Design, Safety & Certification of IT Baskets and Work Platforms

Integrated tool carriers (IT) fitted with work baskets or elevated work platforms are widely used across mining, construction, and industrial sites to allow personnel to safely perform work at height or in difficult-to-access locations. However, as safety regulators increasingly emphasise, certification alone doesn’t guarantee safety — thoughtful design, risk assessment, and hazard control are essential for protecting personnel and meeting regulatory and duty-of-care obligations.

What Are IT Baskets and Work Platforms?

IT baskets (sometimes called man baskets, work baskets, or service platforms) are engineered attachments used with heavy mobile plant, such as integrated tool carriers, loaders, telehandlers, or lift cranes, to provide a stable, elevated work area for personnel.

Designs vary from single-deck platforms to multi-stage baskets with specialised features for underground or surface applications.

Modern work platforms may include features such as:

• Internal handrails and grab points

• Safety-rated gates with self-latching mechanisms

• Attachment points for fall-arrest systems

• Safety-critical load ratings and structural tags

• Optional tool and equipment storage

• Configurable interfaces to suit various plant and tasks

These design elements are important, not optional decorations, because they directly influence how a platform performs under load and in real-world use.

The NSW Resources Regulator has issued particular safety guidance on the configuration of work baskets attached to IT’s, highlighting that crush and pinch injuries have occurred when workers placed body parts into hazard zones as baskets moved. Importantly, the regulator’s recommendations focus on operational risk assessment and hazard control, not just basic certification.

Key points from the regulator include:

• Operational risk assessments must be conducted for all work baskets including identification and mitigation of crush zones and other hazards.

• Simple paint colours (e.g., all yellow) may not adequately highlight pinch points, contrast colours, reflective tape, and clear visual indicators of hazards are recommended.

• Safe designated handholds and standing positions must be defined for personnel as baskets are manoeuvred, and training must reinforce where workers should and shouldn’t stand.

This guidance reflects a common theme in safe work platform use: a design certified by a competent engineer is only one part of the safety ecosystem. It must be paired with proper risk assessment, hazard communication, and training.

Certification vs. Competent Design

Certification: whether through a regulator, standards body, or third-party engineer, plays an essential role in ensuring that a work platform meets baseline requirements for strength, stability, and rated load.

But certification does not by itself ensure:

• That the design has been reviewed in the context of the specific working environment

• That hazard points (like crush zones) are highlighted or otherwise controlled

• That human factors and operator interaction are considered

• That controls such as fall-arrest attachment points, handrails, and gates align with how the platform is used in practice

For example, certified engineer signage and structural tags do not stop a worker from entering a pinch point if the design permits it or doesn’t clearly prevent it. This is where engineering risk assessment, hazard controls, and considered safety features become crucial.

Every platform should be assessed not just for structural compliance, but for how workers interact with it in real work scenarios.

Practical Safety Design Considerations

When Trang Imagineering undertakes design and certification services for IT baskets and work platforms, we integrate certification requirements with holistic design risk controls.

Key design elements we consider include:

Structural Load and Stability

• Ensuring the platform structure and attachments comfortably exceed rated working loads under static and dynamic conditions (including a sensible safety factor).

• Analysis of load paths, bridle arrangements, and structural interactions with lifting equipment.

Guardrails, Gates & Fall Protection

• Guardrail design that physically prevents falls rather than relying solely on worker compliance.

• Inward-opening, self-latching gates that cannot be accidentally opened while in operation.

• Certified anchor points for personal fall-arrest systems.

Pinch Point and Crush Hazard Mitigation

• Clear hazard identification and design features that reduce the likelihood of workers placing body parts into moving edges adjacent to services, walls, or structures.

• High-contrast hazard marking (e.g., red/white stripes) and dedicated grab holds that guide safe worker movement.

Operational Risk Assessment

• Work at heights risk assessments that consider the specific task, environment, and interface with mobile plant.

• Identification of controls such as restricted standing zones, safer approach angles, or engineered shields where appropriate.

Why Trang’s Approach Matters

Many providers offer certification, but few integrate it into a broader design safety framework that considers the real-world risks staff face on site.

At Trang Imagineering we deliver:

• Qualified engineering design and certification aligned with applicable standards and regulator expectations

• Risk-informed design decisions that go beyond the minimum standard

• Practical safety input into handrail arrangement, hazard marking, guarding, and human factors

This integrated approach helps ensure that a work platform is not just certified, but safe and fit-for-purpose in the context it will be used.

Certification is a necessary milestone in the lifecycle of an IT basket or work platform, but it’s not the end of the safety journey.

Strong safety outcomes arise from:

• Competent, certified engineering

• Thorough risk assessment and hazard control

• Considered design of handrails, gates, attachment points

• Visual hazard communication in the design

For mining, construction, or industrial work platforms, the real success is when certification and design safety work together, not in isolation.

Need Certification or a Design Review?

If you’re seeking engineering certification for an IT basket or work platform — or want an independent review of an existing basket design — Trang Imagineering can help.

We regularly support clients with:

• Certification of new and existing work baskets

• Design reviews against applicable standards and regulator guidance

• Safety-in-design and risk assessment input beyond minimum compliance

• Practical engineering advice on handrails, access, guarding, and hazard controls

Whether you’re looking for a formal certification, addressing regulator feedback, or simply want confidence that a basket design is genuinely fit-for-purpose, we’re happy to have an early conversation, so reach out to us to discuss.