Required Workable Space for Lifting Jacks

A jack lifts heavy equipment or is used to apply considerable linear forces. A lifting jack incorporates a hydraulic cylinder or screw thread to perform the work. The most commonly encountered jacks are used to lift vehicles so they can be serviced or repaired. Lifting jacks are designed so the people using them can lift vehicles, regardless of weight, through manual force. Hydraulic jacks are more powerful than regular jacks and are used to provide lift over distances. Operating or working in the close proximity of a lifting jack is potentially dangerous, and a sufficient working space must be cleared around the jack and vehicle it is lifting.

General Considerations

Operators of safety jacks need to take a number of variables into consideration during their use to ensure safety. Such factors include the local site conditions and how the jack will be used, and their impacts on the working space required when operating the jack. When a vehicle is jacked up on a public road and a second vehicle stops to assist, the second vehicle should park at least four car lengths away from the first vehicle to prevent people from being crushed between the two vehicles, if the second one is rear-ended.

Sufficient Space

Sufficient space around a lift jack will help prevent injury to workers in the immediate vicinity should the load being lifted fall. Don't position the jack and vehicle closer than two feet from any fixed structure or piece of equipment to prevent a person from being trapped should the vehicle topple. Place warning signs around the demarcated working space, and display pertinent information on the body of the lift jack. Casual workers need to stay well away from the vehicle during the lifting process and when it is raised off the ground. The vehicle will shift on the jack if people lean against it or attempt to perform other work on it.

Danger Area

Never allow casual workers to get under a vehicle that is being lifted by a jack. The jack operator must be cautious when working under a vehicle that is partly in the air. Always keep the space under such a vehicle off limits to anyone who is not directly involved with the repairs or servicing the vehicle. Place a large piece of solid wood under the jacks base plate when the vehicle is lifted on soft ground. The area around the wood and base plate must be off limits.

Safe Distance

Vehicles that slip off jacks can roll forward and crush workers against walls and other immovable structures. Keep a vehicle that is to be placed on a jack away from any structures.Work in the middle of the available space to prevent accidents from vehicles that slip off jacks.