Forklift Maintenance: Daily Lift Truck Inspections

Are your forklifts being inspected and documented before each shift by your operators? To help contribute to a safer working environment and prevent costly lift truck repairs, it is important to inspect your forklifts regularly as part of your daily or pre-shift inspection. Listed below are a few of the key components to inspect on a daily basis before operating your lift truck.

Horns. Are all the horns working on your lift trucks? OSHA requires truckers to “sound the horn at cross aisles and other locations where the vision is obstructed.” To further protect employees and ensure a safe facility, back-up alarms are a best practice.

Seat Belts. Are your lifts equipped and are they all in good working order?

Tires. Chunked tires or severely worn tires present a significant hazard for operators and pedestrians alike.

Gauges. Are all the gauges and indicators in good working order on each of your lift trucks? This includes hour meters, oil pressure, temperature and any other gauge installed by the manufacturer.

Forks. When was the last time your forks were inspected for wear, cracks or other unsafe conditions?

Wheel chocks. If your forklifts are parked on an incline, not only must the brakes be set and the engine in neutral, but the wheels must be chocked.

These tips are a good rule of thumb when supporting lift truck safety in your workplace. Any problems identified during daily checks need to be reported to your supervisor immediately. For more information regarding safety practices, call the experts at Andersen Material Handling. You can also visit PowerTrack Service Assistant to get to know about the features of our newest mobile app, it’s an OSHA compliant checklist for every shift and every truck!