Inspecting your own equipment

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, every piece of work equipment must be inspected periodically by a competent person. Using Aboma's AMTeK system, you can inspect your own or third-party equipment whenever it suits you. For example, during maintenance or at other times when the equipment is 'momentarily' stationary. An interview with Mario Rovers, manager AMTeK at Aboma, about the many advantages of AMTeK inspection.

With AMTeK, Aboma offers companies a tool for fulfilling the legal duty to expertly inspect equipment. "People receive training with a theoretical part about the rules of the game around inspection, followed by a practical part," Rovers explains. "Usually such training takes two days. After that, if the trainees pass, they can call themselves competent. They then don't have to worry about any spot checks, refresher courses or re-examinations. No, we conduct annual inspection supervision and monitor the inspections performed through our own portal. This way, both we and the AMTeK member company can demonstrate that people are competent and that the inspections are carried out in accordance with the rules of the game."

Widely applicable

The AMTeK system is very widely applicable and 'covers' for the infrastructure sector virtually all equipment. Rovers: "Think of earth-moving machinery, aerial work platforms, truck-mounted cranes, wheel loaders, dumpers, telehandlers and tractors. But all attachments such as sieves, buckets or a debris mill can also be inspected via AMTeK, as can ladders, electric hand tools and even rolling doors. Quite recently we added the mobile lane indicator to the range, as well as a module for a loading arm. The system is constantly being expanded and is also suitable for multi-purpose machines such as earth-moving equipment with limited or full lifting function, or a telehandler with winch, crane or work bucket. Reporting is also tailored to this. Incidentally, you always work in the same system regardless of which equipment you inspect. The inspection, including photos, is completely digitally recorded through an app or a url connection. A link to the company's own ERP system is also among the possibilities."

Preventing downtime

Inspecting yourself under AMTeK is not only cost-saving, it also contributes to efficiency and knowledge on the shop floor. "Because everything is recorded digitally, you can also perform analyses in the portal. This provides insight into where the trouble spots are for certain equipment and you can take preventive action to avoid downtime or failures. For example, one fire department was struggling with increased wear and tear on their ladders, which regularly led to rejection. Not because of intensive use, but because of storage on the Arborek. Thanks to our portal, the corps decided to put the ladders back in the rack the other way around after each exercise. A great example where self-inspection and analyzing shortcomings leads to more knowledge and insight and ultimately even a longer life of your equipment."