What OSHA’s Renewed Warehouse Inspection Program Means for Daily Forklift Checks

On July 31, 2026, OSHA began inspecting under its renewed National Emphasis Program on warehousing and distribution centers. The program runs for five years from that date. Every inspection under it is a comprehensive safety inspection, and the first hazard on OSHA’s list is powered industrial vehicle operations. If you run forklifts in a warehouse, here is what that means for your operators’ daily check.

What changed in July

The first program took effect on July 13, 2023. In its first 18 months, OSHA says, inspectors found more than 1,700 violations and removed about 37,410 workers from hazards. The new directive, signed July 6, 2026, keeps the program going. The changes that matter to employers:

• It runs for five years from July 31, 2026, so into 2031.
• High-injury-rate retail stores are no longer covered. The program now covers warehouses, distribution centers, courier and local delivery facilities, and postal processing centers only. Deliveries out on the road are not part of it.
• Inspectors no longer have to screen every site for heat and ergonomic hazards, though both are still on the list of hazards the program covers.
• It makes clear that an area office may widen an inspection that starts from a fatality, a complaint or a referral at a covered workplace into a full program inspection.

Who it covers

The program covers seven industry codes: general, refrigerated, farm product and other warehousing and storage; couriers and express delivery; local messengers and local delivery; and Postal Service processing and distribution centers. Each OSHA area office draws workplaces at random from a list of those codes, and skips any that had a comprehensive inspection for these hazards in the past three years. States that run their own OSHA plan had 60 days to say whether they would adopt the program or already have one at least as effective.

If your business is a manufacturer, or a distributor filed under another industry code, this program does not apply to you. The forklift rule still applies, and powered industrial trucks are seventh on OSHA’s preliminary list of the most-cited standards for fiscal year 2026.

What the inspector looks at

At the opening conference the inspector confirms your industry code and headcount, then reviews your OSHA 300 logs, 300A summaries and 301 incident reports for the current year and the three before it, looking for injuries tied to the hazards the program covers. On the floor, three parts of the forklift rule bear directly on the daily check:

• The daily examination. Every truck is examined before it is placed in service, at least daily, and after each shift where trucks run around the clock. A truck with a condition that affects its safety does not go into service (29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7)).
• Taking unsafe trucks out of service. A truck that needs repair, is defective or is unsafe in any way is taken out of service until it is restored ((p)(1)), and only authorized personnel repair it ((q)(1)).
• Training. Nobody drives, except while being trained, until they have completed training and an evaluation ((l)(1)). Each operator is evaluated again at least once every three years ((l)(4)(iii)), and the employer certifies it with the operator’s name, the dates and who did it ((l)(6)).

The maximum penalty for a serious violation is $16,550, and $165,514 for one that is willful or repeated (OSHA penalties).

Does the check have to be written down?

No. In a 2000 letter of interpretation, OSHA said the rule requires the examination but not a written checklist.

That cuts both ways. Without a record, the only proof that a check happened is what your operators tell the inspector. A record of who checked which truck, when, and what failed is how you show that the program works. It is also how you see which trucks keep failing before an inspector does.

Five things to do before an inspector arrives

• Give every type of truck a check that fits it. An electric reach truck and a propane counterbalance truck need different questions. OSHA’s sample checklists are a starting point.
• Decide what fails. Write down which conditions take a truck out of service, and who may put it back.
• Close the gap between the check and the key. On paper or in an app, an operator can still start the truck without doing the check.
• Match your training records to the people who drive. Every operator should have a certification on file and an evaluation within the last three years.
• Read your own 300 log the way an inspector will. Find the forklift injuries and ask what changed after each one.

Where the SM301 fits

The SM301 is wired in place of the key. It asks the safety check questions on its own screen, in random order, and the truck will not start until they are answered. If a question fails, the truck can stay locked until a supervisor releases it. Every check is recorded against the operator’s code or card. An optional portal feature shows each failed question, with room for notes on what was done about it. The portal also records each operator’s training expiry and emails an alert two weeks before it runs out. It has no monthly fees.

One thing to plan for: the portal keeps report data for three months as standard, and an inspector reads injury logs going back three years. If you want your check records to reach as far, the Reports Storage add-on keeps them for the life of the unit. Reports export to CSV and PDF.

For more, our guide to the electronic forklift checklist sets paper, apps and lockout side by side, and how to implement a daily safety check program walks through setting one up.

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