First, I just want to say that I am not in the USA and have never (nor am I likely to!) worked there - so what I have been told is from a UK and New Zealand perspective - so the laws and regulations will be different. I use vertical mast and scissor lifts on a reasonably regular basis and have the appropriate IPAF certificate/card/whatever you want to
call it for them - never use
boom lifts or cherry pickers or anything like that.
The purpose of this requirement is to protect employees from being bounced out/off of the
basket/work
platform when maneuvering to a work location, or placing themselves in a position in which they could be exposed to a fall by climbing/leaning over and placing their center of gravity outside the
basket.
This makes sense, but surely if you're using a non-driveable vertical mast lift
correctly and safely, you will be in no danger of being bounced out of the
basket when manoeuvering to a work location, because you will be at
ground level when it's moving, and you will be in no danger of being exposed to a fall because you will keep your centre of gravity within the
basket and not climb on the railings? When I did my IPAF training for the vertical mast lift, the instructor basically said "you don't need to be clipped in, in fact it's more dangerous if you are because if you fall out, you'll pull the thing over on top of you." I totally understand it if you're in something which can be driven at height, but given that vertical mast lifts are not designed for it and should not be pushed around at height, surely this requirement serves no purpose in this situation?
The whole "removing the outriggers" debate is one which I don't want to get deeply embroiled in, but I will say that one
venue I work at has a Cougar lift which has so-called "special" mode - it has a keylock which if activated means the pressure switches on the outriggers are disabled so you can go up without them. This was put in because the lift is often used up against a wall, and with all four outriggers out, you cannot reach what you need to because the bucket is too far away from the wall. The bypass is
never used in normal situations, and only the
venue tech has the key for it - so what is more dangerous - using the lift with two outriggers up against a wall and staying safely in the bucket, or using it with all four outriggers and having to lean dangerously out of the bucket to reach what you need to? I should add that the lift does have the appropriate inspections, and the inspectors are perfectly happy with this arrangement.