Aerial lift OEMs Genie and JLG Industries have joined the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Associated Builders and Contractors in a petition that asks for the delayed American National Standards Institute A92 standards to be published on March 1st.
Others signing the petition to the Scaffold & Access Industry Association include Brent Hoover LLC, Skanska USA, Evulich and Associates and SEA Ltd.
The A92 standards for mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs) were published in December 2018 and were set to take effect this past December, but appeals delayed their effective date. Renewed appeals are still working their way through the appeals process, and in addition to the March 1st standard start, the petition is asking SAIA and ANSI to reform the appeals process.
Appeals push back implementation
The December 2019 to March 2020 deadline pushback was a result of a successful appeal by the American Rental Association and Tutus Solutions to delay the standards. According to ARA, the appeal was “focused on a requirement in the standard that each MEWP have a Manual of Responsibility (MoR) on each machine when it is delivered from the manufacturer and that the MoR be maintained on the machine by the owner of the machine.”
ARA argued that the manual is copyrighted by the SAIA and SAIA is its only source. This violates ANSI policies that say its standards can’t endorse products with a sole source. ARA said the manuals cost $8 per copy, and requiring rental companies to buy one for each machine “amounted to a significant burden on the industry.”
No more delays, say OEMs
In announcing the petition, Genie and JLG issued the following comments.
“We must all continue to drive innovation and safety across our industry in a coordinated way,” says Matt Fearon, Genie president, Terex Aerial Work Platforms. “We want the appeals resolved and new ANSI A92 standards to be effective on March 1, 2020, with no further delays. As an industry, we’ve invested significantly in our product line, standards together.”
Continues Fearon: “The continued delay in issuing the ANSI A92 standards has caused significant disruption and confusion for everyone in the industry. On behalf of aerial equipment manufacturers, owners and users, we are petitioning SAIA to ballot the ANSI A92 committee members to ensure the new standards are issued on March 1, 2020, and that the appeals process is reformed.”
“JLG has worked to support the association and its new standards, and has invested in helping educate the industry about the forthcoming changes since early 2017,” says JLG. “Our hope is this action will bring finality to the current appeals, create a long term structure around the appeals process and result in the publication of the new standards.”
An excerpt from the petition, provided by both Genie and JLG, states:
“As leaders in the construction and access equipment industry, we must all continue to drive the importance of innovation and safety across our end markets. Ongoing delays in the effectivity of the ANSI A92.20, .22, and .24 standards are causing unnecessary disruption and confusion in the aerial industry in the United States and in the global markets that adhere to these standards, as well as concerns over the impact that such delays will have on the users of the products to which these standards apply. Moreover, the appeals process used during standards promulgation, which lacks sensible procedures that allow for a finite timeline, has also contributed to the failure to formally implement the latest standards. While we understand and appreciate the grounds for the appeals that are currently being considered by SAIA, the continued ambiguity around the updated standards and their timing are negatively impacting the industry and must come to an end.
Pursuant to Section 8.5 of ASC A9 — Aerial Platforms Committee Policies and Procedures for the Development of American National Standards, we hereby request that the ASC A92 Main Committee issue a letter ballot to make the above standards effective no later than March 1, 2020. Further, in the event the March issuance date is not adhered to, pursuant to ANSI Essential Requirement Annex B: Procedures for the Development of a Provisional American National Standard (“ANS”) or a Provisional Amendment to an ANS, we hereby demand that you immediately proceed under the authority of the above-cited requirement to make the above standards provisionally effective [Editor’s note: emphasis used in provided text] as of March 1, 2020. Finally, we demand that the SAIA and ANSI Board of Standards Review take immediate action to establish and implement new procedures going forward to better define the timing and implementation requirements for any new future standard and the resolution of any corresponding appeals.”
