Important Safety Advice to Observe While Working in a Bucket Truck!

Working at a job that requires performing tasks at great heights is one of the more risky types of employment. Of course, someone must do these jobs due to their great importance. Most people depend upon utilities such as electricity, telephone, cable and internet connections for their homes and businesses. The signals of these industries are frequently transmitted via overhead lines and cables.

With the aid of the bucket truck, the jobs of aerial workers have become much easier and safer. The trucks that are manufactured today for this profession are equipped with insulation to protect employees from live cables while working as well as many other safety features. Despite these added protections, the risk of falling from a bucket or being electrocuted by a live line is still possible if employees do not follow the required safety guidelines when working in a bucket truck.

Following are some of the important safety guidelines mandated by OSHA (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration) that people employed doing this type of work need to closely follow to avoid such risks:

Only educated personnel should operate or ride in the lift.
Do not remove the safety belt or attach it to a nearby bar, building, or fixtures while performing work from a bucket.
Employees must always stand securely on the floor of the basket and should never sit or climb on the side or use any mechanism to extend the working height of the bucket.
A personal protective device in the form of a belt must be used and a line connected to the boom or bucket when performing any tasks from an aerial lift to provide secondary protection in case of a fall.
The weight of the employee and their equipment should not exceed the boom and bucket capacity limits established by the manufacturer to prevent injury to the workers and/or damage to the equipment.
Before the boom is set in an inclined position, the operator should make sure that the brake is engaged, wheel chocks are installed, and outriggers are deployed on a firm area along with their metal pads.
The bucket truck should never be relocated when the boom is raised in a position with employees in the basket, except for supplies that are specifically created for this type of undertaking.
For articulating boom and extendable boom platforms equipped with both basket-level and ground-level controls, the employee located in the bucket should take charge of controlling the aerial lift. The ground-level controls should not be used unless consent has been received from the worker inside the lift or in case of an emergency.
The design of the truck should never be altered or modified in any way as this may reduce the truck's overall safety.Performing a job inside a basket while 30 to 40 feet in the air is certainly a dangerous job; but it can be made less risky by following proper safety practices. It is important to observe these helpful safety guidelines while working from a bucket truck as it could mean the difference between life and death!

Christopher M. Hunter is an expert in commercial specialty trucks. Click here to find out more about Bucket Truck Sales.

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