The Pre-Start Check That Found Three Faults
You are about to start a shift on a 3-tonne LPG counterbalance forklift that has just come off a busy night shift. Your pre-start walkaround finds: (1) the left rear tyre has a deep sidewall gouge and is visibly soft; (2) the horn works but the reversing beeper is silent; (3) the LPG cylinder is nearly empty and the gauge reads low; (4) the forks show slight wear at the heel but no cracks; (5) the park brake holds on a slope. The previous operator has signed the logbook as 'all OK'. The day supervisor says the beeper has been out for a week and 'everyone just looks'.
1. Decide which findings make the forklift unfit for use and justify each decision against the purpose of a pre-start check.
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A pre-start check exists to catch defects before they become incidents, and the test for each finding is whether the defect creates an unacceptable risk if the machine is used.
Tyre gouge and softness - unfit. A soft or damaged tyre changes the machine's stability, affects steering and braking, and can fail under load. On a counterbalance forklift the rear wheels steer and the front wheels carry the load; a sidewall gouge is a structural defect that can burst under load. Do not use.
Silent reversing beeper - unfit, or at minimum a defect requiring assessment before use. The beeper is a primary warning device for pedestrians in an environment where the operator's rear view is restricted. A week-long outage means the site has normalised a failed control. It should be repaired, and until then reversing in pedestrian areas should be controlled by a spotter or avoided.
Low LPG - not a defect, but a planning issue. Running out mid-task can strand a loaded forklift. Change the cylinder before starting, following the correct isolation and ventilation procedure.
Fork heel wear - monitor. Slight wear is normal; excessive wear (typically beyond about 10 per cent of the original thickness) reduces strength and the forks should be withdrawn from service for assessment. Record the measurement.
Park brake - pass, but record that it was tested on a slope.
The logbook signed 'all OK' is itself a finding: the previous operator either did not check or falsified the record. That undermines the whole inspection system and should be raised.
2. The supervisor tells you to take the forklift out anyway. What do you do, and what do you record?
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I would decline to operate the machine. The tyre defect and the failed reversing alarm are both defects that could injure me or a pedestrian, and I cannot delegate that judgement to a supervisor's instruction. Under work health and safety law the operator has a duty to take reasonable care of their own and others' safety, and a duty to report defects; a direction to use unsafe plant does not remove that duty.
What I would do: tag the forklift out of service with a clear defect tag, remove the key or isolate it so no one else uses it, and notify the supervisor in writing of the specific defects and why each makes it unfit. I would request the tyre be inspected and the beeper repaired, and ask for an alternative machine so the shift can proceed safely.
What I would record: the date, time, machine ID, each defect found with a description (tyre position and gouge, beeper silent, LPG level), the fact that the previous logbook entry said 'all OK', the instruction I received, my response, and who I notified. This record protects me and creates the evidence trail the site needs to fix the underlying problem.
If the supervisor insisted and no safe alternative existed, I would escalate to the next level of management or the health and safety representative, and if necessary stop work. The cost of a refused shift is trivial against a tyre failure or a pedestrian struck by a reversing forklift.