This month’s WorkSafe Safety Soapbox reminds employers and workers that even the most experienced EWP operators can’t see everything that is going on around them, and that is why a safety observer is so important.
Last month we reported on the charges laid against three companies for the 2023 death of an employee in an EWP incident, and the plumbing company that was fined $25,000 after an employee became pinned by his throat in while operating an EWP. In the first case there was no safety observer and in the second there was an observer assigned to the task but at the time of the incident he had walked 20m away to answer a phone call.
Elevated Work Platforms (EWPs) are essential tools that provide a stable platform for performing tasks at heights safely. There are many types of EWPs including scissor lifts, boom lifts and telehandlers, that are designed to lift or lower people when working at heights is necessary. Most EWPS have controls at the basket where workers stand and emergency controls at the base for emergency situations.
Working with EWPs is high-risk construction work. That means a detailed Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is legally required, outlining the job steps, the potential hazards and how those risks will be controlled.
A safety observer is positioned on the ground and acts as the operator’s second set of eyes. In environments with overhead pipes, tight spaces, moving vehicles, live wires, pedestrian traffic or poor lighting, having an alert safety observer is the safest way to do the job.
Not just anyone can be a safety observer – observers must be competent and training in the EWP they are observing and if the EWP operator must hold a high-risk work licence, then so too must the safety observer. They must also be training in emergency rescue procedures and if the work is near live overhead lines the safety observer must be a registered ESV Electrical Spotter.
Safety observers must be always watching the EWP and cannot do other work at the same time, and there must be enough observers present to ensure that every EWP in use has an appropriately trained observer.
WorkSafe’s safety observer article includes links a video showing an overview of the hazards associated with scissor lifts and a link to the EWP Industry Standard.
Read more: Safety Soapbox | July 2025
Elevating Work Platforms industry standard (Edition 4) | WorkSafe Victoria