Forklift Safety Tip #25 How Often Should Forklifts Be Serviced?
There is no clear cut law that out lines exactly how regularly servicing is to be done. It’s up to you and your company to arrange a maintenance and inspection schedule that is regular enough to keep your machines in safe working order.
How often they should be service depends on the age of the machine, the amount of usage and the conditions under which it is used.
Australian Standard (maintenance practices 15.2) says “Preventative maintenance, lubrication, and inspection of all powered industrial trucks shall be performed according to a scheduled system in conformity with the manufacturer’s recommendations, which should accompany the truck when delivered”.
New and late model forklifts will have recommended servicing schedules outlined by the manufacturer. These can usually be found in the operator’s manual or by speaking to who ever sold you the forklift.
In companies where the forklifts are used constantly through both day and night shifts, it’s not uncommon to have inspections done daily and servicing done every three months.
On other sites where a forklift is only used once a week, inspections are done weekly and servicing done every 6 to 12 months.
Basically it’s up to you to assess how often servicing is needed to keep your machines in a safe working order.
If you have any question relating to this or any other matter, please feel free to call me on 1300 799 112 or email me nathan@ausforklifttraining.com.au
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