Summary Statement

This arborist is being raised on a boatswain's chair to access the tops of trees. This is a very dangerous practice that OSHA does not allow except under the following conditions: The use of equipment to hoist employees is prohibited except where the employer demonstrates that the erection, use, and dismantling of conventional means of reaching the work area, such as a personnel hoist, ladder, stairway, aerial lift, elevating work platform, or scaffold, would be more hazardous, or is not possible because of the project's structural design or worksite conditions. Source: 1926.1431(a) The American National Standards Institute has a standard specifically written for arborists (Z133-2012) that allows this use of cranes, but only after a qualified person has authorized it by determining that it is the "safest and/or only feasible method to perform the work or gain access to a tree."
July 26, 2017