New Genie® Lift Guard™ Contact Alarm prototype for scissor and vertical mast lifts to be shown at Vertikal Days, UK

New system alerts operators, occupants and ground personal to potential hazards when working at height.

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Genie^® protective solutions continue to evolve. Highlighting a new generation in innovative solutions, a prototype of the new Genie Lift Guard™ Contact Alarm system for Genie GS™ scissor lifts and Genie GR™, GRC™ and QS™ vertical masts will be shown to Genie customers during Vertikal Days at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, May 16-17 on stand n°110. This system is an electronic secondary guarding solution designed to activate when an obstruction makes contact with an activation whisker mounted on the lift’s platform guardrails, alerting the operator, occupants and ground personnel of a potential hazard.

 “Operator safety and productivity are key considerations in the Genie design process,” says Zach Gilmor, Genie Product Manager, Terex AWP, for the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia region (EMEAR). “The Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system for slab scissor and vertical mast lifts is designed to supplement a trained operator’s situational awareness and provide a secondary layer of guarding while working at height. Showing this prototype to customers during Vertikal Days gives us the opportunity to engage with Genie customers and end users, gaining feedback from them so we can tailor our future protective solution offerings to best meet their needs and expectations.” 

According to Gilmor, the standard configuration for the Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system for slab scissor and vertical mast lifts will include two activation whiskers — one mounted on the front of the platform, and one mounted on the rear.

How will it work?

The Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system for slab scissor and vertical mast lifts is designed to

activate when an activation whisker is deflected by an obstruction, triggering the limit switch in the base of the assembly. When the system is activated, all machine motion will stop, an alarm will sound and beacons will flash. The operator will be able to continue driving or elevating the platform into the desired working position after acknowledging the activation system and machine stopped condition. According to Gilmor, a free-movement zone will exist between the activation whisker and guardrail, to allow mobility for operators and occupants after the system is activated.

Why this design?

“Genie customers throughout the world are committed to workplace safety, and we want to support their efforts with focused market solutions.  We designed the Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system for slab scissor lifts and vertical masts to provide a level of secondary guarding equivalent to that available on boom lifts, in a package that meets the unique needs of scissor and vertical mast lift applications,” says Zach Gilmor.

The Genie Lift Guard Contact Alarm system for slab scissor lifts and vertical mast lifts will go into production in late 2018. A retrofit kit will be available at time of production to allow for compatibility with Genie Smart Link™ system-enabled scissor lifts and vertical masts produced from 2011-2018.