Jack stands 101: Safe operation and best practices

Every year, far too many technicians in commercial vehicle shops are injured, sometimes fatally, while working under vehicles. Around 15,000 workers are treated annually in hospitals for automotive lift, jack, or jack stand injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Because many of these incidents appear to be easily preventable, the question is why?

“The biggest gap we see is the lack of emphasis on the importance of jack stands,” explained William Brahler, director of operations for Gaither Tool Company. “Unfortunately, it is far too common that technicians simply never use jack stands because they think or have been trained that placing jack stands is an unnecessary step that wastes time. This is a dangerous and potentially fatal attitude that is widespread for both commercial and passenger vehicles.”

He noted that the temptation to skip proper procedures is understandable in increasingly high-pressure shop environments.

“We’re all trying to do our job,” Brahler offered, “and so the temptation of doing something dangerous, like not using a jack stand or putting it in a more convenient place to do something really quick, is such an obvious incentive.”

But this quick shortcut can bring down the bay, literally. To help avoid this, we spoke with equipment and safety experts to explore why jack stand use is a non-negotiable, how common mistakes lead to injuries, and what fleets can do to foster safer, more consistent lifting practices.

A stand for every lift

Jack stands are essential in commercial shops, as jacks and lifts themselves are designed only for raising vehicles, not holding them up while working.

“[Stands] provide an independent, fail-safe support of the vehicle,” said Todd Michalski, SVP of sales and marketing at Gray Manufacturing. “In today’s fast-paced environment, technicians tend to get complacent by relying on hydraulic lifting devices to hold loads to save time.”

And despite the reliability of modern lifting equipment, relying solely on hydraulics leaves the door open for unexpected drops as they can lose pressure over time, leak, or fail entirely.

Jack stands can also serve as supplemental support when using vehicle lifts, said Dale Soos, senior project engineer with the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI), adding that they “provide additional stability when the technician is going to perform work that may alter the vehicle’s center of balance, such as removing major components.”

He noted many shops use a single set of mobile column lifts to raise multiple vehicles by lifting one vehicle and supporting it with at least four stands, then moving the column lifts to the next vehicle.

The applications and safety benefits are there, but too often stands sit unused and ignored in the rush of daily operations. 

“I’ve been in too many shops where the support stands are just sitting in a corner; using the right stands helps keep you safe in the bay,” Soos concluded.

What can go wrong

When it comes to common mistakes involving jack stand usage, the experts agreed that the most frequent and most dangerous is not using them at all. Brahler explained that this often comes down to time, pressure, and prior experience.

“It’s not carelessness, it’s just a false sense of security” that techs can develop over several years, he said.

When techs do use jack stands, accidents can still occur if they place the stand at an unsafe or unstable lifting point, which can cause the vehicle to move unexpectedly during a repair.

“This means that the load has the potential to move or slip off suddenly, causing damage, injury, or even death,” Brahler cautioned. For example, “a vehicle’s airbags may deflate when lifted, causing the unit to move. Removal of parts can also cause the vehicle to become unbalanced or the load to shift.”

Other things to watch out for are placing jack stands on an uneven surface or using damaged jack stands, said Sean Price, director of product development and quality control at BendPak.

Note that exceeding a jack stand’s capacity or using one when two are needed will overload the jack stands. Like with lifts, users should know the total capacity, stand certification, and pairing requirements.

“A common mistake is to assume all stands are the same and to grab whatever is handy,” ALI’s Soos explained. “Just as a lift should be certified to the ANSI/ALI ALCTV safety standard, support stands should be certified to the ANSI/ASME PASE Safety Standard for Portable Automotive Service Equipment. Stands designed and built according to the PASE standard are intended for use as a matched pair or set of at least four.”

Finally, using improperly rated lifting equipment is a surefire way to damage the vehicle or end up in the ER—or worse.

“Injuries can also occur when a technician attempts to raise a vehicle onto four vehicle support stands using a floor jack,” Michalski said. “Doing this can create pinch points and has actually resulted in fatalities in shops.”

Correct lifting and supporting procedure