Tips for Conducting Your Next Forklift Safety Inspection – It’s no secret that one of the best ways to keep workers out of harm’s way is to abide by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules and regulations. One of OSHA’s standards states that employers must carry out safety inspections, especially on larges pieces of equipment like forklifts.
To do that, employers can implement and comply with the following requirements and recommended practices:
Conducting a Visual Check
Before the operator steps inside, you should look over the horn; brakes; gas supply; oil, water, and hydraulic fluid levels; finger guards; lights and tires to ensure that they are in perfect condition.
A vehicle in need of repair, defective or in any way unsafe, should not be driven and should be taken out of service immediately. Any problems should be recorded and reported to a supervisor. It’s critical to let workers know that they will not be able to use the forklift until it is fully repaired.
Performing an operating inspection
Once the visual check is completed, move onto the inside of the lift. Turn it on and evaluate the steering. Is it hard to turn or loose? If so, that should be noted. Are the service breaks, horn and signals working? In the event these parts don’t appear to be malfunctioning, your employees should be able to operate the forklift.
Execute and Record these inspections on a regular frequency
OSHA requires that all forklifts be examined at least daily before they are used. If forklifts are used on a round-the-clock basis, they must be examined after each shift.
While OSHA does not require that forklift inspections be documented, recording your findings using an inspection checklist is a good idea because it can provide evidence to an OSHA inspector that forklifts are being inspected as required. The most efficient way to perform inspections is with a Safety Inspection App that can collect all the information, take photographs, allowing annotation, capture GPS coordinates, scan QR codes / barcodes to identify the item being inspected, thus reducing data entry and eliminating errors.
IMEC Technologies provides Safety Management Software to increase worker safety and aid compliance. IMEC’s Safety Management Software will manage inspections and audits, provides hazard identification, incident reporting, management of corrective and preventative actions from generation to closure. IMEC provides lock out tag out software solutions that will allow users to create lockout tagout procedures using an intuitive Mobile App and Manage Lockout Tagout Procedures, also the Review and Execution of those Lockout Tagout Procedures using the Mobile App. Annual Lockout Tagout Procedures audits are conducted using a Mobile App. The Mobile Inspection App allow users to perform inspections and audits, for example the system can be used as a Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software system to manage monthly fire extinguisher inspections and general fire safety inspections and also to record safety observations and manage corrective actions, anywhere and anytime. The solution can be used as a fire extinguisher barcode inspection software system or life safety inspection system to aid compliance in Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Commercial Organizations. Benefits from a Fire Extinguisher Barcode System include the elimination of paperwork and reducing the burden of compliance with regulations such as NFPA, The Joint Commission. The Incident Reporting App allows users to easily and quickly report incidents, hazards and near-misses, these are then sent to the appropriate people for action and are managed to closure. Web Apps provide features such as, setup, management, scheduling tools, analysis, reporting and dashboards etc with the ability to report incidents to government bodies such as OSHA and RIDDOR. HazMat T&T is a hazardous waste management software solution designed for Environmental Service Companies and companies who generate a large quantity of hazardous waste. The solution tracks hazardous waste from cradle to grave aiding compliance, providing accurate waste inventory, increasing waste handling efficiency, reducing risk and also helps manage waste costs. HazMat T&T Hazardous Waste Management Software can be deployed in a number of deployment scenarios, from Large Hazardous Waste Generators, tracking their hazardous waste at their site to Environmental Service and Waste Management Companies using it track and manage hazardous waste at transfer and disposal sites. For more information visit our website www.imectechnologies.com