I work for a company that rents out access equipment; scissor lifts, telehandlers, man lifts, etc. We pay another local company a good amount of money to perform the annual inspections, and it seems to only take them about 5 minutes. That doesn't seem sufficient for an annual inspection, but what do I know? I'm interested in learning what it would take to be able to perform the annual inspections myself. What kind of licenses or certifications it would take, if any. I scoured through the OSHA website trying to discover anything concrete, but their requirements struck me as vague. If it makes financial sense, my boss is willing to send me somewhere to learn the skills necessary. I just haven't figured out the right keywords to search what I'd need to learn in the first place. I can't even figure out if it's a state-by-state kind of thing, or if its federally regulated. Any insight would be helpful; thanks in advance.
I looked in to it briefly at one time to add to my side business. Jlg offered a course then the insurance company about had a stroke when I asked for coverage on the proposal.
That’s what most companies do unless they self-insure, because as Tyler pointed out above insurance companies don’t like the idea of the machine owner self-certifying on anything safety-related. If anything goes pear-shaped it can result in it costing them an arm and a leg in payouts. The same sort of thing happens with fire suppression systems. They are generally always certified by an external organisation even if the customer does their own repairs & maintenance on the system.
My insurance company requires my equipment to be third party inspected- i.e. someone not employed by my company. Just like nige says, the insurance company wants more than just my say so, that the equipment is safe. Do you really want the personable liability that everything is right? Going to hold your bosses feet to the fire if you think something isn't right?
I did crane inspections for years back in the day. It was a pain in the ass then.........I can't even imagine what you have to go through now. I was certified through Crane Institue in Orlando.
I never considered the liability factor, thanks guys
There was a big issue here years ago with an autobody shop doing their own re-certifying of salvage vehicles (insurance write offs) back to roadworthy. I can't remember exactly but they might have even used another company. Problem was both companies had the same owner, trying to beat the system. Bad idea and I think the owner was fined. Inspections and certifications need to be 3rd party and it's a good thing.