Crane inspection records, assembled into one file per machine for your safety or maintenance lead.

Your competent person fills in the monthly. A qualified person, on staff or hired in, writes the annual. Mechanics close work orders, someone orders parts, rope gets changed, and a customer asks for the latest reports. All of it gets filed by date or by whoever received it, so the record for one machine has to be pulled together each time somebody asks.

In the test, AI reads copies of those records and assembles each machine's file: annual and monthly inspection dates, the items inspected, deficiencies and the corrective work that closed them, operator qualification references, and a list of machines with a date missing or an item open. It decides nothing about a machine's condition. Your reviewer checks each file against the records your office holds.

The clock runs on an exact date. Under 29 CFR 1926.1412, a monthly inspection covers the same 14 items as each shift's, and the annual adds a detailed check of 21 more, from sheaves and drums to slider pads, labels and decals, plus functional testing. Monthly records are kept at least three months and annual records at least 12, each with the items checked, the results, and the inspector's name, signature and date. In a September 10, 2015 letter OSHA held that "at least every 12 months" means on or before the anniversary date, not the end of that month, and that a machine out of service on that date can't return to service until the annual is done. Each draft shows the last annual and the day the next one falls due, counted from the sheet itself. A manufacturer's schedule that goes further binds too, under 1926.1412(j).

Idle time and plant work change the count. Equipment idle three months or more needs a qualified person's inspection before its first use under 1926.1412(h). OSHA's general industry rule for crawler, locomotive and wheel-mounted cranes, 29 CFR 1910.180, draws the lines elsewhere: idle from one month up to six months calls for a frequent inspection before service, idle six months for a complete one, and standby cranes need one at least twice a year. Its monthly record on critical items such as brakes, hooks and ropes carries the date, the inspector's signature and the crane's serial number or other identifier. Which rule applies to a given machine depends on its work, so the draft shows the dates and leaves that call to your reviewer.

Open items run on their own deadlines. A deficiency the annual inspector says isn't a hazard but should be watched has to be checked at each monthly under 1926.1412(f). Wire rope has three categories of deficiency under 1926.1413, and when an annual rope inspection isn't feasible because of the setup or the site, a running rope gets no more than six extra months. A Category I operational aid, such as an anti two-blocking device, must be repaired within 7 calendar days and a Category II aid within 30, with more time only if the employer documents that parts were ordered. OSHA's compliance directive, CPL 02-01-063, has its inspectors determine whether parts are on order and note the dates. So the draft ties each open item to the inspection that raised it, the work order that closed it and any parts order, and lists the ones with no closing record.

Who signs, and what they must hold, changes by state. OSHA's 2016 FAQ says crane inspectors need expertise that fits the inspection but don't have to be certified. Washington goes further: covered cranes are inspected and proof load tested every year by an accredited crane certifier the state recognizes, nobody who repaired a load-sustaining part may certify that crane in the same period, and events such as power line contact, a tip-over or certain overloads suspend the certification until that certifier reinspects, with the owner emailing the state within 24 hours. California requires an annual examination by a licensed certificating agency for cranes above three tons in lifting service, with annual and quadrennial certificates kept for each one. The draft records who signed each document and the credential it shows. Whether that was the right person stays with your lead.

Operator references point back at the machine. Under 1926.1427, a certificate is based on equipment type, or type and capacity, and runs five years, but a certificate alone doesn't establish qualification. The employer's evaluation record names the operator, the evaluator with a signature, the date, and the make, model and configuration of the machine used, and it has to be available at the worksite. OSHA's directive has its inspectors see whether the serial number on the load chart matches the crane, and its rule on design names ASME B30.5, Mobile and Locomotive Cranes, for mobile cranes built on or after November 8, 2010. Your reviewer will watch for the right machine under each record, dates that agree across documents, open items carried forward, and operator cards that line up with the machine's type.

If your reviewer says yes, new monthlies, annuals and shop records go through the same assembly for about 30 days.

Your safety or maintenance lead reviews every file and decides what happens next, and a person approves each item before it goes anywhere. A competent or qualified person still performs and signs every inspection, and any next job has its own price.