Forklift Daily Pre-Use Checklist

What is a forklift pre-use check?

A pre-use check, also called a daily or pre-shift inspection, is the walk-around and function test the operator does before the forklift moves: forks, mast and chains, hydraulics, tires, the data plate, the power source, brakes, steering, horn, lights, controls and the safety devices fitted to the truck. It finds the defects that cause tip-overs, dropped loads and collisions before the truck goes to work.

The checklist in this template follows the sample checklist of Ireland's Health and Safety Authority (visual checks, operational checks and the working environment), adds the checks for each power source, and adds the technology checks that Dubai Municipality's forklift guideline asks for: clean camera lenses, working sensors, and beacons and alarms that work.

What do the rules say about daily forklift checks?

• Dubai: Dubai Municipality's Safe Forklift Operations guideline (section 4.5) asks for a documented pre-operational inspection completed and logged before each shift. A truck with a defect is taken out of service, tagged and reported, and returns only after sign-off by a qualified technician and the safety officer. The guideline also asks for a battery charging log, monthly functional tests of proximity sensors and annual certification of forklifts and attachments by an EIAC-accredited inspection body. A Dubai Municipality circular gives establishments until 1 January 2027 to apply its forklift measures, including the daily pre-operation inspection and its log.
• OSHA (United States): 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7) requires trucks to be examined before being placed in service, at least daily, and after each shift when used around the clock. Under (p)(1), a truck found defective or unsafe is taken out of service until it is restored to safe operating condition.
• Your truck's manual lists the daily checks for that model. Add them to the checklist; the manufacturer's list comes first.

How to use the checklist and log

1. Register the trucks on the Trucks sheet with the capacity and load center from each data plate and the date of the last inspection.
2. Check before every shift. The operator marks each item OK or Defect, writes N/A for items that do not apply, and signs.
3. Tag out a truck with a defect that affects safe use: fix the tag, remove the key and tell the supervisor.
4. Log the check and the defect in Excel the same day, rows in date order.
5. Close the defect only with a repair date, the technician's name and the safety officer's sign-off; then enter the date the truck went back to work.
6. Review the summary each week: trucks with no check this month, open defects, trucks out of service, and inspections due soon.

From defect to return to use

The log flags a stop-use defect with no tag, a truck back in use without a repair date or without the safety officer's sign-off, and a defect open longer than the alert days on Settings. On the check log it flags a truck that is not registered, a Not safe result with no defect number, a defect number that does not exist, an hour meter lower than an earlier reading, and a truck used on a day it had an open stop-use defect.

Worked example: one reach truck, one missed tag

• On 20 October the reach truck RT-01 fails item 25: the rear proximity sensor gives no alert. The operator marks it Not safe and the supervisor logs defect D-002 as Stop use.
• The Tagged out column says No, so the defect row is flagged: stop-use defect not tagged out.
• On 21 October the same truck is checked again and marked Safe to use, but D-002 has no repair date and no return date. The check row is flagged: open stop-use defect on this date.
• The Summary shows RT-01 as out of service now, and the Trucks sheet shows that FL-02's annual third-party inspection is overdue.

Common mistakes with forklift checklists

• Ticking every box without looking. A checklist with no defects for months usually means nobody is checking. Walk the check with new operators.
• Using a truck "just for one move" with a defect. Brakes, steering, forks and chains are stop-use items; tag the truck.
• No return-to-use signature. Without it, nobody can show the defect was repaired before the truck went back to work.
• One checklist for all power types. An LPG truck needs a gas check; an electric one needs a battery and connector check.
• Forgetting the technology. A dirty camera lens or a dead proximity sensor gives a false sense of safety.

What the template does not do

The template records checks; it does not replace the truck manual, a competent technician, the periodic examination by an accredited body or your local rules. The inspection interval, warning days and alert days on Settings are examples; use what your authority, insurer or truck maker requires. To size the fleet itself, use the Forklift Fleet Size Calculator; to check loads against the data plate, the Forklift Load Capacity Calculator.

Sources

• Dubai Municipality, Safe Forklift Operations technical guideline DM-HSD-146-FL2, version 1.0, sections 4.4, 4.5 and 4.5.2. Source: Dubai Municipality.
• Dubai Municipality, external circular 2026/01 on safe forklift operation. Source: Dubai Municipality.
• OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.178(p)(1) and (q)(7). Source: OSHA.
• Health and Safety Authority (Ireland), Forklift operator pre-checks, 2013. Source: HSA. Last reviewed 21 October 2026.