Rotary Lift urges technicians and maintenance managers to inspect their lifts. “Maintaining a safe, efficient repair shop is everyone’s responsibility,” says John Rylee, director of marketing. “Technicians should check lifts every day, and the fleet maintenance manager should schedule professional inspections annually. Regular inspections help ensure all the lifts in the shop are operating properly.”

The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) also recommends all lifts be inspected by a qualified lift inspector at least annually, “to ensure reliability and the continued safe operation of the lift.”

The owner’s manual will provide inspection instructions for a specific lift. General guidelines are also available from the Lifting It Right safety manual published by ALI, and ANSI/ALI ALOIM:2008, the industry standard that outlines safety requirements for lift operation, inspection and maintenance. Both publications are available from ALI members (including Rotary Lift) and their distributors, as well as at www.autolift.org.

At a minimum, technicians should check the following daily:

• Lift controls, as well as all locks and restraints, are working correctly.
• There is no deformation or excessive wear of any lift components, including posts, arms, hoses or wiring.
• There is no damage or excessive wear on any of the lift contact points, including adapters.
• There are no hydraulic leaks, cracks or loose concrete around floor anchors.

If any of these problems exist, or if the lift makes unusual noises or sudden movements, operates erratically, or creates chips or filings during use, the technician should stop using the lift and report the condition to a supervisor immediately so the lift can be repaired by factory-trained service personnel.

Rotary Lift has extended its Inspect to Protect program to help maintenance managers find local qualified lift inspectors through the Rotary Authorized Installer (RAI) North American network. Each participating Inspect to Protect company has lift inspectors on staff who meet all of the requirements for a “qualified lift inspector” outlined in the ANSI standard. Rotary also requires that each company attend factory training, maintain insurance coverage and be able to provide customers with lift maintenance and repair service, as well as genuine Rotary replacement parts.