Regardless of the type of industrial equipment you have on-site, you can perform some necessary standard tests to ensure that every piece of equipment is safe and working to its maximum capacity. Simply follow this guide next time you’re doing the rounds.
What Should Your Equipment Inspection Cover?
You should concentrate your inspection on all aspects of the machine that can impact the operator’s safety and the individual parts that degrade due to wear and tear. The equipment may need some testing as part of the investigation, and in some cases, you might need to do some dismantling.
For the majority of industrial equipment, there are three standard methods used to conduct an inspection. These include:
- Functional and visual examinations
- Measuring wear and tear
- Non-destructive and load testing
It’s helpful for you to record when each inspection is conducted to know when the next one is due.
How Frequently Should Your Equipment Get Inspected?
A quick inspection should take place every time you’re about to use the equipment. You should check the electrical cables, the safety buttons or switches are working, and the lighting is operating appropriately.
More extensive investigations should occur at the end of the working week and involve looking at specific areas of the machine. You should check all of the protective guards connected to the equipment that will keep employees safe and that all of the functioning parts that deteriorate are working correctly and don’t need replacing.
Thorough exams require you to perform extensive testing to ensure that your machine can handle the jobs it needs to perform. This should happen every three months at a minimum. However, the older the equipment gets, the more frequently you may need to check it to ensure that it’s still up to the task.
Who Should Carry Out the Inspection?
The responsibility of carrying out equipment investigations requires someone with sufficient knowledge and experience of the machines they’re inspecting and, depending on the equipment, may need to be certified. They’ll need to know what to look for and how to identify a problem with the product. Ideally, they should also know what needs to be done when there is an issue.
When Should You Refer to the Machine’s Product Guide?
Upon one of your inspections, you’re bound to find a problem that requires reviewing the product guide to resolve the issue. It might be to check a warranty, or it could relate to a part that needs replacing.
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