Apparatus Inspection and Documentation
Domain 3 is about proof: the checks you perform, the defects you find, and the records that show the work was done. Documented inspections keep an aerial in service and protect the operator after an incident.
The inspection layers
- Daily/pre-response: walk-around, fluids, leaks, tires, lights, braking, visual check of the aerial. Done before the first run.
- Weekly/monthly: function checks, lubrication, waterway, and detailed component review per department SOP.
- Annual/periodic: DOT annual inspection; NFPA 1911 inspection by a qualified technician; pump performance test; aerial load test on the recurring cycle, after major repair, and after suspected overstress.
- Post-incident: after use, after shock loading, or after contact with an object.
Documentation rules
Every check produces a record: date, unit, inspector, items checked, defects found, corrective action, and the signature that released the unit. Defects go to a work order. A unit that fails an out-of-service criterion gets a tag and the officer is notified. Records are retained - they are your evidence in a failure investigation and your justification for budget requests.
Worked example. You measure 3/32 in. of tread on a front steering tire. The DOT minimum for steer tires is 4/32 in., so the apparatus is out of service for emergency response until the tire is replaced. The correct entry is the measurement, the criterion, the removal, and the return-to-service date after replacement - not “tires checked, OK.”
Traps. Pencil-whipping the sheet; writing “minor” and leaving the unit available; reporting verbally with no record; confusing the daily check with the annual inspection; failing to document the repair, so the same defect reappears later.