Plant pre-use check
Daily plant inspection, operator's daily check
The operator's recorded check of a machine at the start of every shift: fluids, guards, controls, tyres or tracks, lights, damage, before it does any work.
The pre-use check is how PUWER regulation 6 (inspection) and the manufacturer's daily maintenance schedule show up on site. The operator walks round the machine and works through a list matched to its type: for mobile plant, fluid levels, leaks, tyres or tracks, brakes, steering, lights and beacons, mirrors and cameras, seat belt, ROPS and FOPS, guards, quick hitch, controls and gauges, fire extinguisher, and the cab in general; for lifting plant, the examination certificate, hooks and latches, chains and slings, load charts and limiters; for power tools, cables, plugs, guards, switches and the PAT label. Anything failed is tagged out and reported; the machine does not work until it is fixed.
The record matters as much as the check. A signed daily sheet for every machine, kept for the job, is what shows the machine was fit when it went to work, and what identifies the operator who checked it. A pattern of the same defect ticked as fine for a fortnight before it fails is also visible in the record, which is the point.
Where it comes from
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 regs.5 and 6: maintenance and inspection.
- Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 for lifting plant.
- The manufacturer's operator handbook: the daily walk-around and checks.
Questions people ask
Who does the pre-use check?
The operator, before the machine does any work, and again when a different operator takes over. Hired plant gets the same check as your own.
What if a check fails?
Tag it, report it, do not use it. A fitter decides whether it can be repaired on site or has to go back. The failed check and the defect report are kept.
Plant pre-use check, handled on a phone
SiteLynx puts the RAMS, permits, inspections, audits, plant checks and records behind every term in this glossary on the crew's phones, signed on site, with a PDF at the end. 14 days free, no card.
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