With the 2024 CIF Construction Safety Campaign underway, an Australian company is embarking on a 10,000-mile journey from Melbourne to Ireland to address a potentially fatal safety risk facing Irish construction workers.
EQSS, a leading developer of safety systems, plans to visit construction sites across Dublin, Belfast, and the west coast to raise awareness of the risk of entrapment when using mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) and introduce their scissor lift secondary guarding solution, OverWatch.
“Among the most serious risks for MEWP users are falls, machine overturns, and crush incidents—also known as entrapment—which have tragically led to numerous fatalities and injuries over the past decade,” said Andrew Delahunt, Global Business Manager at EQSS.
He emphasized the importance of directly engaging with Irish contractors. “We want to understand their approaches to preventing crushing or entrapment incidents when using scissor lifts,” Delahunt explained. “Our OverWatch system helps protect workers from these dangers without interrupting normal machine operation.”
OverWatch has been in use on Australian construction sites for more than five years, with over 20,000 units in operation. Since opening a branch in London earlier this year, EQSS has fitted the solution to more than 1,000 scissor lifts across the U.K.
Andrew Delahunt outlined the broader picture “Keeping workers safe is our top priority. OverWatch has been very well-received by contractors both in Australia and the U.K., where thousands of workers now have enhanced protection against the risk of entrapment on scissor lifts. The risks are the same for Irish workers, and we are looking forward to introducing OverWatch to the Irish construction industry during our visit.”
The construction industry in Ireland is gearing up for growth in 2025 which will see large volumes of MEWPs, predominantly scissor lifts and boom lifts, in action on jobsites across the country. While MEWPs offer unmatched safety and efficiency when working at height, the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) noted in its 2024 Global Safety Report that the most common type of MEWP for entrapment incidents are Type 3a, which are scissor lifts and vertical mast lifts.
IPAF’s 2024 Global Safety Campaign, titled ‘Crushing Can Kill’, focuses on raising awareness about the dangers of crushing and entrapment when operating MEWPs. Damien O’Connor, IPAF’s Irish Representative, emphasised the importance of proper planning and taking precautionary measures.
He said, “MEWP operators and managers need to be aware that persons can be trapped between the MEWP and external structures when driving, manoeuvring and positioning of the MEWP platform. Utilising a suitable and sufficient risk assessment can identify the potential high-risk crushing/entrapment areas, and then an appropriate MEWP with a secondary guarding device can be selected. Adequate training is also critical for safe operation.”
OverWatch is already in use within Ireland through select partners, and EQSS is aiming to expand awareness of the system during the visit.
Ahern Ireland, the official OEM provider for Snorkel lifts in Ireland, had been searching for an anti-entrapment solution for scissor lifts for some time, and recently connected with EQSS.
Martin Masterson, general manager at Ahern Ireland, commented, “We work closely with our customers to help them select the right lifts for their application, and this includes sourcing safety solutions to minimise risks to their workers. We had been searching for a robust and reliable anti-entrapment solution for scissor lifts. OverWatch by EQSS is perfect for our requirements and is already approved for use on Snorkel lifts. We are excited to make OverWatch available on our products, and proud to be working with EQSS, with whom we share a common goal of providing innovative powered access solutions to the construction industry.”
Rental companies are also responding to the demand from major contractors for secondary guarding solutions. Paul Tumilty, Managing Director of Sunbelt Rentals Ireland, said, “Safety is at the core of everything we do at Sunbelt Rentals and our customers regularly request solutions that are fitted with the latest safety features, even beyond what current regulations require. We ensure that the equipment is rigorously tested to guarantee they deliver on safety and reliability before offering these to our customers. As part of our commitment, we offer OverWatch secondary guarding on our MEWPs to reduce the risk to the operator.”
Contractors and rental companies interested in learning more about how OverWatch can protect workers from the risk of entrapment on scissor lifts can contact Andrew Delahunt at adelahunt@eqss.com.au or visit www.eqss.com.au.
