Aerial Device Operation, Setup, and Safety
Domain 6 tests actually running the device: setup sequence, operating envelope, personnel safety, and the electrical hazards that kill operators.
Operating rules
- Warm the hydraulic oil with slow, low-speed cycles before full operation, especially in cold weather.
- Follow the manufacturer's stow/unstow sequence; move controls smoothly - no shock loading, no sudden reversals.
- Use a ground guide or spotter and maintain radio or hand-signal communication with the crew.
- Stay inside the load chart: tip load, basket capacity, allowable extension, elevation, and rotation limits, plus any reduction when the waterway is flowing.
- Personnel ride in the platform with gates closed and belts or harness secured; the ladder is for climbing, not riding.
- Do not move the apparatus with the aerial raised except within a manufacturer-published boom-deployed travel limit.
- Electrical: treat every line as energized; keep the aerial, the water stream, and personnel at least 10 ft from lines rated 50 kV or less, and farther for higher voltages.
Worked example. The basket chart allows 500 lb at 60 ft of extension. Two firefighters (400 lb) plus a 100-lb tool load is exactly 500 lb - at the limit, and with a monitor flowing the chart's reduced rating may already be exceeded. The correct decision: leave the extra tools on the ground, or reposition and shorten the extension before raising.
Traps. Overriding interlocks to save time; letting a second person work the controls; shock-loading the tip against a wall; ignoring wind limits (often around 30 mph, lower with personnel in the basket); forgetting that the water stream conducts electricity too.