New ANSI A92 MEWP Appeals to Delay Standards Further

New ANSI A92 MEWP Appeals to Delay Standards Further

Two new appeals of the ANSI A92 MEWP standards have jeopardized the March 1 effective date. 

According to DeAnna Martin, executive director and ANSI liaison of the Scaffold & Access Industry Association, which serves as the secretariat for the A92 standards,  two appeal hearings must now be conducted. These two appeals are in addition to the previously filed appeals from the American Rental Association (ARA) and Tutus Solutions. Martin said the committee must also respond to two supplement appeals from those organizations by Feb. 4.

The A92 policies and procedures state that if an appellant and the respondent are unable to resolve the written complaint informally, then the secretariat will schedule a hearing with an appeals panel on a date suitable for all participants. 

Martin says that she is aiming to conduct the two newer appeals by the end of February. The appeals panel will then have 30 days to decide on an outcome. 

The ANSI A92 standards, which includes the A92.20 design, A92.22 safe use, and A92.24 training standards, were initially submitted in November 2018 to ANSI for publication with an effective date of December 2019, one year after the standards’ publication. But in May 2019, the ANSI Board of Standards Review (BSR) found in favor of two appeals against the approval of the new A92 standards for MEWPs, stating that the design, safe use, and training standards violate the commercial terms and conditions of ANSI’s Essential Requirements.

In October 2019, the committee members held a meeting where they ultimately decided to push the effective date back to March 1, 2020, due to language changes with the A92.20 and A92.22 standards that were balloted and approved by the A92 Main Committee and opened to public comment.

The SAIA has been working with the appellants, other committee members, and ANSI on this process. Actions being taken in an attempt to resolve the continued issues include forming a Commercial Terms Violation Ad hoc, providing more guidance on the ANSI Lack of Dominance Policy, instituting additional policies and procedures for the A92 sub-committees, adding three licenses agreements on the SAIA Manual of Responsibilities (MoR), and reporting on A92 Standards and MoRs financials.

Come back to www.liftandaccess.com for more on this developing story.

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