Tips for Safe Forklift Maintenance

As with any piece of large equipment, it’s important to stay on top of preventative maintenance with your forklift. By keeping up with your forklift maintenance, you can prevent breakdowns and unnecessarily expensive repairs, and also ensure the safety of your operators.

With this in mind, here are some tips to help you with your forklift maintenance safety in Texas:

• Perform daily inspections: Assuming you use your forklift every day, you should make sure you add a daily inspection to your routine before the forklift is put to use. This is a good way for you to monitor the condition of the forklift and identify any potential issues before they turn into something larger and more dangerous. Not only is this simply a good habit to get into, but it’s also an OSHA-mandated practice. This inspection should include checks of the hoses, fluid levels, seat belt, tire pressure and conditions, brakes, overhead guards and forks.
• Keep an eye on the tires: You should make the tires a part of your everyday forklift inspections, but also do what you can to keep an eye on them throughout the day. Tires wear out quickly on forklifts, especially in warehouse settings, where they are likely to run on the same path every day. Repetitive motions like this can cause some stress on the tire that make it more likely they will deflate, lose their tread or develop leaks or other damage. Tires are crucial to proper forklift operation, and if any of the tires are damaged or losing their tread, you should remove the forklift from operation until you’re able to replace them.
• Regularly clean the forklifts: Once a week or so, you should make it a point to clean the forklift. Yes, this improves the aesthetics of the forklift, but it also prevents the buildup of lint (a combustible material) and any dirt or debris that could become corrosive to the machine. Wipe down any dirty parts of the forklift, blow out the radiator and pay attention to any areas where you notice buildups of debris or corrosion. This will help you keep the machine in good working order.
• Don’t delay when issues arise: If you do notice problems with your forklift, make sure you take immediate action to resolve those issues and make any necessary repairs. Encourage all employees who will be using the forklift to report any issues they notice immediately, and have processes in place to make sure these reports get logged and the forklift gets removed from operation until the problem can be resolved. The longer you let a problematic forklift remain in use, the more likely it is that you will experience an accident or safety issue.

We strongly recommend you sign up for a forklift maintenance plan so you can more easily stick to your manufacturer-recommended service schedule. For more information from V-Bar Equipment Company about what’s involved in high-quality forklift maintenance safety in Texas, we encourage you to contact our team today with your questions.

Categorised in: Forklift Maintenance

This post was written by Writer