Access Platform Companies in the UK

Uses and Benefits

Health and Safety has attracted some bad Press in recent years, but the huge improvements in construction site safety brought about by Working at Height regulations are certainly welcome.

Increased use of mobile elevated work platforms to get people and equipment into awkward areas not only means an end to the bad old days of ladder falls, but gives added flexibility and efficiency when working at height.

Access platforms can be used to reach into difficult corners for construction or maintenance projects, lifting weights over obstacles or adjacent buildings. Self-propelled access platforms can be wheeled or track driven to cope with uneven ground. Other aerial work equipment includes cherry pickers, boom lifts and scissor lifts.

Technological advances have brought about increased boom reach and improved safety features while enabling powered access platforms to become ever more compact and manoeuvrable. An operator at the base of the unit can control vertical, lateral and rotational movement and sometimes the tilt of the platform.

For safety with an environmental conscience, hybrid access platform machines are now available that can be operated cleanly and quietly on electric only – both indoors and out – or on hybrid power using a highly efficient smaller diesel engine with advanced catalytic converter for lower emissions. With hybrid, surplus power produced by the engine is stored in the battery pack and when extra ‘grunt’ is required the electric motor automatically assists to boost performance.