When John L. Grove retired after spending many years building the family crane manufacturing company into an industry leader, he and his wife set out on a cross-country trip.
From that fateful trip emerged JLG Industries, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of mobile aerial work platforms and specialized material handling equipment.
During the trip the Groves witnessed the tragic electrocution of two workers on scaffolding while at the Hoover Dam. The event, combined with the time talking to old business associates, led John to an untapped market for a product that could safely and quickly put people in the air to perform construction and maintenance functions.
With a crew of 20 workers, John soon built and sold the first JLG aerial work platform in 1970. Many of the basic design elements of that original lift are still being incorporated into JLG Scissorlift, telehandlers, booms and other aerial access products today.
Safety is still the major driving force, so much so that the latest announcement from JLG involves a new safety control box protection system, unveiled at the Intermat trade show.
Called SkyGuard, the key to the concept is a pressure switch mounted to a short bar above the control panel, sensitive to activation from multiple directions.
It can be set off by any substantial contact no matter the direction, with a pressure of around 23kg required to activate it.
Once activated all machine functions are stopped immediately and a loud horn is sounded. In the case of inadvertent activation the machine can be reset by the operator simply removing his foot from the ‘dead-man’ foot switch. A flashing blue warning light is also available.
The system is unique in that as soon as the switch is activated, not only does everything stop, but the functions that created the trapping situation – whether that be drive, lift or telescope – will automatically reverse in order to help reduce the pressure. This is thanks to the memory function in the control system.
SkyGuard is available on all JLG diesel/gas powered booms and can be offerered for retrofiting to units that date back at least to 2009.
For more information on Aerial Access platforms or advice on working from height, contact your local branch or call us now on: 01482 329 996.
