California ARA Dedicates First Better Business Luncheons <br>to Lift Equipment Topics

Enlarge Image John Laurin, risk and safety manager for RSC Equipment Rental, speaks at ARA of California's Better Business Luncheons.

June 15, 2005 — When ARA of California polled its members on their most pressing industry issues, aerial lifts and forklifts topped the list. This doesn't surprise Chris Fix, owner of Hawkeye Equipment Rentals, Fontana, Calif., and president of the ARA of California Board of Directors. “There is a lot of confusion about the requirements and what rental owners really have to do,” he says. “Because we are renting our equipment to customers, the user/owner responsibilities in A92 are blurred and sometimes hard to understand.”

Why all the mystery surrounding training requirements for these types of equipment as opposed to other types found in members' rental fleets? Because it can be difficult to figure out exactly how the responsibilities of the rental customer (user/employer) and rental company (owner/employer/user) differ, says Fix.

To help eliminate confusion on aerial lift and forklift requirements, the group sponsored its first Better Business Luncheon, focusing on the theme, “The Real Deal on What's Really Required for Aerial Lift and Forklift Training and Familiarization.”

Held in both Northern and Southern California, the luncheons featured guest speaker John Laurin, risk and safety manager for RSC Equipment Rental. Spending his career in the aerial manufacturing and aerial rental industries, Laurin is also a member of the Scaffold Industry Association and the American National Standards Institute's A92 committee. At the events, which drew 41 attendees in Southern California and 26 in the Northern California region, Laurin outlined what the specific requirements were as well as discussed the responsibilities of the rental company and renter.

“We found out that you need to be certified to operate a forklift while you do not need to be certified to operate an aerial lift,” Fix says. To operate an aerial lift, “you need to be qualified and that qualification has to be documented.”

ARA of California plans to host its next series of Better Business Luncheons at the end of the summer. Future topics may include sessions on DOT and CHP regulations for delivery trucks, which will address four-point tie downs, log books, and driver hours.