Hospital Construction Productivity & Scissor Lifts: a Case Study for Low-Level Lifts

04/09/2019

Many construction equipment manufacturers tout their products’ efficiency-enhancing features and irreplaceable value on the jobsite. The problem is that those two things—product features and actual jobsite productivity—are not necessarily the same thing. It takes real contractors and real jobs to test the ability of equipment to add efficiency and value to a construction business.

The Hy-Brid Lifts line of low-level scissor lifts has proven its mettle time and again for contractors taking on challenging jobs under tight deadlines. A quick look at a project that required maximum efficiency to be completed on time and on budget showcases what real-world productivity looks like.

Duke LifePoint Hospital

QUICK FACTS

11 FLOORS

2,552,315

SQ FT OF DRYWALL

30 LOW-LEVEL SCISSOR LIFTS

Hospital Jobsite

The crews taking on the construction of the new hospital in Marquette, MI, had a lot of drywall in front of them. Two buildings, 11 floors, and 538,000 sq ft of space created a need for more than 2.5 million sq ft of drywall, a daunting undertaking even for a crew of 95.

The contractor weighed the options. That much drywall work meant that the smallest process improvements could shave days – even weeks – off the time it would take to complete their portion of the project. Crews would need safe and efficient lifting equipment to handle the workload and finish by the deadline.

The contractor decided to steer away from using ladders for drywall installation. Ladders would have required stepping up and down as many as 15 times to fasten each 20 ft sheet, costing workers valuable time and increasing the chance of injuries from falls and strains. 19 ft scissor lifts were also discussed as an option, but due to the small room sizes (most rooms were only 8x8 or 10x10 ft) and 9 ft ceilings, 19 ft platform heights would have been overkill and teetering on counterproductive. Limited maneuverability and multiple-step platform entry would have made large lifts a clunky solution that would slow down progress on the job.

It was ultimately decided that self-propelled, low-level scissor lifts from Hy-Brid Lifts would be the optimal way to maximize productivity given the project’s challenging parameters. Single-step entry heights—as low as 21 in—made platform entry fast and effortless for workers. And because Hy-Brid Lifts are highly maneuverable and easily fit through standard doorways, workers had no trouble navigating the small rooms in which they had to work.

Hy-Brid Lifts Hospital Jobsite