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ALI
- Automotive Lift Institute
July
2006
By
Tammy Miser
About
ALI
ALI
(Automotive Lift Institute)
is a non-profit trade association comprised of North American
manufacturers of automotive lifts. ALI does not design or sell lifts
however ALI is accredited by ANSI
(American
National Standards Institute)
to perform automotive lift product certification and they are also
accredited as a Nationally Recognized Standards Development Organization.
ALI’s mission statement demonstrates a clear vision and concern
for the safe construction, installation, and use of automotive lifting
products. The three ANSI standards that ALI maintains are :
1.
ANSI
ALCTV
(Automotive Lift Construction Testing & Validation)
2.
ANSI ALOIM (Automotive Lift Operation,
Inspection & Maintenance)
3.
ANSI ALIS (Automotive Lift Installation & Service)
New
Leadership
In
his role as ALI’s President and CEO, R.W. O'Gorman has not let his short
period of time at ALI keep him from making big changes that are getting
noticed by the industry. ALI is active in promoting safety and awareness
for the entire industry. Since initially joining the Institute as ALI’s
Executive Vice President in January of 2005, Robert has recharged ALI by:
1.
Gaining
New Standards - ANSI/ALI
ALCTV-1998 became fully effective on April 1, 2000. At that time the
previous standard entitled “ANSI/ALI B153.1-1990” was withdrawn -
this standard is no longer recognized for newly produced or newly
installed products. It should be noted, that prior to ANSI/ALI ALCTV-1998,
the B153 series of standards that existed only allowed for the process of
a manufacturer to “self declare” compliance to the National Standard.
On May 4th, 2006, The Institute under Mr. O’Gorman’s
leadership gained approval of a revised ANSI standard that will replace
ANSI/ALI ALCTV-1998 in approximately 18 months. This standard will be
entitled ANSI/ALI ALCTV-2006. Like the 1998 version of ALCTV, both of
these performance standards require independent third party testing and
product certification to demonstrate compliance to the National Standard.
Validation by a qualified third party such as ALI and the laboratories
they work with closely assures such things the lift user often would not
consider such as certified steel, documented welder qualifications, a
strong production facility quality plan. Other points more common to the
lift operator include "rated load capacity". This rating
includes an industry standard ratio to provide a safety factor so that
catastrophic failure does not become an event within the shop environment.
It is important to stress that neither ALI nor the credible manufacturers
that produce lifts believe a lift operator should ever place more load on
an automotive lift than is presented on the lifts rated lifting capacity
(each lift is clearly marked with this value). The most common lifts in a
small service or repair facility are "rated" at 7,000 and 9,000
pounds. A visit to ALI’s website will demonstrate models capable of
lifting more than 50K pounds! Skipping
over the technical details, such as stress calculations, finite element
analyses (FEA), etc., the load test and other evaluations contained within
the ALCTV standard that are used to evaluate a lifts capacity and
compliance should be left to the professional laboratories that work with
ALI and are recognized by OSHA to perform these and other tests (such as
compliance to the UL201 standard to determine compliance with Electrical
requirements for Garage Equipment). ALI
is currently working through the process of developing a new draft of the
ANSI ALOIM standard so that it may be submitted to ANSI for approval.
2.Updating
and Renewing
Safety Materials - Within
the last 12 months ALI has invested heavily to update existing safety
materials that are counted on heavily by responsible manufacturers,
vocational schools, risk managers, shop owners, and technicians. The
Institute is currently developing supplementary warning labels that will
be available later this year in both French and Spanish. They recently
released an update to the Lift Safety Tips Card – typically hung on a
lift or throughout the service garage area as a reminder of important
aspects to consider regarding a lift. ALI will also be releasing a new
safety DVD in October. This new DVD includes a test that can be reproduced
and placed into the employee or the vocational school tech’s training
file. The Institute’s most exciting development perhaps is ALI’s LP
Guide CD-ROM – This is an ALI sponsored Vehicle Lifting Points/Quick
Refrence Guide for Frame Engaging Lifts covering 20 years of domestic and
imported cars and light trucks. This CD-ROM has been hailed by risk
managers and corporate training managers as an upfront risk management
tool in the shop .
3.
Hosting
ALI's first Public Conference – You can meet Mr. O’Gorman
and other lift industry leaders during the AAPEX
& SEMA
Show in Las Vegas on November 1st. This will be an educational Panel
Discussion. Beginning August 1st you can check the ALI site for
more details.
4.
Developing
Strategic Safety Alliances - BFRS (Bridgestone Firestone Retail
and Commercial Services) and TIA (the Tire Industry Association) are the
first organizations to form Strategic Safety Alliances with the Institute.
Each program under this offering is unique but all focus to further the
aspect of lift safety training throughout their respective organizations.
For more information about forming a Strategic Safety Alliance contact
ALI.
5.
Educating Authorities Having Jurisdiction - Often a lift
purchaser attempts to save a buck when purchasing a non certified
automotive lift. ALI has been working with code officials and other
regulators to help educate code officials inspecting a garage environment
to understand that the International Building Code (accepted in 45 states)
requires a lift to be compliant with the ANSI ALCTV Standard…this
includes the provision of a third party certification and factory
inspection program.
New York
State
’s Building Code now requires the same for all lifts installed. It is
likely other states will follow this model, but until they do, the buyer
must be aware or they may purchase a lift that is not legal to install in
their municipality or even worse, the non certified lift could be cause
for the loss of life or limb.
During
my interview with Mr. O'Gorman he urged "anyone buying, servicing,
installing and/or working with lifts to become aware of the differences
between a certified and non certified lift". Mr. O'Gorman
stated "In today's environment you can buy a lift on Ebay, attempt to
install it and in a day be working under it. The risk that the
employer is putting themselves and the employees in is not worth it
considering the low cost of our safety
materials, and the ease of the Institute’s process for product certification.
We believe our new Lifting Points CDRom will help reduce injurys, deaths
and OSHA citations. The lifting points CD ROM is an easy guide that
enables you to insert a vehicle model and gain a diagram of the exact
lifting points for that particular vehicle". Mr.
O'Gorman also explained that "many mistake the UL component
recognition mark for an implication of product certification, in order for
a lift to be certified it must pass electrical and structural standards by
a third party like ETL,
MET or UL
.
I
ask Mr. O'Gorman, "How often the lifts are tested." Mr.
O'Gorman stated that, "A
lift model is initially tested for certification with accessories or add
on products also tested to evaluate fit, form, and function to the lift it
is being applied toward. Any changes in the design or the product once
initial certification has been completed are submitted to the lab at any
time PRIOR to being allowed to be placed into the certified model's
configuration that is offered for sale. All changes must be pre-approved
by the OSHA accredited Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory and ALI
prior to entry into the market as a certified lift. This often requires
retesting and an engineering evaluation as well as an update to the test
report and the Certified Products Directory (found on our website). All
certified models are retested every 5 years, unless a temporary extension
of the 5 year re-certification is granted by the certification body (this
is a unique situation that may occur to take the standards current
development cycle into consideration). When a new version of the standard
is printed, each product must be completely retested to assure
compliance". Mr. O'Gorman
also stated, "all lifts and lift accessories manufactured outside the
US
must pass the same standards and factory audit requirements in order to
claim certification to the National Standard".
And
finally, as always, I asked “How
many injuries and/or deaths have occurred with ALI and your member company
lifts"? Mr. O'Gorman’s
reply was, "The Institute historically has never collected or
maintained injury data. As the Institute’s Staff Head since May of 2005,
I can confirm that ALI records do not contain such information. Recently
we learned that auto lifts are lumped, in if you will, with jacks and jack
stands when it comes to CPSC reporting. As an association we do not
believe that is a correct position to take and we will investigate this
point further.” O’Gorman further stated “ALI has made the North
American Lift community smarter and safer through the combined efforts of
our member companies”. There are currently 19 manufacturers that sell
ALI certified products, of these 18 are members of the association. Each
ALI certified lift comes with nationally validated warning pictorial
labels, a vehicle lifting points guide, an ANSI/ALOIM standard, and a
safety tips card. In sharp contrast, there are approximately a dozen
companies that do not certify their products and provide none of these
safety materials that are readily available.......a visit to the ALI
website will be a good move for any technician or even for a family that
cares"!
For
more detailed information:
What
Good Are Standards?
Article
in Occupational, Health, & Safety magazine.
Inspecting
an Automotive Service Lift
by Dale W. Soos
You
should be aware that most automotive lifts are required by the
International Building Code Chapter 30 to meet the requirements of
ANSI/ALI ALCTV-1998 Standard for Automotive Lifts—Safety
Requirements for Construction, Testing, and Validation, which
requires third party certification and marking for compliance.
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