To turn regular equipment inspections into a competitive advantage, there has to be an emphasis through all levels of organizational management. If your team members operate expensive equipment that could be dangerous, pose a threat to the environment, or cause financial loss if not maintained, then you can’t allow them to perceive inspections as a necessary evil.
The primary purpose of a checklist is to help staff remain disciplined in their work, avoid simple mistakes, follow protocol thoroughly, and reduce costs. A well-designed, comprehensive, and easy-to-use checklist is powerful because it provides guidance on the proper way of conducting inspections while reinforcing the importance of performing them the way they should be performed, resulting in the following benefits:
• Regular inspections help pinpoint the time of equipment damage, which discourages equipment abuse.
• Identifying equipment problems leads to fewer recurring equipment issues.
• Reducing equipment malfunction during operation increases labor productivity and minimizes project delays.
• From the insistence on checklist inspections, equipment operators will know the company wants to provide equipment that is in ideal operating condition, which will encourage them to respect the equipment they use.
• The threat of accident-related costs and the threat of staff injury will be reduced through prevention of the use of faulty equipment.
• Checklist inspections collect data that can be used to evaluate equipment quality, budget for equipment downtime, determine the best maintenance schedules, and maximize scheduling productivity.
• Regular and thorough inspections can help with identifying and correcting issues before they get worse and cause more severe problems.
The first industry that really understood and harnessed the power of checklists was aviation. In 1935, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress crashed during a test flight, which showed that flying an airplane from raw memorization was too complicated and posed an enormous risk. A preflight checklist was then implemented to help pilots make sure that no basics were overlooked during take-off.
Takeaway
Comprehensive inspection checklists are a fundamental tool in conducting inspections the right way because they carry all the necessary details for a specific piece of equipment that must be inspected.
Using The Checker’s cloud-based inspection software and comprehensive inspection books, your staff will be able to perform inspections that involve many steps with ease. Prevent mistakes, keep your equipment in check, and boost your staff’s overall productivity with The Checker.
