How Daily Crane Inspections Keep Your Business Safe, Compliant & Cost-Efficient

A steadfast commitment to safety is an essential part of a successful mobile crane business. If you’ve owned or managed mobile cranes for any amount of time, you’re already familiar with the importance of safety. Mobile cranes are so complex that achieving a perfect safety record can be easier said than done. 

One of the most important things you can do to maintain a rigorous safety standard is to perform daily crane inspections on all of your equipment before any work begins. At first glance, inspecting all of your equipment every single day may seem a bit excessive. But daily crane inspections are a great way to identify potential hazards before they turn into costly accidents. 

Not only that, but daily crane inspections can also improve your business’s operational efficiency, minimize costly maintenance downtime, and even improve employee morale. Plus, daily crane inspections are often necessary to comply with important Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. 

We'll cover:  

• Equipment Longevity
• Safety and Compliance
• Operational Efficiency
• Strong Relationships with Employees and Operators

Best Practices for daily inspections

Getting the Most Out of Your Daily Crane Inspections With RapidWorks

Top 4 Benefits of Daily Pre-Work Crane Inspections

Inspecting your crane equipment before each workday has numerous benefits for your business, your clients, and your employees. In general, the benefits of daily crane inspections fall into four categories.  

1. Equipment Longevity 

To run a successful mobile crane business, you need your equipment to stay in good working order for as long as possible. Daily crane inspections are a great way to ensure longevity for your equipment and avoid costly breakdowns and malfunctions. 

Early detection of wear and tear

Mobile cranes incur small amounts of wear and tear during each job. None of this is a big deal in the short term, but over time, this wear and tear can add up to costly damage if it's not dealt with. 

Identifying wear and tear early can go a long way toward improving the longevity of your heavy equipment. If you inspect your cranes each day, you can catch small issues in need of maintenance before they compromise the lifespan of your equipment. 

Reduced risk of unexpected breakdowns

Short of an accident or injury, the worst thing that can happen on your job site is an unexpected breakdown. When your equipment breaks down, you not only lose out on that day's work, but you'll also need to go through the costly, time-consuming process of replacing it. 

Daily crane inspections can help you identify potential issues that may result in unexpected breakdowns. If your crew finds potential problems before they result in equipment failures, you can proactively replace the relevant parts without cutting into your operational efficiency. 

2. Safety and Compliance 

Daily crane inspections can help you avoid accidents, comply with all applicable legal regulations, and ultimately keep your employees safe. 

Safety for operators and on-site employees

Maintenance issues are also a common cause of on-site accidents. Worn parts, loose components, and fluid leaks are major causes of some of the most common types of safety hazards associated with mobile cranes.

By checking each piece of equipment every day, your team can identify any maintenance issue that could result in a tragic accident. Once it's identified, your team can fix the problem and carry on with a safer work environment. 

Regulatory compliance

OSHA regulations require you to maintain a sufficiently safe worksite for your employees, and that entails making sure your equipment is safe and functional through regular inspections. Failing to comply with OSHA safety standards can result in costly fines and other legal penalties. 

Daily crane inspections are also essential for your documentation. Proper documentation of your equipment’s maintenance is crucial for any third-party audits or investigations following an accident. By following through with daily crane inspections according to OSHA regulations, you can ensure that your maintenance logs are comprehensive and accurate. 

Liability and insurance protection

Daily crane inspections can also help you avoid liability if accidents do occur. In some circumstances, a clear record of regular inspections can minimize your liability if an accident occurs with your equipment. Likewise, regular inspections and maintenance can also help lower your insurance premiums and protect you against claim denials in the event of an accident. 

3. Operational Efficiency

After workplace safety and regulatory compliance, the biggest benefit of daily crane inspections is the positive effect they'll have on your business’s operational efficiency. Equipment that needs a lot of maintenance or that keeps breaking down won’t help you complete construction projects on time or within budget. 

Daily pre-work inspections may seem like an inefficient use of time at first, but compared to the huge consequences of breakdowns, daily inspections are actually a major efficiency benefit.

Reducing downtime and operational delays

Equipment repairs are usually the biggest cause of costly downtime for any mobile crane business. The best way to improve your business’s operational efficiency is to minimize your maintenance downtime as much as possible. 

Generally speaking, minor wear and tear will be much quicker to fix than major breakdowns. Therefore, it’s a good idea to identify minor wear and tear early through daily inspections so you can fix the issue before it becomes a costly problem. 

Optimizing equipment maintenance schedules

Daily crane inspections also help you maintain a comprehensive maintenance record. Records of all inspections and maintenance on your equipment can help you plan for future repairs and avoid major accidents or breakdowns in the middle of a job. Good record-keeping also ties into regulatory compliance and insurance liability. 

4. Strong Relationships With Your Employees and Operators

Finally, daily crane inspections can help you build stronger relationships with your employees. As a mobile crane business owner, you’re always working hard to attract and retain the best heavy equipment professionals to get the job done. Retention is much easier when your employees have great morale, which often stems from confidence in their equipment. 

Daily pre-work inspections help your operators know that the equipment they’re working with is always in top shape. It also helps prevent breakdowns and costly delays due to repairs, which can chip away at your employees' morale over time. 

Best Practices for Daily Inspections 

The best practices for your mobile crane business may vary based on what equipment you have and what jobs you’re working on. But in general, there are a few key things to include on any pre-work inspection checklist. 

When inspecting your cranes each day, make sure to check on the following areas:

• Hydraulic system
• Transmission fluid levels
• Electrical system
• Dashboard warning lights
• Windshield wipers
• Wheel alignment
• Tires
  

Getting the Most Out of Your Daily Crane Inspections With RapidWorks

A structured, proactive approach to daily crane maintenance is safer, more cost-effective, and more efficient than simply waiting for your equipment to break down. Of course, daily crane inspections can still be time- and resource-consuming, especially if you don’t have the right tools in your inventory. 

Daily inspections are an important aspect of building a rigorous maintenance program for your business. If you're interested in starting a maintenance program, or improving your existing one, check out the RapidWorks blog for excellent tips and expert advice. 

Get in touch with RapidWorks for a demo of innovative software solutions that can help you integrate daily crane inspections into each of your business’s workdays.