# SWP - Aerial Device Operations > Fire Service Safety Management System, version 0.3.3 (2026-10-25). The Human Factor. Document FSSMS-SWP-16. > > Canonical: https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-aerial-device-operations > > Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 with the Adopting Agency Grant (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) > > General information only, not legal, medical or other professional advice. Verify every requirement against the current official text of the law, standards and manufacturer instructions that apply to you. Obtain your own legal review and consult your joint health and safety committee before adopting anything. You adopt, adapt, implement and rely on this material entirely at your own risk and on your own responsibility. Full terms: Terms of Use, thehumanfactor.ca. > **Warning: Adoption without implementation increases legal exposure** > > Adopting this procedure without the training, equipment, supervision, verification and resources to carry it out as written increases municipal and command liability in a regulatory investigation or a fatality inquiry. See [00a Copyright, Licence and Legal Notices](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/copyright-licence-and-legal-notices). > **Speak up: Speak up** > > Anyone can stop this task if it looks wrong. Say the hazard, then the action: “Stop, don’t move the stick, I’m not clipped in.” The operator and the officer acknowledge, act, and review it later for learning. Debrief question for this task: did the device ever move with someone on it before the operator and that person had confirmed it? ## 1. Task and when this applies Setting up, operating, climbing, working from and stowing aerial ladders, aerial platforms, ladder platforms, buckets and water towers at incidents, in training, and in station checks. It applies to operators, members who ride or climb the device, and officers who direct it. ## 2. Hazards - Fall from the ladder tip, the platform or the ladder during movement; a member on the device when it is repositioned. - Structural overload: exceeding the rated tip load for the configuration, water flow reaction, ice load, impact with the building. - Electrocution from contact or arc with overhead conductors. - Tip-over from stabilizers not fully deployed, soft or sloped ground, short-jacking beyond limits. - Striking members, the building or vehicles during rotation and extension; crush at the turntable and stabilizers. - Hydraulic, electrical or mechanical failure of the device. - Fire and heat exposure at the tip; collapse of the building the device is working. ## 3. Controls in hierarchy order 1. **Elimination.** Operate the water tower from the ground; use the platform rather than the ladder for sustained work; do not put members on a device that a size-up says cannot be positioned within clearances. 2. **Substitution.** Choose the apparatus whose device suits the task and the ground. 3. **Engineering.** Annual inspection and test of the device by a qualified person, with non-destructive testing at the interval the standard sets, and a written certificate [(NFPA 1910, 2024)](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-aerial-device-operations#ref-nfpa-1910); labelled anchor points; load charts and rated tip loads on the device; interlocks; platform gates and rails. 4. **Administrative.** This procedure; the belt-or-harness rule; the operator-at-the-lower-controls rule; the no-movement-with-a-member-on-it-without-confirmation rule; the electrical clearance distance and spotter; stabilizer set-up and footing check; after-event testing. 5. **PPE.** Ladder belt with hook or harness with short positioning lanyard on the ladder; full-body harness with lanyard on the platform; structural ensemble, helmet, gloves. ## 4. Required PPE and equipment Structural ensemble and helmet; gloves; ladder belt or harness per the device and the task, inspected before use ([Form - Fall Protection Equipment Inspection Card](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-fall-protection-equipment-inspection-card)); radio for the operator and every member on the device; wheel chocks, stabilizer pads and cribbing; the manufacturer’s load chart on the device; a spotter where conductors are within twice the device’s reach. ## 5. Minimum staffing and competencies A qualified operator (manufacturer’s training, the aerial driver/operator job performance requirements (NFPA 1010, 2024), the department’s annual proficiency on this device) at the lower controls whenever a member is on the device; members who ride the device trained and checked annually on its belts, harnesses and anchors; the company officer directs placement and tasks. ## 6. Step-by-step procedure 1. **Approach and spot.** Size up the building, the collapse zone, the ground (slope, soft surfaces, manholes, curbs) and the overhead conductors before committing. **Decision point: can the device reach the objective with the stabilizers fully deployed and the adopted electrical clearance ({{Minimum electrical clearance}}) maintained through the whole arc of movement? If not, reposition before anyone climbs.** 2. **Set up.** Park, brake, chock; deploy the stabilizers fully (short-jacking only within the manufacturer’s limits and with the device operated only on the fully extended side); pads and cribbing on soft ground; level per the indicator; confirm the interlocks. 3. **Brief.** The operator and the members who will go up agree the task, the position, the communication (radio and hand signals), and the rule that the device does not move with anyone on it until the operator and that member have both confirmed. 4. **Attach before movement.** On the ladder: belt hook or short positioning lanyard to a rung or the labelled anchor at the working position; while climbing, three points of contact and no climbing while the device moves unless the manufacturer’s manual and this procedure allow it. On the platform: full-body harness clipped to the labelled platform anchor before the platform leaves the bed; gate closed; the harness stays clipped until the platform is back in the bed. (The platform rule follows the requirement, in jurisdictions that set one, that fall arrest be worn and anchored before an elevating platform is operated; [J16 Fall Protection and Rope Access](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j16-fall-protection-and-rope-access).) 5. **Operate at the lower controls.** The operator stays at the turntable or pedestal controls, in sight and voice or radio contact with the members on the device, for as long as anyone is on it. Upper controls on the platform are used only as the manufacturer and this procedure allow, with the operator still at the lower station. 6. **Respect the loads.** Rated tip load for the configuration (angle, extension, supported or unsupported, water flowing or not) from the load chart; no over-extension; ice on the device counts as load; the ladder is not used as a lever or to push on the building. 7. **Water tower and master stream.** Flow only within the manufacturer’s limits for the angle and extension; account for nozzle reaction; nobody at the tip during master stream operation unless the manufacturer’s manual and the procedure allow it and the member is attached. 8. **Rescue and roof access from the tip.** The tip placed as the task requires (above the roof line for roof access; at or below the sill for a window); members step off and on only with the operator’s confirmation and with the belt or lanyard transferred as trained; the roof ladder or a second egress planned before anyone leaves the tip. 9. **Repositioning.** Every member off the device, or attached and confirmed, before any rotation, extension or elevation; the operator calls the movement; the spotter confirms clearance. 10. **Stow.** Members off; retract, lower and bed; stabilizers up; walk around the device and the stabilizer footprint; chocks away. 11. **After the call.** Operator check for damage, overload or impact; any such event sends the device for an after-event inspection and test before it returns to service; harnesses and belts worn for firefighting or rescue get the post-use inspection by a competent person before reuse ([J16 Fall Protection and Rope Access](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j16-fall-protection-and-rope-access)). > **Warning: Stop-work triggers** > > A conductor within the adopted clearance anywhere in the arc; stabilizers not fully deployed on the working side; the ground moving under a pad; a member on the device not attached; the operator away from the lower controls with anyone on the device; a load chart limit reached; the building showing collapse indicators; ice accumulating on the device; wind beyond the manufacturer’s limit; any warning or interlock. ## 7. Emergency and contingency - **Member falls or is suspended from the device:** mayday per [SWP - Mayday](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-mayday); the operator keeps the device still unless movement is the rescue; the aerial crew performs the suspended-member rescue it has drilled ([Working at Heights and Fall Protection Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/working-at-heights-and-fall-protection-program) section 5.11); medical. - **Contact with a conductor:** nobody on the ground touches the apparatus; members on the device stay on it; the operator does not move the device unless movement breaks the contact and the manufacturer’s manual allows it; the utility is called; the area is treated as energized; medical for any contact. - **Hydraulic or power failure with members aloft:** emergency power or manual lowering per the manufacturer; members stay attached; ground ladders or a second aerial if needed. - **Collapse or fire at the tip:** the operator moves the device away on the member’s confirmation or the officer’s order; mayday if a member is lost. ## 8. Documentation and reporting Any fall, suspension, conductor contact, overload, impact, tip-over indication or near miss is reported before the end of the shift and reviewed (Tier 2 for a fall, a conductor contact, an aerial struck, or movement with an unattached member). After-event inspections and the annual certificate are recorded on [Form - Ladder and Aerial Inspection and Test Record](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-ladder-and-aerial-inspection-and-test-record); harness post-use inspections on [Form - Fall Protection Equipment Inspection Card](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-fall-protection-equipment-inspection-card). ## 9. Training and review Operators: manufacturer’s training, the aerial operator job performance requirements, and the department’s annual proficiency on each device type, signed by an instructor. Riders: annual check on belts, harnesses and anchors. The Technical Rescue Program Improvement Team and the Apparatus team review this procedure jointly every three years, after any event in section 8, and on any new device; the JOHSC is consulted. ## 10. Related [Working at Heights and Fall Protection Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/working-at-heights-and-fall-protection-program); [Policy - Working at Heights](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/policy-working-at-heights); [Apparatus, Driving and Roadway Operations Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/apparatus-driving-and-roadway-operations-program); [SWP - Ground Ladder Operations](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-ground-ladder-operations); [SWP - Roof and Vertical Ventilation Operations](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-roof-and-vertical-ventilation-operations); [Form - Ladder and Aerial Inspection and Test Record](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-ladder-and-aerial-inspection-and-test-record); [Form - Fall Protection Equipment Inspection Card](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-fall-protection-equipment-inspection-card); [Checklist - Working at Heights and Fall Protection](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/checklist-working-at-heights-and-fall-protection). ## Jurisdiction requirements This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it. | Topic | What to check in your jurisdiction | Page | |:---|:---|:---| | Equipment Inspection, Ladders and Aerial Devices | The design or certification standard for aerial devices, the service-testing interval, and any operator-at-controls rule | [J15 Equipment Inspection, Ladders and Aerial Devices](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j15-equipment-inspection-ladders-and-aerial-devices) | | Fall Protection and Rope Access | Harness and fall arrest rules for firefighters on an aerial ladder or elevating platform, and harness inspection before reuse | [J16 Fall Protection and Rope Access](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j16-fall-protection-and-rope-access) | ## References National Fire Protection Association. (2024). *NFPA 1010, Standard on professional qualifications for firefighters* (consolidates NFPA 1001, 1002, 1003 and 1005). National Fire Protection Association. (2024). *NFPA 1910, Standard for the inspection, maintenance, refurbishment, testing, and retirement of in-service emergency vehicles and marine firefighting vessels* (consolidates NFPA 1071, 1911, 1912 and 1925).