The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation requires employers to ensure that a professional engineer provides annual certification that the following types of equipment are safe for use:

• Vehicle-mounted elevating work platforms
• Self-propelled boom-supported elevating work platforms
• Mobile cranes
• Concrete pumps and placing booms
• Aerial firefighting devices

The OHS Regulation states that inspections of these types of equipment must be in accordance with “good engineering practice.”

To help employers and engineers better understand what “good engineering practice” entails, Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC) published the Annual Equipment Inspection and Certification in British Columbia (January 2020).

How equipment operators should prepare for an annual inspection

Equipment operators are responsible for ensuring that equipment complies with applicable regulations and is safe for use. That means that the equipment has been inspected and maintained and it is being operated by qualified operational personnel in accordance with the OHS Regulation, instructions from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and applicable codes and standards referenced in the OHS Regulation.

According to the EGBC guidelines, the equipment operator should take the following steps when arranging an inspection:

• Ensure all documentation is available for review, including OEM manual(s), OEM bulletins, the equipment logbook, preventive maintenance records, post-incident inspection reports, and any previous annual inspection reports
• Ensure any known issues or concerns that may affect the safe operation of the equipment are brought to the attention of the engineer, including any previous misadventures (for example, overturning, electrical contact, impacts, motor vehicle accidents, overloading) and any unusual maintenance and repair activity (such as activities outside of that normally prescribed by the OEM)
• Ensure an appropriate scope of work and realistic schedules for the work are in place
• Ensure equipment is maintained and inspected by appropriately qualified person(s) in accordance with the applicable OHS Regulation requirements
• Ensure the equipment is clean (that is, ensuring that excess grease, concrete, or other foreign material which may impede the inspection has been removed) and all components are readily accessible for inspection
• Provide qualified operational personnel to operate the equipment if setup or repositioning is required during inspection

See related sections of the OHS Regulation:

• Section 13.23
• Section 14.71
• Section 20.47
• Section 31.34