MEWPs (mobile elevating work platforms) are a popular choice for warehouse work at height, offering increased safety and ease of access to tall stock shelves and racking.
But which type of powered access platform best suits a warehouse environment? What MEWP power type is best? And how to make your boom or scissor lift even better suited to warehouse work?
Get answers to all these questions and more in this guide to ensure your MEWP is ready for the warehousing industry.
What are MEWPs Used for in Warehouses?
Powered access platforms like scissor lifts and cherry pickers are used to safely and efficiently conduct a range of warehouse tasks, including:
- Stocktaking and auditing – Allowing staff to access tall storage racks safely and efficiently.
- Stock picking – Accessing hard-to-reach stock ready for delivery.
- Cleaning – Ensuring warehouses are in optimal condition.
- Maintenance – Keeping warehouses safe and in good working order.
MEWPs can aid with tasks at a range of heights, from low to high. Compact electric scissor lifts or smaller push-around platforms are ideal for indoor work, particularly where aisles are narrow, allowing them to operate within a small space. The electric machines and smaller push-around platforms are clean and quiet, which aids sustainability goals and health and wellbeing requirements.
Why Choose an Access Platform for Your Warehouse
While scaffolding and ladders might seem suitable for some warehouse jobs, the use of this equipment poses many limitations and safety issues.
Due to the versatility of access platforms, employees can work safely and more efficiently at heights by using a MEWP for warehousing work. As MEWPs are mainly mobile, they can be easily manoeuvred around to perform a broad range of jobs such as stock picking, repairs, stock checks or maintenance, for example. In addition, the racking industry uses powered access when installing and repairing warehousing racking.
With the platform’s load-bearing capacity, your lifter can carry stock down from shelves or carry tools upward for maintenance rather than workers unsafely carrying loads up ladders etc. But of course, the weight of the material shouldn’t exceed the lifter’s safe working load (SWL) and they shouldn’t be so big that they overhang.
The railings on platforms and the option to attach harnesses, depending on the type of platform you use, give increased fall protection, too. See our extensive guide to access platforms to learn more about the benefits available.
What Features Should a Warehouse Powered Access Platform Have?
To help with your search for a warehouse MEWP, we’ve created a list of some beneficial traits.
- Narrowness – More slender MEWPs benefit warehouse work in aisles that are tight.
- Non-marking tyres – In an indoor environment, non-marking tyres can help to keep the space clean and neat.
- Load sensor devices increase safety by ensuring your MEWP is not overloaded and helping prevent it from overturning.
- Reach – MEWPs can extend 10s of metres high which is typically fine for most warehousing tasks.
- Straightforward controls – Quick and easy-to-use controls ensure stock pickers can quickly fulfil orders.
- Clean power – Battery-powered MEWPs can help improve air quality in warehouses and meet ESG goals.
Which Type of Access Platform is Best for Warehouse Work?
There are a number of MEWP types, each best suited for different purposes.
Push-Around Platforms
Push-around platforms, or push-around vertical (PAV) lifts, are a type of vertical lift platform that is manually pushed from place to place, before being raised whether through electricity or the manual turning of a handle. These machines are emission-free and ideal for small or narrow indoor spaces where fumes need to be avoided.
However, PAV lifts are smaller and often do not reach as high as scissor lifts or booms, so it is best to opt for alternative access machines for working in high-ceilinged warehouses with tall racking.
Personnel Platforms
Personnel platforms are incredibly compact vertical lifts, making them the a good choice for warehouses with particularly narrow aisles or a small footprint. Due to their small size, platform capacities for these MEWPs do not tend to exceed 250kg, so larger lifts may be needed for heavy inventory warehouses.
Scissor Lifts
A scissor lift is a larger and often more powerful vertical platform, perfect for a warehouse with particularly high shelves or heavy inventory. They reach higher and lift more than both PAV and personnel lifts while still being reasonably compact.
Cherry Pickers
Cherry pickers are great for getting to hard-to-reach areas. Although not predominantly used in warehousing for routine work, a cherry picker’s extendable arm and flexible knuckle makes them ideal for maintenance and repair work inside and outside of warehouses.
For an extra helping hand in finding the perfect platform for your warehouse, try our Platform Finder tool.
What Fuel Type is Best for a Warehouse Platform Lift?
Electric-powered access platforms are our recommendation for warehousing work. Scissor lifts that run on electricity are much quieter than diesel-powered platforms, perfect for quiet indoor zones. They also don’t emit fumes, which can cause breathing issues and lingering smells in a warehouse’s enclosed space.
With electric access platforms, you also avoid the drip of diesel, which can result in mess and slip hazards on your warehouse floor.
Do I Need to Hire or Buy a MEWP for Working at Height in a Warehouse?
If you work in a warehouse and are carrying out stock checks a few times a year or one-off repairs or maintenance over a few weeks every now and again, then it is advisable to hire powered access machines. Likewise, companies installing warehouse racking will more than likely hire access platforms. But if you work at height in one or many warehouses every day or week, then it is better to buy or contract hire access platforms, as there are several cost savings associated with purchasing scissor lifts and cherry pickers.
Are Your Warehouse Employees Ready to Work with MEWPs?
If you’re introducing access platforms into your warehouse, you’ll need to ensure workers operating the machines are trained for their safety and meet the HSE’s requirement to provide people with adequate training to ensure they are competent to operate the machines. Luckily, Horizon Platforms offers IPAF courses so that your warehouse workers can obtain a relevant powered access licence, while those overseeing MEWP work can take our MEWPs for Managers course.
If you aren’t sure which MEWP operator course is right for your employees, see our access platforms training guide.
Want to learn more about using MEWPs in your warehouse work? Contact one of our friendly team with any questions.
Already know which MEWP you want for your warehouse? To hire access machines, visit our hire pages or go over to PlatformSupermarket.com, powered Horizon, to buy a new or used cherry picker or scissor lift.