Mobile Elevated Work Platforms (MEWPs) such as Genie Booms, Scissor Lifts and Telehandlers are used extensively in production and events for their designed purpose as an elevated platform to enable safe work at height typically in the construction and rigging or derigging of sets and venues.

They are also often used for purposes for which they were not specifically designed, such as hanging lights, diffusers and screens.

Their use for ‘normal’ purposes and for specialist tasks carries significant risks which include falling from height, entrapment or crushing from parts of the machinery, objects or loads falling from height and machines overturning.

The latter is of particular concern when they are used to elevate large loads such as screens and large banks of lights in windy conditions. It is important to understand the different types of platforms and their safe use for the proposed purpose.