How to implement an effective ‘daily safety check program’ for your equipment?

One of the first steps to a safer workplace is giving your employees safe equipment to use. A good preventive maintenance program is part of that. The other part is a daily inspection, done the same way every shift.

OSHA requires it. Industrial trucks are to be examined before being placed in service, at least daily, and where they are used around the clock, after each shift. A truck is not to be placed in service if the examination shows any condition that affects its safety (29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7)). Here is how to build a program that holds up, in five steps.

Step 1: Set the standard

OSHA publishes sample checklists, and says they are a guide. Use them as a starting point and work with your safety committee to write a company standard for each type of equipment in your building. For every question, decide:

• What and where to inspect. Name the places to look for leaks, damage and wear.
• When to inspect. For example, at the start of every shift.
• What counts as safe, with examples.
• What does not, with examples of when to raise an issue.

Step 2: Make your operators part of it

Once the standard is set, train your operators on it:

• How to carry out each inspection.
• When to pass a question and when to fail it.
• What to do after a question fails.
• That it is their responsibility to point out anything unsafe before the equipment goes into operation.
• That it is the company’s responsibility to keep the equipment safe, and to restore it when it is not.

The rule backs this up. A truck found to be in need of repair, defective or in any way unsafe is to be taken out of service until it has been restored to safe operating condition (1910.178(p)(1)), and repairs are to be made by authorized personnel.

Step 3: Make it consistent

A program is only as good as how often and how well the inspections are done. A log book gives operators a routine to follow. It cannot make sure the check happens every time. A unit on the truck can: the SM301 can be set so the equipment will not start until the check is completed at the start of each shift. The questions come up in a random order, and a failed question can hold the truck until a supervisor has inspected it and released it.

Paper, an app and a unit on the truck each have their place. We compare them in our guide to the electronic forklift checklist.

Step 4: Track the records and set priorities

OSHA has said the examination does not have to be recorded in writing. Keep records anyway. Track that each check was done, every failed question, and what was done to make the equipment safe again. For each failed question, record the reason, such as damage, a leak or wear, and the next step:

• High priority: take it out of service and schedule the repair. Anything that affects safety belongs here, such as a severe leak, a broken safety device or severe damage.
• Medium priority: schedule the repair and put it back into service. For example, mild tire wear, a scratched hydraulic cylinder or a small leak.
• Lower priority: put it back in service and monitor it so it does not get worse. For example, dents, scratches and scrapes.

With the SM301’s web portal you can pull these reports on demand or have them emailed to you automatically. An optional feature shows every failed question on the dashboard, with notes on what was done about it, and adds those notes to your reports.

Step 5: Get management behind it

It may sound obvious, but a program like this fails without support from management, and above all from supervisors. If nobody follows up on a failed check, operators learn that the check does not matter.

• Give your operators feedback.
• Follow up on every failed question.
• Train often, with clear expectations.
• Treat safety as everyone’s responsibility.

The next step is a one-hour online demo of the check on the truck and the reports in the portal. Book one here.