Ron Lainhart 55db7fb0e0f55

Ask the Expert: Health and safety officials have been paying close attention to their vehicle lifts lately. How can technicians avoid citations and fines?

Aug. 24, 2015
“Lowering to locks” relieves the lift’s hydraulic pressure and reduces the chance that the vehicle will free-fall if the lift system fails.

Q: Health and safety officials have been paying close attention to their vehicle lifts lately. How can technicians avoid citations and fines?

Ron Lainhart, parts and service manager, Rotary Lift: When health and safety officials visit a vehicle service facility, they will check to see if all lifts holding vehicles in the air are resting on their locks. That’s because “lowering to locks” relieves the lift’s hydraulic pressure and reduces the chance that the vehicle will free-fall if the lift system fails. Each lift that is not on its locks with a vehicle in the air could be cited. Rotary Lift’s LockLight accessory shows at a glance if a lift is resting on its locks. The LockLight device is approximately 4" square with a large light in its center. It can be mounted to the lift structure or control console, and shines a green light when the lift is lowered to its locks. This enables shop managers to quickly see if all lifts in use at a given time are properly resting on their locks, and encourages technicians to wait until the light is green before they start to work on a vehicle.

Information provided by: Rotary Lift

About the Author

Ron Lainhart

Sponsored Recommendations

Are you aware of the hidden costs lurking behind ignored maintenance? This eBook reveals how neglecting upkeep can inate repair bills, induce downtime, and harm reliability. ...
Are your KPIs driving real fleet improvement? Learn how to set smarter, data-driven benchmarks, track success like top-performing fleets, and apply proven strategies to optimize...
Fullbay's fifth annual State of Heavy-Duty Repair compiles insights from almost 1,000 experts and over 3,500 shops. If you aren't leveraging these proven data points, your competition...
Quality body repairs on medium- and heavy-duty trucks depend on the use of specialized adhesives, sealers, and other allied materials. Unfortunately, many shops face challenges...