Aerial Lifts & Boom Lifts

Boom lifts and bucket trucks put you in a basket on an extendable arm. Together with scissor lifts, they’re called mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs). The main dangers are falls or ejection from the basket, tip-overs, being crushed against overhead structures, and electrocution from power lines.

• Construction
• General Industry

Types of aerial lifts

Under the ANSI A92 standards, boom-type lifts are “Group B” MEWPs because the platform can extend beyond the machine’s base. Scissor lifts are “Group A.” See Scissor Lifts.

Training

• Only trained and authorized people may operate an aerial lift.
• Training covers the type of lift. Familiarization covers the specific make and model: the controls, safety devices, load chart, manual and emergency lowering.
• Occupants who aren’t operating must still know how to use the emergency stop and controls if the operator is hurt.

Before you operate

• You’ve been trained and familiarized on this make and model
• Read the operator’s manual and decals; the manual is in the machine
• Walk-around: tires, hydraulic leaks, cracked welds, pins, guardrails, gate, decals, anchor points
• Test the ground controls, platform controls, emergency stop and emergency lowering
• Test function enable switches, tilt alarm and load sensing (if equipped)
• Check the work area: slopes, holes, soft ground, curbs, overhead lines and obstacles, traffic and wind speed

Tie-off and ejection

OSHA requires anyone in a boom-supported lift to wear a full-body harness with a lanyard attached to the boom or basket anchor. The biggest reason is ejection: if a wheel drops into a hole or the machine hits a curb, the boom whips and can catapult you out of the basket.

• Use the anchor point the manufacturer designated, not the guardrail.
• Use the shortest lanyard practical, ideally a restraint lanyard that keeps you inside the basket.
• If you use a fall arrest lanyard, make sure the lift is rated for the arrest force.

Operating safely

• Stand firmly on the platform floor.
• Stay within the rated load (people + tools + material). Some lifts have two ratings, restricted and unrestricted.
• Set outriggers or stabilizers on firm ground with pads when the lift has them, and chock wheels on slopes.
• Look in the direction of travel. Use a spotter in tight areas and around people.
• Travel with the boom lowered and retracted unless the manufacturer allows otherwise.
• Keep at least 10 feet from power lines up to 50,000 volts, and more for higher voltages. Only qualified line workers with insulated equipment may get closer.

• Don’t tie off to an adjacent pole, structure or equipment.
• Don’t sit or climb on the guardrails, or use planks or ladders in the basket.
• Don’t exit the platform at height unless the manufacturer and your site allow it, with a written procedure and 100% tie-off.
• Don’t exceed the slope rating, or drive with the boom raised unless the manufacturer allows it.
• Don’t operate in winds above the manufacturer’s limit, often about 28 mph for outdoor machines.
• Don’t use the lift as a crane or attach loads to the basket unless the manufacturer allows it.
• Don’t defeat tilt alarms, limit switches or interlocks.

Emergencies

• Someone on the ground must know how to use the ground controls and emergency lowering. Don’t send an operator up alone with no one nearby.
• If the lift contacts a power line, stay in the basket and don’t touch anything. Warn others to stay away until the utility de-energizes the line.
• If the machine starts to tip, don’t try to jump out. Stay tied off and hold on.

Last updated: October 1, 2026