The 10 Most Common Defects Found During GA1 Inspections

Ask any lifting equipment inspector what they find, and the honest answer is: the same things, over and over. Here are the ten defects that appear most often in our GA1 thorough examinations — roughly in order of how often we see them — with a note on which are stop-the-machine dangerous and which are catch-it-now-before-it-is.

1. Stretched or worn lift chains

The classic forklift finding. Chains elongate gradually under load and the machine drives exactly the same — until measurement shows the stretch is past limits. Invisible from the seat, found only by measuring. Danger level: high once past limits; chains fail suddenly, not gradually.

2. Worn fork heels

Fork heels wear against the ground every day, and worn heels quietly cut the fork's actual capacity below its rated load. Danger level: high — the operator is trusting a rating the fork no longer has.

3. Missing or unreadable load charts and capacity plates

Not mechanical, but a genuine defect: a machine whose safe working loads can't be read can't be operated within them. Sun-faded decals and painted-over plates are everywhere. Danger level: moderate in itself, high in what it enables.

4. Hydraulic leaks and drift

Weeping cylinders, perished hoses, and booms or platforms that settle under load. Drift on a MEWP — a platform that won't hold height — is an automatic fail. Danger level: ranges from housekeeping to critical; drift under load is critical.

5. Unmarked or unidentifiable lifting accessories

Slings with no legible working load limit, shackles with no markings, textile slings with the label worn away. No identification means no examination against a specification — the item is condemned regardless of visible condition. Danger level: the unknown is the danger.

6. Damaged sling protection and cut webbing

Textile slings cut on edges they were never protected from, abrasion through the outer jacket of roundslings, chemical staining. Danger level: high — cut fibres are lost strength, and textile failures are instant.

7. Hook damage — opened throats and missing latches

Hooks that have been point-loaded or overloaded open up measurably at the throat; safety latches go missing and never get replaced. Danger level: opened throats are removal-from-service; missing latches drop loads.

8. Cracked welds and structural corrosion

Hairline cracks at boom pivots, stabiliser mounts and mast welds; corrosion eating structural sections from the inside on older machines stored outdoors. This is the finding that justifies the word "thorough." Danger level: the highest on this list.

9. Non-functioning safety devices

Tilt alarms disconnected, seat switches bypassed, limit switches taped, emergency lowering seized through never being tested. Devices that were annoying someone. Danger level: high — these exist for the day everything else has gone wrong.

10. Tyres, pins and general play

Cut or deflated tyres affecting stability, worn pivot pins and bushes putting slack through booms and steering. Individually minor; together, a machine losing precision exactly where it needs it. Danger level: cumulative.

The pattern behind all ten

Almost nothing on this list appears overnight. Chains stretch, heels wear, welds crack, and labels fade over months — which is precisely why the examination interval exists. Equipment that is cleaned, stored under cover, checked pre-shift and repaired properly sails through its GA1. Equipment that is run until inspection day pays for it there.

Find them on our schedule, not the hard way

Every one of these defects is cheap the day we find it and expensive any later day. L&M Plant & Inspection Services Ltd. — call 083 870 5355 to get your equipment on a proper examination schedule.