Safety, Hazards, and Emergency Procedures
This domain ties hazards to controls. Know the major hazard categories: power line contact, ground failure, overload and tip-over, falling loads, pinch points during assembly, wind, and personnel in the fall zone. Understand required clearances from energized lines and that the operator must assume lines are energized until the utility confirms otherwise. Know that a spotter and barricades control access, and that the swing radius and load path define the exclusion zone.
Key concepts: emergency procedures for power line contact (stay in the cab if safe, warn others away, and exit only by jumping clear if fire forces evacuation), fire response, and lost communication. Know that the operator must not leave the controls with a suspended load, and that a suspended load is never left unattended. Understand the role of the lift director and the stop-work authority of any worker who sees a hazard.
Traps: assuming rubber tires insulate the machine; believing a spotter removes the need for clearance; and treating wind as a factor only for the load, not the boom. Questions also test that personnel must never ride the load or hook, and that an emergency stop is followed by assessment, not immediate resumption.
Rule of thumb: establish the exclusion zone from the swing radius plus the load path, and treat every overhead line as energized. Any worker can stop the job.
Worked example: the boom contacts a line. The operator stays in the cab, warns others to stay clear, and calls the utility; evacuation by jumping clear happens only if fire forces it, with feet together and no contact with the machine and ground simultaneously.