- Are grease gun fittings and other lube equipment standardized or is a variety of grease guns and other equipment required?
- Are lubrication lines well secured and located so as to discourage their use as ladders or stepping points or operating or maintenance personnel?
- Are bearings over ubricated? (It generally takes a very small amount of lubricant for bearings. Most damage to small equipment is due to over-lubrication.)
- Are careful records kept to insure compliance with lubrication specifications and schedules?
- Is there a maintenance card, including lubrication equipments, for each machine or vehicle?
- Are manufacturers’ specs for lubricants for all new equipment checked against current stocks of lubricants for equivalents and for maximum performance capability?
- Are lubricant stocks checked at regular intervals for simplification? (Annual checking is essential and semi-annual is recommended.)
- Are older lubricants used first? Use stock rotation!
- Are lubricants stored indoors where there is less chance of contamination? Is the storage room kept clean, suitably drained, and made of fire-resistant materials? Containers should be stored on their sides, in racks. Containers hold never sit directly on concrete floors.
- Are lubricants exposed to the environment? (Wherever possible, lubricants should be transferred directly from shipping container to point of use to avoid contamination.)
- Is your operation subject to considerable equipment downtime because of outdated lubrication methods? (Many types of equipment must be stopped for manual lubrication under stringent safety rules.)
- Have your downtime rates increased lately? (Too much friction and wear lowers equipment out-put; poor lubricants make equipment run erratically and fail.
Reference: Lubrication Engineers Inc 1998, Some Basics of Lubrication, 300 Bailey Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76107.
