Plant is where a quarry hurts people. Crushers, screens and conveyors run continuously; excavators and dump trucks move around pedestrians and edges all day. The inspection regime exists so that a guard, a brake or a reversing camera is checked before it fails, not after. The checklist below is a starting point, not a legal minimum; your site risk assessment and the manufacturer's schedule set the real list.
Guide · Mining
Quarry plant inspection checklist for the UK.
What a mobile and fixed plant inspection covers at a quarry, from crushers and conveyors to excavators and dump trucks, under LOLER 1998 and PUWER 1998, and how to record each item on the phone the operator already carries.
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The point
A checklist is only as good as the record it leaves.
A crusher guard either got checked or it did not, and the record has to prove which. Software makes the plant check easier to complete at the machine, harder to skip an item, and faster to hand back. A good tool means nobody ticks the sheet in the cab without walking the plant.
What gets inspected
Three families of plant.
Fixed processing plant
Crushers, screens, conveyors
Guarding, emergency stops, conveyor edge protection and nip-point guards checked under PUWER 1998, with photos of each fault.
Mobile plantExcavators, loaders, dumpers
Brakes, tyres, quick-hitches, cameras and reversing aids checked pre-use, with defects flagged the moment they are entered.
Lifting equipmentLOLER thorough examination
Lifting equipment and accessories logged against their thorough examination and rated load under LOLER 1998.
The friction
The pre-use check that happens in the cab.
A driver signing a plant sheet without leaving the seat is the failure everyone knows about. The record you complete walking the machine, with a photo of the worn tyre or the missing guard, beats the one ticked from memory. Quickler asks item by item and holds the photo against the fault.
Run plant checks on WhatsApp
No app install. No training.
Operators use the phone they already have. Text, voice note or photo. The report generates itself. Setup to first live workflow usually takes under a week.
The short version
- Quarry plant splits into fixed processing plant, mobile plant, and lifting equipment, each with its own inspection duty.
- Work equipment falls under PUWER 1998; lifting equipment and accessories fall under LOLER 1998 with periodic thorough examination.
- Pre-use checks catch daily defects; periodic and thorough examinations catch wear the daily walk-round misses.
- The record has to tie each item to a date, the operator, the machine and, where there is a fault, a photograph.
- The software records the check. It does not make the machine safe or replace the competent person carrying out the thorough examination.
The point
What a plant inspection covers
A quarry plant inspection is really several inspections at different intervals. The pre-use check is the operator's daily walk-round: brakes, steering, tyres or tracks, lights, mirrors and cameras, guards, emergency stops and fluid levels. The periodic inspection is a deeper look at intervals set by the risk assessment. The thorough examination applies to lifting equipment under LOLER 1998 and is carried out by a competent person, typically every six or twelve months depending on the equipment.
Software does not make any machine safe. The competent person does. What software does is make each check easier to complete at the machine, harder to skip an item, and faster to deliver. A good tool means the operator walks the plant and records what they see, rather than ticking a sheet from the cab.
Fixed plant
Crushers, screens and conveyors
Fixed processing plant is inspected under PUWER 1998. A crusher check covers guarding, the emergency stop and lanyard, feed control, and the condition of wear parts. Screens are checked for guarding, deck condition and structural cracking. Conveyors are a common injury source, so the check covers edge protection, nip-point and drum guards, pull-wire emergency stops along the run, and the walkway and access.
Quickler records each of these item by item, with a photo attached to any fault at the point it is found. A missing conveyor guard is flagged the moment it is entered and surfaces on the office dashboard, not when the sheet reaches the office days later. This is a general list; your own risk assessment and the manufacturer's manual set the definitive one.
Mobile plant
Excavators, loaders and dumpers
Mobile plant checks under PUWER 1998 focus on the controls that keep the machine safe around people and edges. That means brakes and the parking brake, steering, tyres or tracks, the quick-hitch and its safety pin, mirrors, reversing cameras and audible alarms, seatbelts, lights and beacons, and fluid levels and leaks. Vehicle and pedestrian interaction is the biggest killer on quarry sites, so reversing aids and visibility carry weight.
Quickler runs the pre-use check as a conversation: the operator answers item by item, photographs a worn tyre or a damaged camera, and the defect is flagged immediately. The office sees which machines are safe to run and which are held, without chasing paper.
Lifting equipment
LOLER thorough examination
Lifting equipment and accessories, from excavator lifting eyes and quick-hitches used for lifting to slings, chains and the site crane, fall under LOLER 1998. They require a thorough examination by a competent person at statutory intervals, and a report of that examination. Between examinations, pre-use checks still apply.
Quickler records the pre-use check and stores the reference and date of the thorough examination as evidence. It is not itself the thorough examination and does not replace the competent person who carries it out. Check the current LOLER intervals and your equipment's examination scheme.
Pricing
Per report, not per seat
Plant checks are high volume: every machine, every shift. Per-seat pricing punishes that, because each driver who files a daily check costs another seat. Quickler charges per report instead, with unlimited users on every bundle.
Bundles run from Quickler 50 at 50 pounds a month for 50 reports, up to Quickler 500 at 500 pounds a month for 500 reports. Add every operator, fitter and supervisor at no extra cost; you pay for the reports filed, not the people who could file them. Pricing is approximate and shifts, so check the current pricing page before you commit.
Questions, answered
What does a quarry plant inspection checklist include?
It covers fixed processing plant such as crushers, screens and conveyors, mobile plant such as excavators, loaders and dumpers, and lifting equipment. Typical items are guarding, emergency stops, brakes, tyres or tracks, quick-hitches, reversing cameras and alarms, and fluid levels. The definitive list comes from your site risk assessment and the manufacturer's schedule, not from a generic template.
What regulations cover quarry plant inspections?
Work equipment falls under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), and lifting equipment and accessories fall under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER), which require periodic thorough examination by a competent person. The site operates under the Quarries Regulations 1999 and the HSE is the regulator. This is not legal advice; check the current regulations.
How often should quarry plant be inspected?
Mobile and fixed plant should be checked before use each shift under PUWER, with periodic inspections at intervals set by the risk assessment. Lifting equipment requires a LOLER thorough examination at statutory intervals, commonly every six or twelve months depending on the equipment. Follow the manufacturer's schedule and your own risk assessment for the exact frequency.
Can I record plant checks over WhatsApp?
Yes. Quickler runs the plant check as a WhatsApp conversation. The operator answers each item, photographs any fault, and the completed report generates automatically. Defects are flagged the moment they are entered and surface on the office dashboard. No separate app or login is required.