The importance of regular ancillary product checks

As a specialist in heavy-duty vehicle lifts, TotalKare has always been an advocate of safety within the workshop through its AfterKare packages, including planned maintenance packages and reports of thorough examination. However, on regular visits to commercial workshops we have found that ancillary products are often an overlooked piece of equipment when it comes to safety.

Complacency is the enemy of safety

Ancillary equipment is still a critical piece of hardware and should be checked on a regular basis in line with other workshop equipment safety inspections. However, sometimes complacency in these pieces of equipment comes into place.

Our engineers regularly notice, especially on support stands and small wheel adaptors, that associated ancillary equipment is often neglected and damaged.

If a mobile column lift is not working because of the nature of the safety feature and moving components, it is easy to identify any problems. By contrast, with static equipment, such as support stands and wheel adaptors, problems are often overlooked and with workshops becoming busier than ever it is usually a lack of time to carry out regular inspections that leads to these problems.

Most common issues

Typical difficulties include damaged metalwork in critical places, which is especially noticeable on support stands where the supporting cup for the vehicle has been flattened or damaged. This means that the support stand can no longer cradle the axle it is supposed to be supporting and this results in an increased risk of the support stand slipping from underneath the vehicle.

Another problem is that damage to metalwork can cause the integrity of the ancillary equipment to be compromised and, at the same time, the safety of employees working with this equipment can be put at risk.

Detailed inspection

Ancillary check-overs can now be added to any TotalKare service contract for an additional small monthly fee. The company will carry out a detailed visual inspection of all ancillary lifting equipment and provide a written record of the state of said equipment.

Regular inspections allow the end-user to ensure their equipment is safe but they can also reduce costs in the long-run because individual parts can be replaced rather than having to replace the whole item.

In conclusion, there is no doubt that regular ancillary equipment check-overs improve safety in the workplace but there needs to be a significant amount of training and education taking place before these become commonplace. However, people’s lives can depend on high levels of safety and it is the responsibility of all workshop owners who use heavy-duty mobile lifts to make sure that staff are aware of all the issues involved and embrace the idea of regular check-overs.