Bucket Trucks

Introduction

Depending on the nature of your work or the size of your property you may find you need a bucket truck. These trucks are complex and require specialized training to operate. In order to ensure your safety, and the safety of others, it is important that you be properly trained and recertified annually. In my opinion, to be properly trained you must read and understand all users manuals, maintenance manuals (if your truck is being professionally maintained you should still read portions of them), OSHA safety guidelines and this safe practice guide. Businesses subject to OSHA regulations will need OSHA approved safety training and certification for their employees.

Prerequisites

This guide presumes that you already have the multiple skills needed to use and maintain complex equipment including but not limited to:

- Current CPR and first aid training

- Basic firefighting skills

- A drivers license or CDL license if required

- Basic automotive mechanic skills, even if you do not maintain the vehicle

- Understanding of control systems

- Familiarization with electrical equipment

- Familiarization with hydraulic system

Safety Courses

Few pieces of equipment are as complex and create more dangers to the operator than a bucket truck. Having recently bought one for estate maintenance, the first thing I did was find and study the many manuals (truck, generator, air compressor, winch and aerial lift). The user guides and repair manuals were easy to locate; a training manual for bucket trucks was not. Winches, chain saws, snow blowers, powder hammers, even ladders have free, authoritative sources for self-study training, with much emphasis on safety. But nothing is available that addressed the safe usage of a bucket truck. OSHA provides an outline for what is necessary, but outlines are short on specifics. Safety is paramount whether you are a professional or a homeowner. Each work environment has its own problems regarding safe practices and fall protection, but all require safety guidelines, training and annual recertification.

A practical safety course should:

- Place emphasis on factors that may seem trivial but are not

- Call attention to the most important points that you should know

- Provide specific examples of dangers unique to the equipment

- Supply you with handouts, checklists and references to use in your work

- Make you aware of safety whenever you perform any task

Common Exposures

Injuries common while using a bucket truck, or even a ladder

- Strains and injuries caused by improper lifting and climbing

- Falls from as little as five feet, which can result in broken bones

- Tip-overs and collapses, endanger personnel in the bucket and on the ground

- Being struck by falling objects (mostly endangers workers on the ground)

- Getting caught between equipment and fixed structures (especially fingers)

- Being knocked out of a bucket when the truck is struck by another vehicle

- Electrocution or physical injury due to electric shock

Damage to equipment (or personnel) occurs when

- Inspections are not performed according to the manufacturers recommendations

- The truck is not properly positioned and secured for use

- The operator is not fully aware of objects around, above and below the bucket

- Tools and parts are not secured in their proper place

- The manufacturers limits are exceeded

Driving and Locating the Truck

A bucket truck is one of the most complex forms of aerial lift device. Because of this OSHA has developed standards for aerial lift truck operation: 29 CFR 1910.67 - see Appendix A. Being checked out on which switch moves the boom in which direction gives you just enough knowledge for you to be dangerous to yourself and others. Driving a bucket truck to the site and positioning it correctly requires special skill and knowledge. Even a small truck weighs four tons and cannot stop on a dime. The first time you have to stop your truck suddenly youll realize why bucket trucks are notorious for rear-impact collisions. A three ton lift places the center of gravity of the truck very high; observe tip-over signs on curves and exit ramps. Heavy trucks easily get stuck off-road, especially in wet or icy conditions. A winch and tire chains are recommended. Bucket trucks have poor rear visibility and should not be backed up unless you finds it absolutely necessary and have a spotter. You may also want to install a backup-alarm to warn anyone in the vicinity that a dangerous operation is being performed. Placing the truck in the ideal location takes knowledge of the azimuth stops and reach of the boom, manufacturers limits regarding boom operation, surface condition and slope of the ground and use of outriggers and wheel chocks.

Check Your Knowledge - You Must Know

- How to drive the truck safely on the highway

- How to locate and prepare the truck for aerial lift use

- How to inspection the equipment before using it

- Hydraulic equipment function and hazards

- Insulating factors of the truck, if any [not covered in this guide]

- How to put on safety and fall arrest equipment (PPE)

- How to operate the boom from the bucket and from the ground

- Clearance above, below and alongside the bucket while using it

- Emergency procedures for equipment failure and accidents

Ladders

A ladder is the most common tool used to reach a high place when a bucket truck isnt appropriate. Since everyone knows how to use a ladder you may wonder why you need special training to use one; according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics almost 10 percent of occupational deaths are related to falling. Falling isnt the only hazard involved with using a ladder. Lifting the ladder itself also is a major cause of injuries. Using improper technique while lifting a ladder can lead to lower back injuries so severe that they may cause you to not be able to work or even suffer a lifetime of pain. Removing a heavy ladder from a truck and setting it up should be done with care and with assistance when necessary.

Anyone who works with a ladder should be able to answer all of the following:

- How to lift and carry different types of ladders

- How to inspect all types of ladders

- What ladder (material) to never use with power tools

- What angle to lean an extension or straight ladder

- What a three points climb means

- How to get off a ladder onto a roof

The American Ladder Institute has self-study courses, tests and completion certificates on their web site. OSHA has a nice pamphlet #3124 that provides a guide to their rules for ladder and stairway safety that is worth downloading and printing.

Special Conditions to Consider While Working

Complacency occurs when we have become familiar with our equipment, or when we perform the same task over and over. It only takes one unexpected thing to catch us unaware - a soft tire that causes a tip-over for example. Stress is always present on or off the job. Deadlines do not change because of bad weather or because someone is out sick. Asking an unskilled person to help out on a job is a bad idea. You are responsible for everyone that you employ or lend equipment to. Weather can compromise safety, especially in winter. Low temperatures, moisture and high winds can create dangerous conditions for working outside. Ladder spikes and tire chains can only do so much. Freezing temperatures make equipment unreliable with stuck controls and locks, stiff ropes and hoses and so on. Hydraulic systems may have sluggish operation in very cold weather and generators mail not start, or may run badly.

Training Requirements

OSHA establishes mandatory requirements for: training and certification by employers. You will need to determine your own requirements as a sole proprietor or homeowner. OSHA defines training requirements in 29 CFR 1910.268. The regulation says: Employers shall provide training in the various precautions and safe practices described in this section and shall ensure that employees do not engage in the activities to which this section applies until such employees have received proper training in the various precautions and safe practices required by this section." If you are not trained and qualified on a piece of equipment you should not use it. Using unqualified helpers carries the risk of higher costs, lost time and increased liability.

Summary of OSHA Regulations

Aerial safety and fall protection is only one of many areas we need to carefully evaluate under these circumstances. If training, equipment and supervisory enforcement of safety rules are being neglected to "get the job done" putting an individual thirty feet in the air is very likely to lead to an accident or serious injury. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations 29 CFR 1910.268 and 1926.502 and 503 cover many of the telecommunications requirements for aerial safety. These requirements are very specific regarding climbing gear and ladders. They are less clear when it comes to buckets on aerial lift trucks. Once you get more than four feet off the ground, personal fall protection is mandated by 1926.501 (a)(1) and (b)(1). Do we put someone in a body belt and lifeline or a full body harness and six-foot lanyard under these circumstances? As long as the person cannot fall farther than two feet, the belt and lifeline are acceptable. If they could fall farther than two feet, a full body harness and lanyard are required. In a bucket, any lines or lanyards must be tied off to the boom arm and not to the bucket. If we restrict the employees fall to two feet, then the line cannot be more than two feet long and we restrict movement in the bucket, which is not always feasible. As a consequence, most of us in the industry have adopted full body harnesses and six-foot lanyards to meet 29 CFR 1926.501 and 502 requirements. While it is rare for an employee to fall out of a bucket, it is more common that one will bounce out when another vehicle hits the aerial lift truck. The harness and lanyard have saved life and limb on more than one occasion. 1910.268 further mandates that "safety straps and body belts shall be used while working on elevated work platforms," including ladders. Section 8 also mandates their use on poles, towers and similar structures that do not have adequately guarded work areas. Section (g)(1) puts all the responsibility on the shoulders of the employer, stating that the "employer shall ensure their use when work is performed at positions more than four feet above the ground." It further requires that every piece of equipment be inspected by a competent person prior to each day of use to determine that it is in safe working condition.

Pre-Use Safety Check

Check the following each day before using a bucket truck

- Maintenance records that are up to date, or your knowledge of same

- Wheels and tires. Check tire pressure

- Fuel, engine oil levels and hydraulic fluid level

- Hydraulic fluid, oil, fuel and cooling system leaks; listen for air leaks

- Look for loose or missing parts, rust and deteriorating welds

- Test ground level controls first, then all bucket controls before you go up

- Safety devices such as railings, bucket door catches and redundant catches

- Personal protection equipment: snaps that don't stick; age of your hard hat

- Any other items specified by the manufacturer

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Bucket truck workers should wear the following personal protective equipment

- Hard hat that is less than ten years old or whatever the manufacturer specifies

- Eye protection that provides good visibility

- Gloves appropriate for the work being done

- Fall restraint safety belt system or full body harness fall arrest system

Follow the manufacturers recommendations when using the truck, generator and boom.

Use a body harness or positioning device with a lanyard properly attached to anchor points on the boom or basket intended for that purpose by the manufacturer.

Never belt off to an adjacent pole, structure or other equipment, except in an emergency.

Check the Work Area

I put PPE first because it is easy to forget. If you only need to change a light bulb; the tendency is to put the bulb in the bucket, climb in and do a quick job without observing even the simplest safety precautions... like using all PPE. My safety harness is stored in front of the wheel chocks; that way it is always used. Drivers enter our property every day, so I put out cones, chock the wheels and suit up every time.

- Never work on a slope that exceeds the limits specified by the manufacturer.

- Check the area for soft spots, holes, drop-offs, bumps, and debris.

- Check for overhead power lines, trees, building overhangs, etc.

- Before moving the truck make sure that the boom is cradled and tied down and that all other equipment is secure.

Operating a Bucket Truck

- Set outriggers, brakes, and use wheel chocks, even if you are working on a level slope. Automatic transmissions should be placed in park; manual transmissions in low gear. Note: Do not place automatic transmissions in park or manual transmissions in low gear if you are performing winch recovery operations.

[Use of outriggers is not covered in this guide.]

- If working near traffic, set up work zone warnings with cones, ropes and signs.
- Close and latch the bucket or platform door and attach the safety chain.
- Stand on the floor of the bucket or lift platform. Never climb on anything inside the bucket to extend your reach.
- Do not climb on tool brackets in the bucket or lean over the railing.
- Never exceed the manufacturer's load capacity limit. This includes the combined weight of the worker(s), tools and material.
- Never override hydraulic, mechanical or electrical safety devices... Duh!
- Establish and clearly mark a danger zone around the bucket truck.
- Never move the truck with workers in the elevated platform unless the equipment has been specifically designed and certified for this type of operation.
- Use particular care when positioning the basket between overhead hazards, such as joists or under an overhang. If the basket moves, the worker in the bucket could become crushed between the rails and the fixed structure.

Carrying Cargo

Our bucket truck was ordered with a nine foot flatbed. With forks on our frontend loader we can remove a load and place it right where it is needed. Flatbeds are not common on bucket trucks but loading the truck is an important safety issue.

The various weight capacities of your vehicle will be listed on a decal on the driver's side door jamb or nearby when attached by the manufacturer who equipped the bucket truck. The following ratings are important:

- GVWR - Total (gross) weight of your truck, lift, fuel, you and your equipment.
- GAWR - Maximum (gross) axle weight permissible on each axle.

The weight on each axle is unknown so I had the truck weighed. If you live in a township with a police department that has truck scales they should weigh your truck without any charge (you paid for the scales). If not, a scrap yards that you buy from might weigh your truck. A highway weigh station might also weigh your truck since by asking to have your vehicle weighed you are showing an interest in highway safety. Our truck front axle capacity (GAWR) is 5,000 lbs. The Vehicle Weight Report shows 4,400 on the front axle without me or the winch. Add 350 lbs. to that and there is only 250 lbs. to spare. But the truck rides really high in the front, the police give 3% tolerance, and it would be weighed without me in it, so it likely has a 500 lbs. reserve capacity. The rear axle code is 72 or 11,000 lbs. The police VWR shows 5,700 on that axle, so we have a cargo capacity on the back of the truck of 5,500 to stay within the legal limits... that's with the load evenly distributed over the rear axle. But the truck's GVWR is 15,000 lbs. With nearly 5,000 on the front axle we are limited to 10,000 on the rear. A vehicle is safer and handles better with cargo distributed between the front and rear axles, so it wouldn't be wise to place a load directly over the rear axle. Two pallets of sod weigh 3,000 lbs. wet. Placing them tight against the bulkhead would result in a 'load' center of gravity 1 ft. ahead of the rear axle and 14 ft. behind the front axle (I measured that). That would place 200 lbs. on the front axle and 2,800 lbs. on the rear axle (1/15X3000 and 14/15X3000), 1,000 lbs. under the GVWR. The manufacturer does not mention weight distribution of tools and parts.

Modifications

The purpose of a bucket truck is to elevate an operator above the ground. Modifying the truck for other uses apart from those for which it was designed requires written approval from the manufacturer or an equally-accredited authority. To provide one example: trucks without outriggers, such as ours, must have tires identical to those specified by the manufacturer, mounted on the specified rims and inflated to the pressure specified on the manufacturer's decal. The weight capacity of the bucket is calculated based on the designed center of gravity, with the size tires specified, and a huge anti-sway bar on the rear axle. Any deviations can result in a tip-over. Changing the weight distribution of the truck, such as that which would occur by carrying a substantial load that shifts the center of gravity may result in instability while driving. Avoid placing substantial loads near the rear of the truck.. of any truck! Secure your cargo as any commercial truck driver would. Load winches and straps are inexpensive and readily available. You don't want to swerve to avoid an accident and have a pallet of sod shift and cause a tip-over.

Bucket trucks Safety Features

- All bucket trucks are different. It is essential that you be familiar with the specific bucket truck that you are using. [This guide does not cover everything.]
- Buckets are always at least 39 inches deep so that for most workers the lip of the bucket is above waist level; always stand on the floor of the bucket.
- Buckets all have redundant latches or restraints to keep the bucket door from opening unexpectedly; make sure they are easy to use and are working properly.
- Bucket trucks have additional safety features such as guards, outrigger interlock and ground fault interrupter circuits. These features must not be modified, removed or bypassed, if they fail and prevent normal operation for example.
- Warning labels should be present and legible; they remind you to be safe.

Emergency Escape

Commercial operators with a fleet of bucket trucks can extract a stranded worker by dispatching another truck when the manufacturer's provided backup systems fail. You may be concerned with escaping from a bucket when working alone and the aerial lift fails. There are several methods used when stranded in the bucket.

- Auxiliary Power or Backup Pump
- Emergency Lowering Valve or Holding Valve Bleeding
- Escape Ladder or a Controlled Decent Rope
- Lower Controls (with and without an incapacitated worker)

Trucks with engine or auxiliary generator driven hydraulic pumps may have emergency DC motor powered pumps which run off the truck's battery. These pumps provide pressure to the hydraulic systems just as the primary pump does. To assure the backup DC pump's reliability on our truck we use it to reposition the bucket or boom when the flatbed is loaded or when we are doing maintenance. If the Telsta lift does not have an auxiliary pump it has an emergency lowering valve which bleeds hydraulic fluid from the elevation cylinder to the reservoir. Both methods of lowering the bucket in an emergency can be controlled from the bucket and on the ground. There is no convenient place to bleed the elevation cylinder on our truck; do you know if there is on yours? There are several situations which would require an alternate method of escaping from the bucket: loss of DC control power, a stuck azimuth system while the boom is raised against a building, loss of hydraulic fluid/pressure, etc. Another worker could raise a ladder to the bucket or an emergency escape rope or ladder could be stored in the bucket. We chose to purchase an emergency escape ladder. [There are no provisions for ladder use in bucket trucks; proceed at your own risk. You can always call 911.] Home fire escape ladders are widely available and inexpensive. We have a heavy metal ladder stored in the deep door of the splicer's basket. These ladders are intended to hang on a windowsill and hang against a building. We hung ours on the rim of the basket adjacent to the door so we could step onto it safely. By moving your lanyard connecting point near the ladder frame before stepping onto the ladder you are still prevented from falling. After that, simply disconnect it. If you feel unsafe, since you will be hanging like an ape in a tree, you can attach your lanyard to a lower point after you have climbed down a few steps and repeat the process. Practice with the bucket close to the ground. You should have a cell phone or 'boat horn' in the basket to use as a distress signal.

Bucket Truck Safety Manual - Download Here

Continue to Insulated Bucket Trucks Safety Guide >>>

Articles you might be interested in reading:

-Bucket Truck Safety Training Manual
-OSHA Bucket Truck Guidelines
-Tree Trimming Safety Guide for Bucket Trucks




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