this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2025
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I get that it looks risky, but I don't really see a problem here. The platform is in undisturbed water, no waves, no sudden changes. If the platform is strong enough, which it seems to be to me, it will not easily tip over.
I've worked on a few lifts like that, and if you manage to tip one over I can only say that you were either really stupid or you were trying to do it. All the weight is at the bottom. They are very stable.
The only way to make them fall over is if your floor is not level while driving. Driving is out of the question in this picture, and as long as both guys stay in the fork lift the center of gravity will not change much.
So the platform will not move, the lift will not move, basically they are fine.
If something was to happen you're fucked though.
And different solutions are available. I've personally been in a different lift that had an arm so the lift would be a the side of the pool and the part where I was standing was elevated above the water. That probably would be a better solution, if you have enough space to get one of those lifts in.
Disagree. The lift is on a gimbal. If the wheels on one side of the lift are 1cm higher than the other, that would move the platform at the top by 8cm or something. If both guys are on one side of the platform that could be enough to make the whole thing tilt by another 1cm at the wheels, and so on.
That lift is not designed to be operated on a plastic barge.
That dock is not designed to carry equipment, certainly not an elevated platform, and is not designed to be operated as a barge.
IDK why there's so many commenters here rushing to defend this kind of practice. Working at height, on equipment not intended for that application is a hard no. Why would you work for an employer that would put you in that situation? This kind of "it's probably fine" risk assessment is just absurd.
Well, have you ever stood on a lift like that? I did, on a regular basis. You can lean over quite a bit with them.
Also, the lift itself already has play. You can easily get it to swing 4 centimeters while the base is stationary. It's just play in bearings and metal slightly bending.
I agree that the lift is not made to be like that. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I've done worse, that is for sure. But you have to use your brain.
Clearly the platform has great floating capacity. If the platform would not be capable of carrying that load, it would have sunk by now. The lift is in the middle, who j means the load is putting equal pressure on all sides. That has a stabilizing effect.
Water also pushes back. If you've every tried to flip a raft in the pool, you know that it is much easier if you move it side to side a few times, the water wil help you push it over, as long as you keep adding energy at every swing. If you don't, you will stabilize.
Unless something keeps adding energy to the swing, the swing will only get smaller and smaller. If it's swinging too much? Just stand still, don't move and let it stabilize.
The one thing to keep in mind is that the higher you go, the bigger the leverage is. At some point it will probably tip over if you swing it too much, but I don't think those guys are at that point.
But in the end, this is probably not the proper way to do the work. It's fun to discuss it, but a professional company would arrange something else.
Still legendary though, I've worked for companies that would do sketchy shit sometimes and while dangerous, it was also kind of fun. And I always checked for myself first if it was safe. Because I want to go home at the end of the day. Doesn't mean you have to be scared of everything though.
Guy this just isn't true. The people on the top are on a gimbal (?) The further they are from the centre of the base the more weight is on their side and the further they will move from the centre of the base.
I'm not trying to be derisive or whatever but checking whether you think something is safe isn't really good enough. If that's the company culture then sooner or later some idiot injures themselves unnecessarily because they checked whatever thing and thought it was safe.
Safety regulations and certifications take the decision of whether something is safe out of your hands.
Well have you tried it in a pool? Im sure the solid ground helps some.
What makes you say the dock isn't designed to carry equipment?
Show me me the specs. Note also that this dock is not fixed to pylons, so it's being used as a barge.
EZ Dock Floating Work Platforms
The manufacturer markets them for carrying equipment.
Huh.
I did actually look at their website but I didn't notice this section. Amongst their manuals this "floating work platform" doesn't get a mention, only their dock.
All of their manuals basically say "observe local safety regulations".
Honestly I feel silly looking this up because this whole set up is so absurd. Anyhow, here is western australia's relevant regulation and it says that Elevated Work Platforms should only be used on solid surfaces on pdf page 37:
Therefore, using an EWP on a barge is not an appropriate work safe practice.
I'm no expert on whether it's codified as a work safe practice, nor am I out to convince anybody to get on such a rig. For what it's worth, I'm just sharing what I've learned as a sailor, and what I see here is a lot of folks certain that this is crazy because of their intuition that it'll tip over easily. With that it of the way...
Based on my intuition, there was simply no way a 747 could even toodle around the tarmac, much less fly, just by blowing some air out the back. Big ones weigh 500 tons! Then, I learned the power of air and lift intimately by putting a specially-shaped piece of Dacron up a metal pole on top of a boat. Experience updated my intuition, and I'm not even slightly nervous about flying anymore.
Similarly, from the other direction, my intuition said that there's no way a boat could stay upright with parts (mast, cabin, tuna tower, stacks of containers, water park and shopping mall deck, etc.) so high above the waterline, and so little hull beneath it. But I've learned intimately the effects of primary stability, and ballast. With my intuition changed, this setup looks fine.
I've had the experience, too, of working in a boat yard. At the end of the season, the owner drove the crawler crane onto a barge not much bigger than the one in the image, and we used it to yank boat mooring anchors out of the lake bed. Even a heavy weight on the end of the crane boom barely affected the trim of the barge. I've walked on many an EZ Dock section, and experienced that sections like this have immense primary stability, too.
Indeed, by my back of the envelope calculations, that 20' by 20' EZ Dock barge would take in the rough range of 75 tons of force to capsize. (Easier to submerge it!) Even with the 32' lever arm of the scissor lift, that's still more than 7 tons of lateral force needed to capsize it. I don't know the numbers on what it takes to capsize the scissor lift itself, but given that I know that the barge is going to stay quite level, and that there's no lateral force on the scissor lift platform in this scenario, it seems that they'd be fine even without the straps lashing the lift to the barge.
Anyway, I did a reverse image search, and did not find an original source. I have no idea how common this is, but I did find a comment thread from 4 years ago on the red site with comments from a user who said he called a local company that rents out Rotodocks (a very similar product) which claimed that they do it all the time.
Hope that is interesting, and yeah, absolutely, get the numbers from a real engineer before putting yourself in situations like this.
A drill is equipment
What? I asked what makes you certain that the dock isn't designed for it. If you're certain, presumably you have a reason for this certainty and already know the specs from looking at it. I can't see into your mind to know your motivation for making this assertion, which is why I asked.
I assume you have some expertise that makes this obvious to you, so would you like to share it?
I consider myself an expert in not dying.
No one with a Height Safety Clearance is going to work from a platform which is not certified for that use.
It's up to you to prove that this contraption is certified. Spoiler: it's not.
Anyhow, while I look forward to reading your final witty retort, I'm happy to let you engage in whatever practices you deem to be safe while I do the same. Good day sir.
(Not parent commenter) lil hedge makes it harder to argue! And more clear to me about experience/intuition vs. some specific dataset on hand.
Hope this comment doesn’t feel pushy - emphasis on my additions:
:)
Oh man. This is just using legal speak to water down my comments. It's lemmy, I'm not on trial.
The lift is not "likely" on a gimbal. It is balanced on top of a floating thing - that's a statement of fact. If the subject of the statement can rotate around a point like said floating thing then it's a gimbal.
How are they going to get out of the lift and how will they get the lift off fhe mattress?
If they have to get out of the lift, it is at it's lowest position. That means all the weight is in the middle of the platform and the weight of 2 man will not be enough to make the platform flip over.
They will have to jump to the side I suppose. Just step off. Maybe the can even paddle the platform around, I imagine there is at least one piece of rope to manipulate the platform when there is nobody on it.
The lift will go off, the same way it came on. Probably some sort of crane. I cannot imagine they just drove it on there, but maybe they did. Maybe even a forklift with long forks. There are forklifts that could probably handle that kind of weight so far away on the forks.
This is the type of thing that I look at say this can't possibly work, and the engineer beside me will look at me a little confused and say this can't possibly fail. Sure enough they're usually right. Usually. I still won't be climbing on there.
Well, it's always best to listen to the little voice inside, especially if it says "I might just die here". I completely understand why you would not be climbing on that.
If it's maintenance they have to do regularly, there might even be a part of the pool tooled for it with arms for the floating block to sit on while they drive the lift on and off normally. Or a ramp with rollers where it gets launched like a boat and a winch to pull it back up the ramp to get out. That last one is my guess, since that whole setup could be portable as long as they had somewhere to anchor the ramp and winch.
If it's regular maintenance you get a lift that goes higher and you do it when you change the water in the pool. If the pool is empty you can just drive on the floor. Just gotta have something to lower it onto the pool floor.