ANSI A92 standards likely to be delayed

What was supposed to be an effective date of March 1 for the new ANSI A92 suite of standards will likely be pushed back, again, as four appeals on the proposed BSR/SAIA A92.20 and A92.22 standards were brought forth in mid-January. One of the appellants has requested to proceed to a hearing.

The original deadline to submit final actions to the ANSI Board of Standards Review was set for Jan. 31. However, with the appellant seeking a hearing, an appeal panel will need to be formed and confirmed followed by a date for the hearing. The appeal panel members will then have 30 days after the hearing to decide on an outcome.

The names of the appellants have not yet been released and it is uncertain when the standards will actually go into effect.

Originally approved in November 2018, the standards faced two appeals in May 2019, which caused setbacks. Tutus Solutions and the American Rental Association (ARA) appealed separate parts of the standards, with the ARA opposing the Manual of Responsibilities (MoR) portion and Tutus Solutions opposing that additions to a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) cannot be made without the manufacturer’s permission. The effective date was then pushed to December 2019.

In October 2019, following a meeting with the A92 committee members, that date was again pushed back – this time to March 1 – due to language within the standards. Manufacturers, associations and rental companies have spent the majority of the past two years preparing for the standards’ implementation.

The new standards will cover:

• A92.20-2018: Design, Calculations, Safety Requirements and Test Methods for mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs)
• A92.22-2018: Safe Use of MEWPs
• A92.24-2018: Training Requirements for the Use, Operation, Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of MEWPs