MAN CAGES MAN CAGES HAVE TO ADHERE TO STRICT STIPULATIONS AS OUTLINED BY THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT (OHSA). Don’t be caught off guard. Man cages have to adhere to strict stipulations as outlined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Ashley Davis, group sales marketing manager for Yale Lifting Solutions, and a Leeasa council member, recently shared some important advice at the Lifting Equipment Conference held at Electra Mining in Johannesburg. A company (not named for obvious reasons) recently found itself in hot water over a man cage. It had been purchased from a respectable company, inspected and found fully compliant. It was subsequently commissioned. Within a couple of days, however, workers were complaining about the heat and what followed was some engineering ingenuity. Fitted with a brand-new sunroof the man cage was back in action. Much consternation followed when the Department of Labour (DoL) arrived several days later and scrapped a brand-new machine. The reason? It had been modified. “Once modified or repaired a man cage must be certified and approved by DoL before it can be recommissioned,” says Davis. “And
it is an approval for each and every man cage. You cannot incorporate several cages into one approval either.” Another important aspect to remember is that the certification of man cages are 100% the responsibility of the client. Lifting Machine Inspectors (LMI) can assist with the approval to the extent that they can advise and guide the client, but ultimately man cages are not LMI responsibility but that of the owner or user thereof. “It is very important to note that permission to use a cage is granted to a specific user at a specific location,” says Davis. “This cannot be transferred to another location even in the same company. If you are using it at location 1 and you want to move it to a new spot
tomorrow then permission must be obtained for that. By law, no person can be moved or supported by means of a lifting machine unless that machine is fitted with a man cage that has been designed and manufactured according to an approved SANS standard and approved for a purpose by an inspector and then only after a risk assessment has been done. According to Davis, the aim of this regulation is to ensure that people are lifted safely and that work is done safely. “The intention is to limit the use of a man cage as far as possible,” he says. “The use of cradles should in the first instance be avoided by the use of purpose made machinery according to Driven Machinery Regulations (DMR) 18. In cases where the use of a cradle cannot be avoided, the user must apply for approval from the DoL.”
Misconceptions and legal requirements A bosun’s chair (or boatswain’s chair) is not a man cage. This is a suspended platform seat intended for supporting one person in an elevated position. “It is a device used to suspend a person from a rope to perform work aloft. Originally just a short plank or swath of heavy canvas, many modern bosun’s chairs incorporate safety devices similar to those found in rock climbing harnesses such as safety clips and additional lines,” says Davis. 18
Lifting Africa - Nov/Dec 2018