Quick Answer
To manage machine pre-start checks in Australian mining and heavy industry:
- Build a machine-specific template — a haul truck pre-start is not a light vehicle pre-start.
- Run it digitally at the machine — geo-tagged, timestamped, on a phone or tablet.
- Make critical items mandatory — brakes, steering, fire suppression, seatbelts, isolators.
- Route defects into the workshop as work orders — never into an inbox or SMS group.
- Capture SMU on every pre-start to feed maintenance forecasting.
- Audit weekly — completion rates, top defects, open defects, feedback loop to operators.
Paper pre-starts, generic checklists and defects raised into email are the three biggest failure modes on Australian mine sites.
Why machine pre-start checks matter
A machine pre-start check is the operator's inspection of a piece of mobile plant — an excavator, dozer, loader, haul truck, water cart or light vehicle — before it is put into service for the shift. It's the last line of defence between a known fault and a serious incident, and the first line of data for the maintenance system that runs the fleet.
Done well, pre-starts stop incidents, catch defects early, feed maintenance and prove WHS compliance to regulators and Tier-1 miners. Done poorly, they become a paperwork ritual that hides risk and produces no useful data — the worst of both worlds.
Why they matter — regulatory, safety and operational
WHS legal duty
Under the Work Health and Safety Act and Mining Safety and Health Acts in every Australian state and territory, operators and PCBUs must inspect plant before use. A documented pre-start is the primary evidence that duty has been met.
Tier-1 site requirement
BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Glencore, BMA, Fortescue and every other Tier-1 miner requires documented pre-starts before machines are permitted to operate on-site. Paper or PDF is increasingly not accepted.
Feeds maintenance & warranty
Every defect raised on a pre-start becomes maintenance history. That history is what stops components failing early — and what wins warranty arguments with OEMs when they do.
Prevents incidents
Most serious plant incidents on Australian mine sites are traced back to a fault that was known, unreported or unactioned. A well-managed pre-start closes that gap before the machine turns a wheel.
What a pre-start check should cover
Fluids and levels
Engine oil, coolant, hydraulic oil, fuel, DEF/AdBlue, transmission and final drive levels. Under-the-cap checks that stop expensive component failures before they start.
Leaks & hoses
Walk-around for oil, fuel, coolant and hydraulic leaks. Inspect hoses, fittings and cylinders for rubbing, chafing or weeping — a $50 hose caught early beats a $50,000 pump failure.
Tyres, tracks & undercarriage
Tyre pressure and damage on wheeled machines; track tension, shoe condition and idler/roller wear on tracked machines. Undercarriage is the single largest maintenance cost on many mining machines.
Lights, mirrors & cameras
Head, tail, indicator, work, reversing and beacon lights. Mirrors, reversing camera and 360° cameras — non-negotiable on Tier-1 mine sites.
Brakes, steering & controls
Service brake, park brake, emergency stop, steering response and control feel. Test in a safe area before the machine leaves the parking bay.
Safety systems & signage
Seatbelts, ROPS/FOPS, isolators, fire suppression, first aid kit, wheel chocks, warning signage, load charts and operator manual on board.
Guards, ladders & handrails
All guards fitted and secured, ladders and handrails intact for three-points-of-contact access. Missing a guard is an instant site stand-down on most Tier-1 sites.
SMU, fault codes & warning lights
Record SMU (service meter hours), clear or note any fault codes and check no warning lights are illuminated at start-up. This feeds the maintenance forecast for the whole fleet.
How to set up pre-start management — 6-step process
Build a machine-specific checklist template
Generic checklists get ticked without thinking. Build a template per machine type (excavator, dozer, loader, haul truck, light vehicle, water cart) with the actual items an operator can see and check on that machine — not a copy-paste list.
Move it off paper — go digital
Digital pre-starts on a phone or tablet make checks faster, force critical items, capture photos, timestamp and geo-tag every submission, and push defects straight into the workshop queue. Paper is the single biggest reason pre-starts get skipped or falsified.
Make critical items mandatory
Configure the checklist so critical items (brakes, steering, fire suppression, seatbelts, isolators) cannot be skipped. If any critical item fails, the machine is automatically flagged as not fit for service until a supervisor signs off.
Route defects into the workshop, not an inbox
Every defect must land in the maintenance system as a work order — with severity, machine, operator, photos and time. If it goes into an email or WhatsApp group, it will be missed.
Capture SMU on every pre-start
SMU (service meter hours) captured daily via pre-starts is the backbone of maintenance forecasting. It drives the next service date, forecast component change-outs and cost per hour.
Audit and close the loop
Report weekly on pre-start completion rates, defect volumes, top-recurring defects and defects still open past target. Close the loop with operators — if defects they raise never get fixed, they stop raising them.
Best practices for managing pre-starts
One template per machine type, not one for everything
A haul truck pre-start is not a light vehicle pre-start. Templates need to reflect the actual items on each machine — critical items included, irrelevant items removed.
Photo evidence on every defect
Every defect raised must include at least one photo. Photos win warranty arguments, prove pre-start integrity in incident investigations and stop 'that's not what I meant' disputes with the workshop.
Do it at the machine, not in the crib room
Pre-starts done from memory in the crib room are worse than no pre-start — they create a false record. Geo-tagged, timestamped digital pre-starts at the machine are the only trustworthy record.
Supervisor review of high-severity defects
Any critical-severity defect should trigger an alert to the supervisor and workshop coordinator immediately — not sit in a queue until someone logs in.
Trend the same defect across the fleet
If the same hydraulic leak shows up on three different dozers, it's a batch issue, not an operator issue. Trending recurring defects across the fleet is where pre-start data starts paying back.
Connect pre-starts to services and cost
Pre-start defects, scheduled services and component change-outs should live in the same system as SMU and cost. That's what turns compliance paperwork into a fleet management advantage.
Common mistakes that cost contractors money and audits
Paper pre-starts in a folder in the crib room
Nobody reads them, nobody actions defects, and nobody can produce evidence in an audit or incident investigation. Paper pre-starts are the highest-risk system on most sites.
One checklist for every machine
A generic checklist means operators tick items that don't exist and skip items that do. Templates must match the machine.
Defects raised into an inbox or SMS group
Defects sent to a personal inbox, WhatsApp or radio never make it to the workshop as a formal work order. When the component fails, there's no evidence it was reported.
Falsified pre-starts (pencil-whipping)
Ten pre-starts submitted in two minutes from the same crib room location is a common finding in audits. Geo-tagging and timestamps make this obvious — and stop it happening.
SMU only captured at service time
SMU that jumps from one service to the next in one entry means every day in between was unrecorded. Capture SMU on every pre-start, every day.
No feedback loop to operators
If defects operators raise never get closed off, operators stop raising them. Report back — weekly — on defects raised and defects fixed.
Digital pre-starts that feed the workshop, not an inbox.
SprintSuite runs machine-specific pre-starts on any phone or tablet — offline, geo-tagged and timestamped — with defects pushed straight into work orders, SMU into maintenance forecasting, and completion trends visible to supervisors in real time.
Related reading: How to track maintenance for mining machinery · What is a work safety app? · What are workplace health and safety apps used for? · What is a work order?.
