ASSE member Michael Behm, Ph.D., CSP, associate professor of
Occupational Safety at East Carolina University
(ECU), Greenville, NC, teamed up with ECU Football Coach Ruffin McNeill and two
graduate assistants for the football team to develop
and present a program to educate students about scissor lift safety.
Scissor lifts are often used to videotape school team
practices and games. The ECU effort followed the Oct. 28, 2010, death of a
Notre Dame student who was taping a football team practice from atop an aerial
scissor lift, when strong winds toppled the lift over.
The ECU team developed a presentation to help raise awareness
and educate students and staff about scissor lift safety—at ECU and other schools.
The program covers lift operation, operator safety, inspections, environmental
restrictions and safety tools.
“I am very proud of the work these students completed,” says
Behm. “It is gratifying to hear our football coach say that safety overrides
everything. Coach McNeill and his team have done a great job in leading this
effort to raise awareness about being safe on and off the field and it’s had a
positive impact.”