Prestart checklist

A prestart checklist is completed by the operator, at the machine, before it is used for the first time that day or shift. It is a short inspection with one purpose: catch the faults that make a machine dangerous before it moves.

The content is specific to the machine, and a single generic checklist applied to every item of plant is the first sign the system is not real. On a typical item of mobile plant it covers the following.

Walk around. Visible damage, leaks on the ground, loose or missing bolts, condition of attachments and pins, and anything sitting in the path of the machine.

Fluids. Engine oil, coolant, hydraulic level, fuel, and any visible contamination.

Tyres, tracks and undercarriage. Pressure and cuts, or track tension and wear.

Guards and protective structures. Guards in place and secured, the operator protective structure undamaged, access steps and handholds intact.

Safety devices. Seatbelt, horn, reversing alarm, beacon, lights, mirrors and cameras, isolators, emergency stop, and the fire extinguisher where one is fitted.

Controls and function. Controls responding correctly, brakes including the park brake, steering, and hydraulic function tested before any load is applied.

Documentation. The logbook, the plant risk assessment, and the operator's licence or verification of competency for that machine.

The record matters as much as the inspection. A completed checklist establishes the condition of the machine at the start of the shift, which is what the next operator, the hire company and any incident investigation will rely on.

These are two different things that happen at the same time of day, and the shared name causes real confusion on site.

A prestart meeting is the shift briefing. The supervisor runs through the day's work, the hazards and controls, site changes and coordination between trades, and workers sign on to confirm they attended.

A prestart checklist is a plant inspection. One operator checks one machine against a list of items and records the result.

A site runs both. The crew attends the prestart meeting, and the plant operators then carry out their machine checks before starting work. Neither replaces the other, and a sign on sheet from the morning briefing is not evidence that an excavator was inspected.

Where it goes wrong is on sites that fold the plant check into the briefing as a verbal question. Asking a room whether everyone's machines are all right produces a yes and no record, and it is the record that gets asked for after an incident or by a hire company disputing damage.

The operator completes it, because they are the person at the machine and the person relying on it. A checklist signed by someone sitting in the site office is worse than none at all, because it looks like a control and is not one.

How faults are handled is what separates a working system from a paperwork one.

Minor faults that do not affect safe operation are recorded and passed to maintenance or the hire company, and the machine stays in service.

Faults affecting safe operation stop the machine. It is tagged out, the operator reports it, and it does not return to service until the fault is rectified and that rectification is recorded. A missing seatbelt, a failed reversing alarm, a defective park brake and a damaged protective structure all sit in this group.

Anything suggesting a structural or design problem is escalated rather than repaired locally, particularly on protective structures and lifting attachments.

On dry hired plant the checklist does a second job. It records the condition of the machine when it arrived and on each day it was used, which is the evidence that settles damage arguments at the end of the hire. On wet hire the operator arrives with the machine, and the obligation to check it still needs to be confirmed rather than assumed.

One checklist for every machine type. An excavator, a telehandler, a scissor lift and a light vehicle do not share failure modes. Generic lists get ticked without being read.

Filling in the week on Monday. Pre dated or batch completed checklists are a routine audit finding, and they remove whatever value the record had.

No consequence attached to a fault. If the checklist has no tag out step and nowhere for the fault to go, operators learn to record nothing rather than create work they cannot close.

Books that live in the cab and go nowhere. A completed book inside the machine is invisible to whoever manages the fleet. Faults have to reach the people who fix them.

Not checking operator competence. The licence or verification of competency for that specific machine belongs in the same check, especially on hired plant and with new starters.

Treating it as the whole plant safety system. A prestart checklist confirms the machine is fit to start today. It does not replace the plant risk assessment, scheduled servicing, statutory inspections or the operator's licence.