Plant and Forklift Pre-Use Inspection
Keep a week of daily walk-around checks on a single sheet that lives with the machine, so the record is made where the machine is rather than in an office.
WT-11 2 pages
Warehouse and logistics · WL-09
Forklift Pre-Use Check Sheet
A free printable forklift check sheet — the walk-round and running checks on one truck before one shift, ticked by the operator, with a defects table.
Download Free · no sign-up
One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Give the operator a fixed order to walk the truck in, and give the supervisor a signed page that says what was checked and what was found before the first lift.
Who it is for
Forklift, reach truck and pallet truck operators, and the supervisors who collect the sheets at the start of a shift.
How to use it
- Fill in the truck, date, shift and hours reading before you start.
- Walk round the truck and tick each item in the first group as you look at it.
- Start up and tick the running checks — brakes, steering, horn, lights, lift and tilt.
- Write any defect in the table with who you told and when, and whether the truck was taken out of use.
- Sign and hand the sheet in.
What is on the sheet
One page, top to bottom:
Printed under the title: The walk-round and the running checks on one truck before one shift, ticked by the operator, with any defect written down and who it was told to. Whether a defect stops the truck being used is your site's call, made by whoever your site rules name — this sheet makes sure it was found, written and reported before the first lift.
Write-on lines: Truck ID / fleet no. · Make & type · Date · Shift · Hours / meter · Operator (print) · Operator signature · Time checked · Attachment fitted
Walk-round, before starting
- Tyres, wheels and wheel nuts
- Forks — heels, tips, pins, matched
- Mast, chains, rollers and hoses
- Carriage and load backrest
- Hydraulic leaks; fluid at the mark
- Battery, fuel or gas cylinder secure
- Overhead guard, seat and restraint
- Rating plate legible, matches attachment
- Mirrors, lights, beacon and alarm fitted
- Cab and steps clear of oil and loose items
Running checks, before the first lift
- Service brake holds
- Parking brake holds
- Steering — no play, full lock both ways
- Horn, lights, beacon, reversing alarm
- Lift, lower, tilt and side-shift move and stop
- Controls return to neutral when released
- Warning lights and gauges as your handbook
- Restraint latched; seat switch or interlock
Defects found — leave blank if none — a blank here means checked and clear
Table, 3 rows: Defect · Reported to · Time · Truck out of use · Cleared by / date
Questions
Does a ticked defect mean the truck cannot be used?
That is your site's decision, made by whoever your site rules name, not the sheet's. The sheet makes sure the defect is written down and reported before the truck moves; the column for taken out of use records what was then decided.
How is this different from the plant and forklift pre-use inspection sheet?
That sheet is a weekly grid built for mixed plant on a site or in a workshop. This one is a single truck, single shift check written for a warehouse floor, with the walk-round and running checks split and a defects table underneath.
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