According to John Hofmeyer, Metrolift's vice president of sales, his company has taken advantage in the past year of a full-day telehandler training session given by Terex, as well as a full-day AWPT training session for scissors and booms facilitated by Skyjack.

“We also utilize third-party trainers who offer consistent training curriculum and on-site training consistent with training offered by Metrolift,” Hofmeyer says.

With the rental company personnel properly trained and certified it's time to lay out the steps for familiarizing and training customers upon delivery of an aerial lift rental. First, the rental company employee should go over the basic safety and operation features of the machine. In addition, a safety manual, the manufacturer's operations manual, ANSI and OSHA documentation, and the necessary fall protection equipment should be provided, along with clear instructions for its proper use. Finally, require customers to sign an agreement acknowledging that they have been familiarized with the unit upon delivery.

To help supplement its customers' safety training, Nickell Equipment offers aerial work platform safety certification monthly. For a small fee, two certified AWP safety trainers walk customers through all of the different types of lift equipment and the safety features and hazards associated with each.

Essex' employees make it a point to lead by example, using safe operating practices and wearing fall protection in the rental yard at all times.

“Our technicians, sales associates and delivery persons who interact with the customer, receive official training and are qualified to adequately perform the familiarization training,” says Morse. “Following the guidelines for proper training, our employees are required to wear proper fall protection in the yard when conducting ‘ready to rent’ inspections, loading and unloading, or simply moving the lifts around the yard.”

Essex' demonstration of proper use goes a long way in showing customers how aerial equipment is safely operated.

Once the customer is on his or her own with the equipment, Birch Equipment's Milton suggests following up with a phone call to make sure the aerial equipment is performing properly and to find out if the customer has any follow-up questions. If the customer is unavailable at the time of the call, Milton advises leaving a message and documenting your actions. In addition, Birch Equipment personnel are available 24 hours a day via an answering service.

“Anyone, anytime can call our store and be connected with a staff member,” Milton explains. “It is our practice to never leave a customer hanging and we have a full service team available to them. Because our staff is fully trained and utilizes a strict company protocol, we can ensure the customer has all of the necessary information to safely use the equipment.”

Nickell advises other rental companies to be careful and conscientious when recommending aerial equipment for any application. “In this industry it can be common to help customers come up with creative solutions to get their job done, but when dealing with aerial work platforms it is very important to go by the book and only recommend solutions for which the equipment is explicitly intended,” says Nickell. “I would also recommend increasing general liability coverage when adding aerial equipment to a fleet.

“It's also important to already have a plan of action ready in the event of an accident. What happens the first few hours after an accident can decide the fate of a potential future lawsuit.”

The importance of proper and thorough safety training for rental company employees and their customers cannot be overstated. Many accidents can be prevented by enforcing strict training and familiarization guidelines within the rental company and diligently updating training procedures and providing refresher courses on an annual basis.

“Lift safety, as well as all safety, starts at the top with the owner,” Morse says. “It's not necessary for the owner to be involved with every little aspect of the program, but it is the owner's directives that are essential. Being proactive is paramount when it comes to employee and customer safety in the lift industry.”