Stickers will save lives

“Click It!” “Clunk Click!” “Click Clack!” “Clic Clac!” “Un petit Clic!”

A new safety campaign to encourage all users of boom type platforms to wear a full body harness with a short lanyard attached to a suitable anchor point has been launched by Aerial Work Platform Training (AWPT) in North America. Called “Click It!” the campaign has received the approval of the Scaffold Industry Association (SIA) and is similar to successful promotional campaigns encouraging people to wear their seatbelts when riding in a car.

The new program’s initiative came from companies frustrated with the fact that people are dying while using boom type lifts because they are not wearing a harness that would keep them from being thrown or catapulted from the platform. To remind and encourage people to wear a harness, AWPT printed that advice on stickers that can be placed on the boom lift where they can be seen by all occupants in the platform. In addition, AWPT has made available a document titled Technical Guidance Note AWPT H1 that provides information on its recommendation for the proper use of harnesses and lanyards on different types of aerial platforms. Information on both can be found on-line at www.awpt.org.

Called “Clunk Click!” in the UK where it was first introduced, the campaign is being promoted worldwide by the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), AWPT’s parent organization. To-date, thousands of stickers have been printed and distributed throughout the UK and the program has spread rapidly.
At the 2007 Bauma show, international versions of the program were launched at the IPAF stand including the German “Click Clack!”, Italian “Clic Clac!”, French “Un petit Clic!” and other versions of the program in Dutch and Spanish.

“In countries where the program has already been introduced, major rental companies and others took the initiative to promote the program because unnecessary fatal accidents were happening when occupants were thrown out of boom platforms because they were not wearing harnesses,” says IPAF managing director, Tim Whiteman. “These simple stickers can save lives.”

Although the “Click It!” program was officially introduced in North America at the Saf-T Conference that follows the SIA Conference on July 20, the program was already starting to gain momentum. Skyjack, a Canadian aerial work platform manufacturer in Guelph, Ontario, has committed to placing the “Click It!” stickers on all boom lifts that leave its factory and a number of major rental companies have expressed interest in placing this vital message on all boom lifts in their rental fleet.

Rental companies interested in obtaining “Click It!” stickers for their machines or copies of Technical Guidance Note AWPT H1 can visit www.awpt.org. Small quantities of stickers are available free of charge and larger quantities or custom-printed versions can be ordered for a nominal price. Downloadable
artwork is also available on-line for printing your own stickers.

The rental industry is encouraged to join AWPT in promoting this important safety message and help spread the word about how safety harnesses can save lives. -end-