MEWP Meaning
If you are new to the Powered Access market, it’s crucial that you understand the working at height jargon to ensure you can productively and safely operate this equipment. At Hire Safe Solutions, we aim to provide you with safe and reliable powered access machines and ensure that you have the relevant knowledge to work efficiently with these machines in order to increase your productivity site.
- MEWP stands for “mobile elevating work platform” and can be defined as an aerial work platform that allows access to hard to reach places, usually at height.
- What are the main types of MEWP, and how can they be categorised?
- Understanding different MEWP models will help you choose the best MEWP for your site.
What Does MEWP Mean?:
MEWP is the most commonly used term to describe powered access equipment and stands for “mobile elevating work platform”. It can be defined as an aerial work platform, such as a scissor lift or cherry picker, allowing access to hard to reach places, usually at a height.
What Are the Main Types of MEWPs?:
In order to choose the best MEWP for your site, it is vital you recognise the different types of MEWP available to you.
Scissor Lifts:
As the name suggests, Scissor Lifts are made up of a mechanism of crossed tubes that operate in a scissor-like motion that lifts the platform. To simplify the concept, they can also be described as self-propelled platforms, vertical lifts, or slabs. At Hire Safe Solutions, we offer a range of both battery and diesel Scissor Lifts, with varying heights reaching up to 34 metres and bespoke models to suit your specific application.
Telescopic Booms:
These lifts are fully equipped with boom sections which extend telescopically, allowing for greater horizontal reach, making them ideal for construction and industrial applications. They are also known as Stick Booms, Straight Booms, Cherry Pickers or S-Booms.
Articulating Booms:
Articulating Booms are equipped with multiple Boom sections that hinge or ‘articulate’ to allow access over obstacles or barriers. This piece of access equipment can move sections of the lift independently in isolation, which means operators can efficiently get into work areas that would generally be more difficult to reach. Other names for these aerial work platforms include Zed Booms, Up and Over Booms, Knuckle Booms and Zs and Z-Booms.
Understanding MEWP Model Names:
- The first number in the model’s name always represents the vertical reach which refers to the maximum platform height in feet vertically.
- The second number reflects the additional outreach in feet for an articulating boom.
- Regarding Scissor Lifts, the first two numbers indicate platform height (as with a boom), but the second two express wheel width (referring to the machine’s base at the wheels, not the chassis or platform).
Categorisation of MEWPs:
These different types of MEWPs have been broken down and allocated into specific groups to ensure that the health and safety regulations and recommendations are clearly understood for each machine. Group A lifts are only permitted to raise the platform vertically, this includes Scissor Lifts and Vertical Lifts. Group B is an umbrella term covering all other MEWPs, so any different type of Boom Lift.
After being allocated into specific groups, MEWPs are then further characterised by their type, which is done according to travel capabilities. Type 1 are permitted to travel with the lift in a stowed position, whereas type 2 MEWPs can travel with the platform elevated, as long as they are controlled from the chassis area. Similarly, type 3 MEWPs can also travel with the platform elevated, but instead, they are controlled from within the work platform.
At Hire Safe Solutions, we offer an incredible range of the latest MEWPs and “Super MEWPs” for both hire and sale and our team of dedicated and trained professionals will provide you with an expert consultation, matching your specific criteria to the perfect powered access solution.
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