Preventive maintenance checklist for plant equipment

This is a starting list, not a schedule for your machines. The manufacturer’s manual sets the real intervals, lubricants and torque values, and it wins any disagreement with this page. Copy the list, strike what does not apply to your equipment, and add what your own breakdown history says matters.

Any task beyond a look-and-listen operator check should be done with the machine locked out. OSHA’s standard on the control of hazardous energy, 29 CFR 1910.147, is the rule to read, and your safety lead has the final word on your procedures.

Every shift (operator)

• Walk around the machine before start-up. Look for oil, coolant or air leaks, loose or missing fasteners, and anything that has changed since yesterday.
• Once it is running, listen and feel for new noise, vibration, heat or smell.
• Confirm that guards, covers and interlocks are in place and that emergency stops are not blocked.
• Read the gauges for pressure, temperature and level. Know what normal looks like for each.
• Check lubricant and coolant levels wherever there is a sight glass or dipstick.
• Clear chips, dust and scrap from the places where they collect.
• Write down anything unusual, however small, on the log or the handover note.

Weekly

• Lubricate the points on the lubrication route with the lubricant the manual calls for. Mixing incompatible greases can damage a bearing.
• Inspect belts and chains for wear, cracks and slack.
• Drain moisture from compressed-air filters and tanks, and listen for air leaks.
• Check hoses and fittings for chafing, weeping and kinks.
• Clean sensors, photo-eyes and light curtains so dust does not cause false trips.
• Test the emergency stops and door interlocks and record the result.
• Check coolant concentration and cleanliness on machines that use coolant.

Monthly

• Check hydraulic fluid level and look at the fluid. Milky or dark fluid points to a problem.
• Check bearings for heat and noise. A handheld infrared thermometer gives you a number to compare over time.
• Check conveyor tracking, roller condition and drive alignment.
• Look inside electrical cabinets for dust, heat marks and loose connections. Only a qualified electrician should work in live cabinets, and lockout applies.
• Check the calibration of the gauges and measuring tools used at the machine.
• Review spare parts. Do you have the belt, filter or sensor that failed last time?

Quarterly and yearly

• Replace filters and fluids on the manufacturer’s interval, or sooner if their condition calls for it.
• Check shaft and coupling alignment, and look for looseness in mounts and foundations.
• Have electrical panels scanned for hot connections, if you own the equipment or can hire a service that does it.
• Calibrate or send out measuring instruments on their schedule.
• Run a full test of the safety circuits and record who did it.
• Walk the machine with the operator who knows it best and ask what is bothering them.

Keep records you can use

Each task should leave a trace: what was done, by whom, when, which parts, and how long it took. A paper log works if people use it. The records are what let you move intervals sensibly, because they show which tasks keep finding problems and which never find anything.

Once a month, look at downtime by machine. Add a task where the same failure keeps coming back. Consider dropping a task that has found nothing for a year, but never drop one that the manufacturer requires or that protects people. The OEE guide shows how to turn downtime records into a number you can track, and the shift handover reference covers passing machine condition to the next shift.