Risk assessment for access equipment under the Working Conditions Decree: the guide for site managers

Before the first scissor lift or articulating boom lift arrives on a site, a document must exist that many business owners underestimate: the risk assessment. It is not a formality but, under Dutch occupational health and safety legislation (Working Conditions Act and Working Conditions Decree), the precondition for using work equipment such as an aerial work platform or a telehandler at all. Anyone who carries it out inadequately or not at all is personally liable in the event of damage – regardless of whether the rental machine itself was technically sound.

For site managers and safety officers, this raises a question before every enquiry to Luibl Rental that starts long before the choice of equipment: what hazards does the specific location involve, and which measures must be in place before the operator first enters the platform? This guide takes you step by step through the process and shows how the assessment directly affects the choice of suitable access equipment.

Dutch occupational health and safety legislation requires the employer, or the site manager responsible on site, to identify and assess all associated hazards before work equipment is used for the first time. This explicitly applies to rented machines as well: responsibility for assessing the specific location remains with the operator, i.e. the renting company – not the rental company. Luibl Rental supplies a technically inspected machine in line with applicable Dutch health and safety rules, but whether this machine is suitable for the site in question, the ground and the weather conditions must be assessed and documented by the operator.

This responsibility can only be delegated if this is put in writing. If a site manager or foreman is tasked with carrying it out, this assignment must be documented just as thoroughly as the assessment itself. If the document is missing during an inspection by the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie), you cannot prove that the risk assessment was carried out – even if work on site was in fact carried out safely.

The prescribed procedure follows a fixed scheme that can be made specific for the use of aerial work platforms and telehandlers. First, all hazards that may occur at the planned location are identified: the load-bearing capacity of the ground, possible wind loads outdoors, the proximity of overhead power lines, traffic areas in the vicinity and any fall edges or floor openings. Only when this list is complete does the evaluation follow – i.e. the estimate of how likely a damaging event is and how serious the possible consequences would be.

Based on this evaluation, specific measures are defined in the third step. This is where the so-called TOP principle applies, which sets the order of permissible protective measures: technical measures before organisational measures before personal protective equipment. For an aerial work platform, this means in practice: first, it is checked whether a technical solution such as outrigger pads for load distribution or an automatic wind sensor cut-off can eliminate the hazard. Only if that is not sufficient do organisational measures such as barriers and time windows for the work follow, and finally personal fall protection as the last level of safety for the operator.

In the fourth step, the defined measures are actually implemented and communicated to everyone involved – in particular to the operator of the aerial work platform. The fifth and often neglected step is checking effectiveness: only once it has been verified that the measures really work in everyday site practice is the process complete. If conditions change – for example because a second construction phase begins or the ground changes due to the weather –, the assessment must be updated.

The specific hazards differ significantly depending on the machine used, which is why a general assessment without reference to the machine is usually insufficient in practice. With scissor lifts indoors, the main concerns are the floor load from the point loads of the wheels and the ceiling height, while with diesel scissor lifts outdoors wind load, uneven ground and the need for outrigger pads also become relevant. Articulating boom lifts, with their ability to reach sideways over obstacles, involve a different hazard category: here the assessment must cover the entire slewing range of the boom, including possible collisions with facade elements or cables.

Spider lifts are used specifically on impassable or sensitive terrain, for example in green spaces or on historic floors – here the risk assessment shifts more towards ground pressure and surface load. With truck-mounted platforms, a traffic component is added, as a set-up position on or next to public roads entails additional duties to secure the area under the Dutch Road Traffic Act 1994 and RVV 1990. If you are unsure which hazard category applies to your specific project, the category overview of aerial work platforms from Luibl Rental provides the key technical data of all platform types as a starting point for your own assessment.

The risk assessment does not stand alone but forms the basis for two further obligations that are closely interlinked in practice. It directly determines what competence the operator must have: anyone who establishes on the basis of the assessment that an articulating boom lift with high slewing dynamics will be used, for example, must ensure that the assigned operator holds the appropriate IPAF category. Details on the individual categories and the required operator competence are summarised in the guide to the IPAF operator licence.

Likewise, the risk assessment is linked to the technical inspection of the machine, but does not replace it: the periodic inspection of work equipment establishes that the machine itself is safe, while the risk assessment evaluates whether its use at the specific location under the specific conditions is safe. Both documents are requested independently of each other during an inspection. How the inspection documentation at Luibl Rental is organised and which records must be available with the machine is explained in detail in the guide to periodic inspection of work equipment.

A risk assessment carried out only verbally has no evidential value in court or during inspections by the Netherlands Labour Authority (Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie). The record must include the location and period of use, the hazards identified, the measures defined according to the TOP principle, the person responsible and the date of the effectiveness check. The document is signed by the person who carried out the assessment, usually the site manager or a competent person appointed by them in writing.

How long the record is kept depends on the period during which the work equipment is used, and at least until the completion of the construction project in question. For recurring, comparable deployments – for example when the same scissor lift is regularly used in the same factory hall – an existing assessment can serve as a template, but it must be reviewed and updated whenever the general conditions change significantly.

To help site managers get started, Luibl Rental provides a compact checklist that summarises all relevant check points for the use of aerial work platforms and telehandlers in the right order – from the assessment of the ground and the wind load limits to the documentation template based on the TOP principle. The checklist does not replace an individual assessment on site, but it provides a reliable structure so that even site managers without a daily safety routine do not overlook any relevant check point.

Once the risk assessment has been completed, it is usually also clear which equipment category meets the requirements: an electric scissor lift for dust-free indoor work, an articulating boom lift for work over obstacles or a spider lift for sensitive outdoor surfaces. Luibl Rental delivers the right machine throughout the Netherlands with a valid inspection sticker and supports you with questions about machine selection, so that the technical measures defined in the assessment can actually be implemented. The operator receives an on-site briefing on handover.

Do I really have to carry out a risk assessment myself for a rented machine? Yes. Responsibility for the risk assessment lies with the operator, i.e. the renting company, regardless of whether the machine was bought or rented. Luibl Rental provides a technically inspected machine; assessing the specific location remains the task of the site manager.

Is one general risk assessment sufficient for all sites? No. As ground, weather and environmental conditions differ from location to location, the assessment must be reviewed for every new location and adapted in the event of significant differences.

What happens if no risk assessment is available during an inspection? If the document is missing, you cannot prove that the assessment was carried out. This can lead to fines, an immediate prohibition of use and, in the event of damage, personal liability of the person responsible.

How does the risk assessment differ from the periodic inspection of work equipment? The periodic inspection confirms that the machine itself is technically safe. The risk assessment evaluates whether using this machine at the specific location under the specific conditions is safe. Both records are required independently of each other.

Who may carry out the risk assessment? In principle the employer or a competent person appointed in writing, for example a site manager or a safety specialist. The appointment must be documented.

The Luibl Rental team will answer your questions on the right equipment category for your assessed application during service hours, Mon–Fri, 08:00–17:00.

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