installed.

Summary of requirements

• Require new manlifts and equipment to meet the design requirements of the “American National Safety Standard for Manlifts ANSI A90.1-1969.”
• Keep the landing space adjacent to the floor openings free from obstruction and clear at all times. The landing space must be at least 2 feet in width from the edge of the floor opening used for mounting and dismounting.
• Provide adequate lighting, not less than 5-foot candles, each floor landing.
• Provide an emergency landing where there is a travel of 50 feet or more between floor landings, so that there will be a landing (either floor or emergency) for every 25 feet or less of manlift travel.
• Guard entrances and exits at all floor landings by a maze (staggered railing) or a handrail equipped with self-closing gates.
• Provide adequate lighting for both runs of the manlift at an intensity of not less than 1-foot candle.
• Protect the entire manlift and its driving mechanism from the weather at all times.
• Make sure that after the manlift has been stopped by a stop device it is necessary to reset the automatic stop manually. Locate the device so that a person resetting it has a clear view of both the “up” and “down” runs of the manlift and that it is not possible to reset the device from any step or platform.
• Post signs giving instructions for the use of the manlift at each landing or stenciled on the belt.
• Prohibit freight, packaged goods, pipe, lumber, or construction materials of any kind.
• Have a competent designated person inspect manlifts at intervals of not more than 30 days.
• Check limit switches weekly.
• Do not allow unsafe manlifts to be operated until properly repaired.
• Keep a certification record which includes the date of the inspection, the signature of the person who performed the inspection and the serial number, or other identifier, of the manlift which was inspected.