Machinery

Safety System
Health Check.
Free Resources

Plant Assessor is used by thousands of organisations to simplify and improve their machinery safety,
maintenance and uptime, and create & share rich machinery information to those who need it.

As part of our commitment to machinery users and suppliers, we provide a range of free resources to assist
in the efficient and safe management of machinery safety.

Safety Legislation for Machinery Safety

Machinery Owners & Suppliers & Hazard Guidance
See our machinery users and suppliers Read a broad range of material on specific
guide for State by State safety obligations. machinery hazards & how to manage them.

Read the guide Read the guide

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Machinery Safety System Health Check 1

 The Six Step
Checklist

01 Machinery
Pre-start checks

02 Service Scheduling
& Record keeping

03 Information
Management & Sharing

04 Periodic Plant Inspection

& Risk Assessment

05
Contractor
Management

06
Operator
Competency

2
01
Machinery
Pre-start Checks
We deal with thousands of companies that own
and operate machinery, and pretty much all of
them have some sort of a pre-start check process.

Most of these companies know that their pre-start

process has some shortfalls – most of them do.
These shortfalls give rise to gaps and risks.

Machinery Safety System Health Check

 Machinery Pre-start Checks
Assessment
The following self-assessment will allow you to determine the type and size of any gaps in your
pre-start system.

Answer the questions below and give yourself a score. (Ticking the check box = a YES answer)

1. Do you conduct pre-start checks on all
major machines daily?
2. Are pre-starts consistently completely by all
operators?
3. Are you able to easily monitor whether
pre-starts have been completed or not no
matter where the machine is?
4. Are you able to tell what time a pre-start is
completed?
5. Are they type specific?
(i.e. NOT generic pre-start checks)
10. Are non-conformance rectification orders
systematically communicated to staff
responsible for rectification action?
11. Is there an easy way for you to check
whether a rectification action has been
completed?
12. Are the items in the pre-start checklist
rated in terms of risk?
13. Is there someone responsible for analysing
and reviewing pre-start check results?
14. Do you retain pre-start records?

6. Are they collected daily/weekly? 15. Do you retain pre-start records over 12
months?
7. If a machine has a non-conformance, is it
dealt with daily/weekly? 16. Are historical pre-start records easy to
access?
8. Are critical non-conformances identified
and rectification of these prioritised?

9. Are machines with critical non-

conformances locked out prior to
rectification?
Total Score: 0

Guide to Interpreting Health Scores Got a gap you want to close?

0-4 Immediate action required. Minimal processes in place If digital is an option for you, check out our
Pre Start Plus FREE app (for iOs & Android).
5-8 Immediate action required. Some processes in place
– significant fundamental gaps You can get access to machine specific pre-start
checks for more than 105,000 makes and models of
9 - 12 Action required. Some processes in place, some or all equipment absolutely free, plus get access to a whole
require further effort bunch of premium features to help you manage
machinery safety and compliance.
13 - 16 Good systems in place – some incremental
improvements available

How did you fare?

Download the app for free!

The guidance scores above are exactly that – your

circumstances and unique situation will mean that some of the
questions should have greater weight than others, and some of If you’d like to discuss your results with an expert, please call
them you may wish to exclude as you don’t see them as relevant. 1300 728 852 or contact us.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 4

02
Service
Scheduling and
Record Keeping
Anyone who knows machinery, knows the
importance of service and maintenance.
Most of us think that servicing and maintenance is
all about maximising availability and productivity
– by avoiding breakdowns and maintaining
maximum productive capacity.
That is correct, but avoiding breakdowns and
machine failures is also CRITICAL to maintaining
good machine safety.
Machinery Safety System Health Check
A pre-start check is a daily visual inspection to
check machine condition and make sure critical
safety and operational features are in place to
ensure a machine can be used and used safely.
Conducting scheduled servicing and maintenance
helps to check and maintain machine conditions/
safety features that cannot be easily identified in a
daily visual pre-start inspection.
Good examples of this are brakes, hydraulic
systems and electronic management & control
system checks & updates.
The important features of a service scheduling
and record keeping system are focused on
ensuring service intervals are understood, services
scheduled and undertaken, and records of service
are available to those who need to have access to
them.
5
 Service Scheduling and
Record Keeping Assessment
The following self-assessment will allow you to determine the type and size of any gaps in your
service scheduling and record keeping system.

Answer the questions below and give yourself a score. (Ticking the check box = a YES answer)

1. Do you have service intervals mapped out 6. Are your operators able to tell whether a
for all of your major machines? machine has been serviced in line with its
service schedule?
2. Do you capture hours on machines?
7. Do you keep records of servicing for the life
3. Are you comparing actual hours/kms and of your machines?
service intervals to determine whether
services are pending or due? 8. Are historical service records easy to
access?
4. Do you have a system of communicating
that services are due to relevant staff
responsible for servicing?

5. Are those responsible for servicing able to

confirm and record that a service has been
completed and is this information available Total Score: 0
to operators?

Guide to Interpreting Health Scores Got a gap you want to close?

0-2 Immediate action required. Minimal processes in place Plant Assessor can help get you to 100% in the area of service
scheduling and record keeping quickly, cheaply and easily.
3-4 Immediate action required. Some processes in place
– significant fundamental gaps If you’d like to discuss your results with an expert, please call
1300 728 852 or contact us.
5-6 Action required. Some processes in place, some or all
require further effort

7-8 Good systems in place – some incremental

improvements available

How did you fare?

The guidance scores above are exactly that – your

circumstances and unique situation will mean that some of the
questions should have greater weight than others, and some of
them you may wish to exclude as you don’t see them as relevant.

Machinery Safety System Health Check

03
Information
Management
and Sharing
Think about the volumes of information you
generate and use when running a business that
utilises machinery, plant & equipment.
The list goes on and on – from daily pre-start
checks, operators manuals, safe work methods
statements, safe operating procedures, plant risk
assessments, service & maintenance records,
company policies and procedures, site safety
rules, emergency response procedures, toolbox
meeting topics and minutes, along with induction
and competency records.
Machinery Safety System Health Check
Creating and maintaining this information is a
major job, but not nearly as big a job as ensuring
this information is available to the people who
need access to it.
The first question we ask is: Do you have all the
information your employees, contractors and
clients need?
The second question we ask is: Do your employees,
contractors and clients have access to the
relevant information and are they able to find
what they need?
The important features of an information
management and sharing system are focused
on ensuring the critical safety and maintenance
information is kept available to those who need it.
In the era of digital record storage and cloud
solutions, the days of shelves full of lever arch files
filled with paperwork gathering dust should be
behind us. Unfortunately this is often not the case.
7
4
 Information Management
and Sharing Assessment
The following self-assessment will allow you to run the ruler over your information management
and sharing systems and determine the type and size of any gaps in these systems.

Answer the questions below and give yourself a score. (Ticking the check box = a YES answer)

Do you make the following information available to your staff:

1. Pre-start results and history? 10. Operator manuals?

2. Machine risk assessments? 11. Registered/Classified plant inspection

3. Company policies and procedures relevant
to their role?
4. Site safety rules?
5. Site emergency procedures and contacts?
6. Machine safe operating procedures (SOPs)?
7. Safe Work Methods Statements for high risk
tasks?
status and records?
12. Is this information (a-k, listed above)
regularly reviewed & updated
13. Is this information easily available to
all personnel who need to access it
(operators, supervisors, management,
clients)?
14. Is this information available in one place?

8. Service status & records?

9. Vehicle registration status?

Total Score: 0

Guide to Interpreting Health Scores

0 -3 Immediate action required. Minimal processes in place

4-6 Immediate action required. Some processes in place

– significant fundamental gaps

7 - 10 Action required. Some processes in place, some or all

require further effort

11 - 14 Good systems in place – some incremental

improvements available

How did you fare?

The guidance scores above are exactly that – your

circumstances and unique situation will mean that some of the
questions should have greater weight than others, and some of
them you may wish to exclude as you don’t see them as relevant.

Got a gap you want to close?

Plant Assessor can help get you to 100% in the area of information
management and sharing quickly, cheaply and easily.

If you’d like to discuss your results with an expert, please call

1300 728 852 or contact us.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 8


04
Periodic Plant
Inspection & Risk
Assessment
Owners and users of plant & machinery have a
positive duty to ensure the plant & machinery
they use is safe and accompanied by suitable
information, training and supervision.
In addition to this, they have an obligation to follow
the risk assessment process in managing risks
on an ongoing basis. For more information on
legislative duties in this area, please refer to the
safety legislation information on our website.
Machinery Safety System Health Check
Conducting risk assessments on plant and
machinery is a complex area, and difficult to get
consistently right. This is the fundamental reason
why our Founder Paul Dean invented Plant Assessor.
The complexity here is driven by a couple of key
factors:
• The need for detailed knowledge of the Hazard
Identification, Risk Assessment and Control
process
• The need for detailed knowledge of the
machinery & the need for thoroughness in
identifying hazards present
• The need for detailed knowledge of the specific
controls required for the specific hazard
identified
• The importance of consistency in determining
the risk associated with each hazard and the
priority of implementing the control
In addition to this, managing a risk assessment
regime is made more difficult by the need to
apply a risk-based approach (inspect higher risk
machines first and more often), be planned and
consistent in the inspection and corrective action
rectification process.
The final component relates to the provision of
safety information to relevant people and ensuring
it is understandable.
9
 Periodic Plant
Inspection Assessment
The following self-assessment will allow you to determine the type and size of any gaps in your risk
assessment process and system.
Answer the questions below and give yourself a score. (Ticking the check box = a YES answer)
1. Do you ask your suppliers to
provide plant risk assessments
at the time of purchase?
2. When inducting a new machine
into your fleet, do you have
a process of ensuring the
machine meets relevant
legislative safety requirements
and Australian Standards?
3. Does this process result in a risk
assessment being produced for
each machine?
4. Do plant inspectors understand
the risk assessment process?
5. Do plant inspectors have a
comprehensive understanding
of the machinery they are
inspecting?
6. Do you have a system to ensure
inspections consider all relevant
hazards on a machine?
7. If you are using checklists, are
they specific to the type of
machine being inspected?
8. Did the person/people who
compiled these checklists have
the knowledge required to
ensure all hazards are identified?
9. Are you comfortable with the
thoroughness of your checklists?
10. Were your checklists compiled
less than 5 years ago?
Guide to Interpreting Health Scores
0-6 Immediate action required. Minimal processes in place
7 - 12 Immediate action required. Some processes in place questions should have greater weight than others, and some of
– significant fundamental gaps
13 - 18 Action required. Some processes in place, some or all Got a gap you want to close?
require further effort
19 - 24 Good systems in place – some incremental 1300 728 852 or contact us.
improvements available
Machinery Safety System Health Check
11. Where a specific hazard has been
identified on a machine, do you
use a likelihood/consequence
matrix to rate the risk associated
with that hazard?
12. Is there a system in place to
ensure consistency of risk
ratings over time and across the
machinery fleet?
13. Do you prioritise control of
hazards based on risk ratings?
14. Where a risk is identified and
prioritised for rectification, do you
use the hierarchy of controls?
15. Do you have a process to ensure
that you are aware and apply
mandatory and recommended
controls set down in legislations,
Australian Standards and other
authorities?
16. Do you have a way of keeping
up to date with these Legislative/
Standards etc. requirements and
any changes to them?
17. Do you re-rate each risk for its
level after the control is applied
(residual risk rating)?
18. Do you have a way of capturing
all non-conformances/corrective
actions arising from the machine
risk assessment process?
Total Score:
How did you fare?
The guidance scores above are exactly that – your
circumstances and unique situation will mean that some of the
them you may wish to exclude as you don’t see them as relevant.
If you’d like to discuss your results with an expert, please call
19. Do you have a process of
identifying all machines with
critical uncontrolled hazards
and ensuring they are not
used until the hazard is
controlled?
20. Do you have a system
of communicating non-
conformance rectification
orders to relevant staff
responsible for rectification
action?
21. Are those responsible for
rectification action able to
confirm and record that
rectification action has
been completed & is this
information available to
operators?
22. Do you update your
risk assessment when
a corrective action is
completed?
23. Are operators provided with
access to all relevant risk
assessments for machinery
they use or interact with?
24. Do risk assessments contain
information as to how each
control should be maintained
to remain effective?
0
10
05
Contractor
Management
Amongst our large and growing customer base,
there are very few customers who don’t contract
in machines and operators at least from time to
time. Many of our clients, especially in engineering
construction utilise large numbers of contractors.

Anyone who has worked on major projects will

understand the rigours of this process can be
administratively difficult to manage. There are
a number of great contractor management
software systems designed to streamline and
simplify contractor management.
They are great for insurances, worker
competencies, document and information
provision, but they don’t usually contain a lot of
intellectual property associated with what safety
and other features each machine requires to be
compliant.
Our customers have demanded from us a range
of tools designed to make it easy for them to
specify their machinery safety and compliance
requirements and easily check if each of their
contractors is meeting these requirements.
We are also working with a number of the better
known contractor management software
providers with a view to enhancing their offers via
integration with Plant Assessor.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 11

6
 Contractor Management
Assessment
The following self-assessment will allow you to determine the type and size of any gaps in your
contractor management process and system.

Answer the questions below and give yourself a score. (Ticking the check box = a YES answer)

1. Do you require safety and other compliance 7. Are you able to measure compliance of
information from your contractors? each item of machinery a contractor uses?

2. Do you clearly communicate your 8. Do you have a way of communicating

machinery safety compliance
requirements to contractors?
3. Do you capture the following from
contractors - Insurances, Risk Assessments,
Safe Work Methods Statements and/or
Safe Operating Procedures, Service status
(Machinery serviced in line with OEM service
schedule)
4. Do you have a way of ensuring this
information is current?
non-compliances to contractors?
9. Do you have a system to check whether
contractor machine non-conformaces
have been rectified?
10. Do you maintain historical contractor
machinery compliance records?
11. If so can you illustrate compliance status
on a particular day in the past?

5. Do you have a way of ensuring this

information is accurate?

6. Do you have continuous transparency to

contractor machine compliance status on Total Score: 0
your sites?

Guide to Interpreting Health Scores Got a gap you want to close?

0-3 Immediate action required. Minimal processes in place Plant Assessor’s site and contractor management functionality
gives you the tools to provide clarity to your contractors as to
4-6 Immediate action required. Some processes in place your requirements, as well as giving you complete transparency
– significant fundamental gaps as to the compliance status of their machines and operators.

7-9 Action required. Some processes in place, some or all When you ask your contractors to use Plant Assessor, they are
require further effort able to share their compliance and safety information with
anyone they want to. In other words, build and maintain your
10 - 11 Good systems in place – some incremental compliance information in one place, and share it with whoever
improvements available you need to without the need to duplicate records in multiple
systems..
How did you fare?
If you’d like to discuss your results with an expert, please call
The guidance scores above are exactly that – your
1300 728 852 or contact us.
circumstances and unique situation will mean that some of the
questions should have greater weight than others, and some of
them you may wish to exclude as you don’t see them as relevant.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 12

06
Operator
Competency
It is fair to say that operator competency
Early stage systems expect machine type
management is one of the most poorly managed
inductions and training (eg. Hydraulic excavator,
aspects of the plant safety systems of most
wheel loader, tipper, mobile crane etc. induction
organisations. Why is this? Because it has lots of
and training) where the attendee receives a
moving parts and is hard.
certificate of attendance.

The bottom line is, to really manage a competency

More advanced (and more complex, therefore
verification system, you need to take a helicopter
harder to manage) systems in some cases
view of your machinery fleet, your operators, your
do this at an individual machine level, and test
incident history, the type of work you do with your
competencies for each machine against National
machines, and the expectations of your clients.
Training Package units of competency and in some
cases OEM guidance.
Taking account of these five key pieces of
information will allow you to determine how deep
The most advanced systems have all of this
you need to dive when it comes to the complexity
in place; but add an additional Verification of
of your competency management system.
Competency (VOC) step. A VOC involves a qualified
verifier observing an operator conduct a range of
An entry level competency management system
tasks with a machine and making a determination
can be as simple as confirming employee
as to the operator’s competence or otherwise.
experience using machinery, and that they have
done a company induction and other basic training
including understanding the key policies and
procedures in place related to plant and vehicle
operation.

From here systems progress to skills and role

matrices, where you map out the machines or
types of machines and vehicles that you operate
and who needs to be approved to operate which
machines/vehicles.

It is at this point that you need to decide how deep

you wish to dive in terms of what “approval” looks like.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 13

 Operator Competency
Assessment
The following self-assessment will allow you to determine the type and size of these gaps (if any)
in your operator competency management process and system.

Answer the questions below and give yourself a score. (Ticking the check box = a YES answer)

1. Do you keep records of personnel work 8. Do Verification of Competencies have

experience? expiry/reassessment periods?

2. Do you maintain a competencies/skills 9. Are expiry/reassessment periods based on

matrix for operators? risk?

3. Do you have a way of easily checking 10. Do you have a way of ensuring all
whether an operator has the competency to Verification of Competencies required are
operate a particular type of machinery? current?

4. Do you have a method of determining which 11. Do you have a process for recording
plant items will require operators to have and storing the results of Verification of
Verification of Competency (VOC)? Competencies?

5. Do you specify what knowledge and 12. Do you have a system to check whether
experience that the people conducting contractor machine non-conformaces
Verification of Competencies must have? have been rectified?

6. Do you have a system ensuring the

competency of these people are current
and reassessed periodically?

7. For plant items requiring Verification of

Competencies, do you have a process for
ensuring all operators have a Verification of Total Score: 0
Competency?

Guide to Interpreting Health Scores Got a gap you want to close?

0-3 Immediate action required. Minimal processes in place Plant Assessor gives you the tools and information to ensure you
plant is safe and accompanied by comprehensive and easy
4-6 Immediate action required. Some processes in place to use safety information. Plant Assessor also facilitates the
– significant fundamental gaps capture and storage of operator experience and verification of
competency records.
7-9 Action required. Some processes in place, some or all
require further effort This is an area that we are investing heavily in to deliver easy
to use and IP rich tools which will make it far easier to ensure
10 - 12 Good systems in place – some incremental operator competence is managed well.
improvements available
This is a complex area, and it is therefore often not given enough
How did you fare? focus. If you want to get a start in this area or just do what you
are doing better, please call 1300 728 852 or contact us.
The guidance scores above are exactly that – your
circumstances and unique situation will mean that some of the
questions should have greater weight than others, and some of
them you may wish to exclude as you don’t see them as relevant.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 14

 Assessment
Summary
Your Results

The total assessment score will give you an overall view of where your safety systems gaps are
and identify key areas that need improvement.

01 Machinery Pre-start checks 0 / 16

02 Service Scheduling & Record keeping 0 /8

03 Information Management & Sharing 0 / 14

04 Periodic Plant Inspection & Risk Assessment 0 / 24

05 Contractor Management 0 / 11

06 Operator Competency 0 / 12

Final Score
0 / 85
If you scored 21 or below, immediate action is required to
improve your safety systems.

If you scored 21 - 42, you have some processes in place, but

immediate action is needed to close some fundamental gaps.

If you scored 43 - 64, some processes are in place, but they

require more effort and action is required.

If you scored 65 - 85, you have sound systems in place with

some incremental improvement opportunities.

Machinery Safety System Health Check 15

Solutions for all

Whether you own, manage or sell 1 or 2000 machines, Plant Assessor has a membership solution for you.

FR
EE
!
FREE Digital Pre start checks for your machinery & equipment.

Quick, paperless, shareable pre starts

Real time results – know immediately if your machine is safe to use

Download the App for FREE!

FR
EE
!

FREE Lite Pay as you go Term Commit

Membership USE, MANAGE OR SELL USE, MANAGE OR SELL
<30 MACHINES 30+ MACHINES

A Free Lite version of Plant Easy & Flexible Monthly Custom-based

Assessor. machine based pricing. membership options.

Complete free, paperless, Use/manage machines? Large Organisation with

shareable machine specific Save time and money
pre start checks with real on admin tasks. Stop
time results losing paperwork, prove
compliance & get on site
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Learn more Learn more Learn more

Machinery Safety System Health Check 16

 Testimonials

“Strong systems like

Plant Assessor really
do enhance the safety
culture of the business “Plant Assessor is
and make everyone’s
systematic and
job easier.” transparent. Our staff
Brian Olsen don’t need deep safety
Group Safety Manager,
BMD
knowledge or intimate
knowledge of each
machine to complete
“It’s clear that Plant an inspection…the task
Assessor is a useful of interpreting the WHS
tool for our business. jargon is no longer our
As a plant safety concern.”
management system,
it certainly ticks all the Andrew Railz
Fleet Manager,
boxes.” Bundaberg Regional Council

Nathan Finlay
Compliance Manager,
MAAS Group

Used by 1000s across diverse industries

Machinery Safety System Health Check 17

 “What was taking my clients almost four hours,
now takes less than 60 minutes. And there are no
frustrations with interpreting different handwriting,
cross checking legislation or time spent on data
entry. The system is so easy to use that I can brief
my clients in advance and then talk them through
the process over the phone during their first
inspection. They find it very easy and can see the
advantages right away.”

Monica Toews Brown

Operations Manager & Senior Risk Consultant, Red Insight

www.assessor.com.au 1300 728 852

Disclaimer: This information is intended to provide general information on the subject matter. This is not intended as legal or expert advice
for your specific situation. You should seek professional advice before acting or relying on the content of this information.
Machinery Safety System Health Check