Maintenance, record keeping and documentation
Domain 9 tests the paperwork and the maintenance that makes the paperwork true.
Maintenance
- Follow the manufacturer's schedule: rope inspection and replacement, brake adjustment, gearbox oil, lubrication, electrical checks, fastener torque, roller and castor condition.
- Maintenance by trained personnel with the platform isolated and locked off; record what was done.
- Ropes, brake parts and safety devices are replaced with manufacturer-approved parts.
Records you should expect on site
- Log book for the platform.
- Daily pre-use checklist, signed by the operator.
- Weekly inspection record, signed by the competent person.
- Competent examiner's certificate - before first use and at intervals not exceeding six months, and after alteration or repair affecting safety.
- Commissioning and load-test records.
- Maintenance records.
- Training and authorisation records for operators and riggers.
- Defect and tag-out records, and accident/near-miss reports.
Retention and availability
Records must be kept available for inspection by the Labour Department and by the owner; keep them with the platform when it moves site, and retain them for the period required by the contract and the Ordinance.
Tagging out
Defective equipment is isolated, locked off, tagged and segregated. Only the person who tagged it, or a properly authorised person, removes the tag - and only after repair and, where required, re-examination.
Worked example
Two days before the six-month certificate expires, the platform is due to start a four-week façade job. The correct action is to book the competent examiner now, plan the work around the examination, and not start the job on the assumption that the certificate will be renewed on time. If the platform fails the examination, the programme changes, not the certificate.
Traps
- Treating the log book as optional.
- Moving a platform to a new site without its records.
- Removing a defect tag to keep production going.
- Renewing the certificate without the examination.
- No record of who was trained to operate.