Digital prestart checklists
Why paper prestarts fail, what a good vehicle and machinery prestart covers, and how faults get to the person who can fix them.
Why paper prestarts fail
Most paper prestarts are done. The trouble is what happens next. A fail ticked on a clipboard waits until the end of the shift, or the end of the week, before anyone who can fix it sees it. Books get wet, pages go missing and ticks are added after the fact.
When there's an incident, the question is whether the vehicle was checked, what was found and what was done about it. A paper book rarely answers all three.
What a good prestart covers
Every asset is different, but a vehicle prestart usually covers:
- Brakes, including the air system on heavy vehicles
- Tyres and wheels, including wheel nuts
- Lights, indicators and reflectors
- Mirrors, windscreen and wipers
- Fluid levels and leaks
- Couplings, safety chains and the fifth wheel on combinations
- Seatbelts, horn, warning devices and the first aid kit
- Odometer or hour meter reading
Machinery and plant
Forklifts, elevating work platforms, loaders and other plant need their own checklists: forks and chains, hydraulics, guards, emergency stops, operator restraints and warning devices. Keep each checklist specific to the type of asset, so operators aren't skipping questions that don't apply.
What should happen when something fails
A fail needs a comment and, ideally, a photo, so the supervisor can see what was found without walking out to the yard. The supervisor should hear about it straight away, and it should stay open until someone resolves it.
If the fault makes the asset unsafe, it should come out of service there and then, and nobody should be able to complete another prestart and drive off in it until it's been fixed and put back in service.
Making the switch
Put a QR label on every asset so a prestart starts with a scan. Start with one site and the assets used every day, then roll out to the rest once supervisors are used to resolving fails in the app.
LOGFYX's Prestart Check does all of this: checklists by asset, photos on fails, out of service on the spot, supervisors told straight away, and every check kept with the asset's history.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules change and differ between states and territories, so check the current requirements with the NHVR, Safe Work Australia or your state regulator.
Related modules
Prestart Check
Check a vehicle or machine item by item: OK, fail or N/A, with photos. A fail goes straight to the supervisor, can take the asset out of service, and stays open until it's fixed.
Fault Reporting
Scan the asset, describe the fault, add photos and mark it out of service if it's unsafe. The workshop gets a job number by email, and the person who reported it hears when it's fixed.
Fleet Management
A complete fleet management system: every asset's details and registration, servicing history and schedules, collisions and repairs, fuel cards, expiry alerts, acquisition and disposal, and the total cost of owning and running it.
More guides
What is Chain of Responsibility?
Who is in the chain under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, what each party is responsible for, and how to show you've done your part.
Fatigue management for heavy vehicle drivers
Work and rest hours, spotting fatigue before it's a problem, and what to do when a driver needs to stand down on site.
Fitness for duty assessments explained
What a fitness for duty assessment checks, when to use a self-assessment or a supervisor assessment, and how to follow up a concern.
Load restraint: how many straps do you need?
How the NTC Load Restraint Guide works out the number of straps, and what blocking, friction and strap angle change.
Heavy vehicle mass limits: GML, HML and NHVAS
The mass limit schemes explained, what a weight declaration should record, and how to check loads against the weighbridge.
Going paperless: replacing paper safety forms
What changes when checks move from clipboards to phones, how to roll it out across sites, and how to keep records audit-ready.
Visitor and contractor sign-in
Replacing the paper visitor book: inductions before arrival, QR sign-in at the gate, and knowing who is on site in an emergency.
See it running on your own sites
We'll set up a demo with your sites, your assets and the modules you need, then walk your supervisors through it.