BC Crane Safety Newsletter

Preventive Maintenance Starts with Better Records 

Your equipment logbook is more than a compliance checkbox—it’s the foundation of a truly preventive maintenance program. When inspections are documented thoughtfully, patterns emerge, failures are anticipated, and downtime becomes optional.

Crane logbooks have shifted from “paperwork” to a core part of preventive maintenance—especially as some jurisdictions update occupational health and safety requirements to reference newer editions of Canadian Standards Association CSA Z150 Safety Code on Mobile Cranes.

In Crane & Hoist Canada’s Levelling Up Your Logbooks, Jason Brown of Kova Engineering explains how annual engineering sign-offs increasingly depend on verifying documentation and not just inspection findings.

Missing information, gaps in history, or incomplete records now routinely delay certification and lead to costly downtime. 

A strong logbook tells the crane’s full maintenance story. It should be permanent, traceable through the crane’s entire service life, and always accessible when the crane changes job sites or owners. Every defect should be closed out with follow‑up notes showing what was repaired or adjusted, who performed the work, and the return‑to‑service confirmation. 

Generic pass or fail forms are no longer enough. Machine‑specific checklists based on the manufacturer’s manual and the applicable standard are now the expected baseline. Better records mean fewer surprises, smoother certifications, and stronger due diligence.

A Strong Logbook is Your Best Preventive Tool
A strong logbook:

• Closes the loop.
  A preventive program isn’t complete until every finding is traced to its corrective action, technician, and final return‑to‑service confirmation. 
• Creates a living history.
  Gaps in records, like a missing 10-year boom teardown, are now major red flags that stop certification. A complete logbook provides the evidence that long-term preventive measures were actually performed. 
• Forces specificity.
  Generic checklists are obsolete. Regulators demand logs tied to your crane’s specific manual, capturing details like hours, conditions, and exact findings—far beyond a simple “Checked OK.” 

The New Standard for Preventive Records
Enforcement has shifted from occasional regulator spot checks to annual engineer verification. That means your logbook must be a machine‑specific, well‑organized, audit‑ready document that clearly demonstrates nothing has been missed year after year. 

Actions for True Prevention 

• Appoint a recordkeeper.
  Designate someone to own the logbook process, ensuring all major preventive milestones are scheduled, performed, and documented. 
• Build a machine-specific foundation.
  Base your logs on your crane’s official manual, not a generic form. 
• Connect all evidence.
  File supporting documents such as non-destructive testing (NDT) reports and certifications with your logs to create a single source of truth. 

A New Challenge: Legacy Equipment and Missing Documentation
Starting with a complete logbook is far less costly than trying to recreate one after the fact. Many cranes in active service are decades old, and some manufacturers are no longer in existence. In these cases, manuals, service instructions, and historical records may be incomplete or missing entirely. 

When purchasing used or imported cranes, owners should always review the existing logbook before the sale is finalized.

If critical history is missing, rebuilding the maintenance record may require extensive inspections, engineering review, and in some cases a full re‑establishment of baseline structural and mechanical conditions. 

The Bottom Line
In this new era, a preventive maintenance program is only as good as its documentation. A meticulous logbook doesn’t just record your preventive actions—it helps validate them.

Supervisor Responsibilities

A supervisory role is crucial on a jobsite to make sure production flows smoothly and workers stay safe. A supervisor is defined by WorkSafeBC as “a person who instructs, directs and controls workers in the performance of their duties”.

Contrary to popular belief, workers don’t necessarily need to have the word “supervisor” in their title to be considered a supervisor under this regulatory definition. Supervisors can be any worker, regardless of title, so long as they meet the definition outlined above.

Supervisors need to be knowledgeable about the specific jobs and tasks they perform and the tasks they instruct others to perform.

They are also required by the Workers Compensation Act to be knowledgeable about the occupational health and safety provisions and regulations applicable to the work being supervised.

Supervisors are responsible not only for their own actions, but also for the actions and conditions under their watch that directly affect worker safety and their organization’s status and reputation.

The large reach of a supervisor’s on-the-job responsibilities may seem daunting.

Setting up a supervisor for success requires a strong understanding of their key responsibilities to clearly define their role.

Basic supervisor responsibilities include:

• Ensuring the health and safety of all workers under their direct supervision.
• Knowing WorkSafeBC requirements that apply to the work under their supervision and ensuring those requirements are met.
• Ensuring that workers under their supervision are aware of all known hazards.
• Ensuring that workers under their supervision have the appropriate personal protective equipment and that it is being used properly, regularly inspected, and maintained.
• Complying with occupational health and safety provisions, applicable regulations, and any orders issued by the regulator.
• Consulting and cooperating with their organization’s Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee or worker health and safety representative.
• Cooperating with the Board, officers of the Board and any other person carrying out a duty under the occupational health and safety provisions or regulations.

While a supervisor holds an incredible amount of responsibility, it is a supervisor’s employer who must ensure that the right qualified person is assigned the role.

WorkSafeBC defines “qualified” as “being knowledgeable of the work, the hazards involved, and the means to control the hazards, by reason of education, training, experience or a combination thereof.”

Supervisors and their employers should be able to clearly communicate and prove why a person is in their supervisory position.

Learn more about roles, rights, and responsibilities by visiting our knowledge base page.