MEWP and Cherry Picker GA1 Inspections: The 6-Month Rule

If a machine lifts people, its GA1 clock runs twice as fast. MEWPs, cherry pickers, scissor lifts and boom lifts need a thorough examination at least every 6 months — not the 12 months that applies to most other plant. It is the single most commonly missed interval we come across, usually because someone assumed "the machine was done this year."

Why 6 months?

The General Application Regulations 2007 set the shorter interval for equipment used to lift people for an obvious reason: a mechanical failure with an operator in the platform at height leaves no margin. Ground-level lifting failures drop loads; people-lifting failures drop people. The examination regime reflects that.

What the thorough examination covers

A MEWP examination by a competent person goes well beyond a function test:

• Structure. Boom sections, scissor stack, pins, bushes, welds and the platform itself — examined for cracking, distortion, corrosion and wear-induced play.
• Hydraulics and drive. Cylinders, hoses, holding valves and drift under load — a platform that settles is a failed platform.
• Safety functions. Emergency lowering, ground controls and their override, tilt alarms and cut-outs, limit switches, gate interlocks, harness anchor points, and outrigger/stabiliser interlocks where fitted.
• Load and identification. Platform capacity markings, serial number and plate legible and matching the machine, manuals and decals in place.

Hired MEWP? Read this bit

Most MEWPs on Irish sites are hired, and this is where responsibility gets fumbled. The hire company should supply a machine with a current GA1 — but as the user, you must satisfy yourself it is in date before the machine goes up. A hire agreement does not transfer your duty to check. On long-term hires, watch the calendar: a machine delivered with four months left on its GA1 goes out of date mid-hire, and the report doesn't renew itself. Agree in writing who arranges the 6-month examination on long hires.

Proof on site

Main contractors increasingly check MEWP paperwork at the gate and again during safety audits, and the HSA asks for it on inspection. The practical standard to hold yourself to: anyone standing beside the machine can produce its current GA1 within a minute — on paper in the machine's document holder, or digitally by scanning a tag on the chassis. "It's in the office" has failed more audits than any defect we've found.

Between examinations

The 6-month GA1 is the floor, not the ceiling. Operators should complete pre-use checks daily, site rules typically require weekly recorded inspections, and any incident — a knock from another machine, an overload, contact with a structure — means the machine stops until it is examined again, whatever the paperwork says.

Book before it lapses

L&M Plant & Inspection Services Ltd. examines MEWPs, cherry pickers and scissor lifts on site nationwide, aligns mixed fleets onto shared due dates, and issues reports on completion — with reminders before your next 6-month deadline. Call 083 870 5355 to book.