Machine Guarding Safety Check Record

Who this is for

One line for every machine in the workshop. Four columns cover the fixed guards, the interlocks, the emergency stops and the isolation point, the defect goes in words, and a tick withdraws a machine from use until it is put right.

Workshop and production supervisors, maintenance engineers and safety representatives in engineering shops, joineries, food production, print and any small factory with machines that have moving parts.

What this helps you track

• Which machines exist, where they are and which have been checked this round
• Which part of the machine is the problem — the guard, the interlock, the stop or the isolator
• How many faults the round found across the whole shop
• Which machines were taken out of use and are waiting on a repair

How to use it

1. Give every machine a number once and keep the same number on every future round.
2. Walk the shop machine by machine and mark each of the four columns OK, Fault or N/A.
3. Test the interlocks and stops rather than looking at them, and say in the defect column what you did.
4. Tick the out-of-use column for any machine that should not be run, and label the machine itself as well.
5. Let the fault count and the summary work themselves out in the browser and spreadsheet versions.
6. Sign the record, pass the faults to maintenance, and keep the sheet with the machine file.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does this replace a thorough examination of the machine?

No. It is a routine check of the guarding, recorded by the person who carries it out. Any examination your rules call for, and who is allowed to do it, is set where you are and by the machine maker's instructions.

Why record isolation as its own column?

Because a machine can have perfect guards and still be dangerous to clean or unjam if it cannot be isolated and locked off. Keeping it separate stops it being assumed.

What if a machine is out of use already?

Check it anyway and mark the columns N/A where they cannot be tested, with the reason in the defect column. It keeps the machine on the record rather than quietly dropping off it.

Can I use this for hand-held power tools?

It will work, but a tool register or an appliance inspection record suits portable kit better. This sheet is built around fixed machines with guards, interlocks and an isolator.