Any construction site that requires skilled work to be undertaken at height is going to see some form of access equipment, whether that takes the form of a scissor lift, a boom lift or an aerial work platform.
These astonishingly versatile pieces of equipment are effective in a wide range of environments, safe and provide a stable platform for workers to feel comfortable operating at height.
They are sometimes known as cherry pickers, but whilst that can seem like a relatively quaint and abstract nickname, it is one as literal as the scissor lift, as aerial work platforms were literally designed to help pick cherries.
In 1944, Jay Eitel was spending a summer day picking cherries. Whilst picking fruit can have its fun side, one particular frustration for Mr Eitel was that he would spend most of his working day moving the ladder from one place to another.
He wondered why he was wasting time and energy moving the ladder, placing it, climbing up, climbing down and repositioning the ladder, and this inspired him to think of a telescopic solution that allowed him to move up, down and around a tree to pick cherries.
He worked on the devices over many evenings and weekends, finishing the machine and later founding the Telstra Corporation to build and sell it.
The “cherry picker” name stuck and is a sign of how incredible, world-changing innovations can come from relatively humble beginnings.
Whilst not every aerial work platform called a cherry picker actually is one, all of them try to follow the same principles of being safe, easy to use, robust and versatile, able to take on any work at height that can be thrown at it.
This makes it as comfortable on construction sites for nuclear power plants as it is installing overhead wires for railways and trams.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/
https://www.sleatorplant.co.uk/aftersales
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cherry-picker
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/jay-eitel-obituary?id=19463354
