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Free garage and workshop inspection checklist (PDF-ready). Housekeeping, hoists, tools, electrical, fire, chemicals and environmental controls.

Jarrod Milford

Jarrod Milford

Commercial Director

Updated 22 June 2026
Also see:GPS and fleet tracking →Best fleet management software (AU) →MapTrack vs Fleetio →

Key takeaways

  • A workshop inspection confirms housekeeping, hoists, tools, electrical, fire, chemicals and environmental controls are safe.
  • A documented inspection supports the WHS primary duty to provide and maintain a safe workplace.
  • It confirms statutory programs such as hoist inspection and electrical test and tag are current, it does not replace them.
  • Every failed line needs a specific defect note, an owner and a due date to be useful.
  • Tag unsafe equipment such as a faulty hoist out of service immediately rather than waiting for the repair.

Updated 22 June 2026

How to use: download the PDF, print or complete digitally on any device.

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What is a garage and workshop inspection checklist?

A garage and workshop inspection checklist is a structured walk around used to confirm that a vehicle or plant workshop is safe, tidy and compliant before and during operation. It groups the inspection into the areas that cause most workshop incidents: general housekeeping and access, vehicle hoists and lifting equipment, hand and power tools, electrical safety and leads, compressed air, fire protection and emergency egress, hazardous chemicals and storage, and environmental controls such as bunding, spill kits and waste. Each line is a specific item the inspector marks pass, fail or not applicable, with space to note the defect and the corrective action, so the result is a dated record rather than a vague impression that the workshop looked fine.

A workshop concentrates a lot of risk into a small space: vehicles suspended on hoists, energised tools, flammable liquids, compressed air and people working underneath loads. The Work Health and Safety Act places a primary duty on the business to provide and maintain a safe workplace, and the Work Health and Safety Regulation sets specific duties for plant and the working environment. A regular, documented inspection is how a workshop manager demonstrates that duty is being met in practice: it catches the frayed lead, the overdue hoist inspection or the blocked exit before it causes harm, and the trail of completed checklists is objective evidence of a controlled, well maintained facility during an audit or after an incident.

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Benefits of using this garage and workshop inspection checklist

  • Safer workshop: a regular structured walk around catches frayed leads, leaking hoists and blocked exits before they injure someone working underneath a load.
  • Compliance evidence: a dated trail of completed inspections demonstrates the WHS primary duty to provide and maintain a safe workplace is being met in practice.
  • Less downtime: finding tool, hoist and electrical faults early keeps the workshop running instead of losing a bay to an avoidable breakdown or incident.
  • Clear accountability: a named inspector and assigned corrective actions mean defects are owned and closed out, not noted once and forgotten.
  • Hoist and lifting assurance: a dedicated section confirms vehicle hoists and lifting gear are within inspection date and free of obvious defects before use.
  • Environmental control: checking bunding, spill kits and waste storage protects drains and soil and supports environmental and dangerous goods obligations.

Benefits of digitising forms in MapTrack

When you move your checklists from paper to MapTrack, you get:

  • Field users can easily scan a QR code to complete a form on mobile. Unlimited users.
  • Automatically get alerts when faults are identified.
  • Link every form digitally as a PDF to the relevant asset, location or person.
  • Receive a digital PDF copy with every submission to your email.
  • Ability to share forms digitally.
  • Build conditional logic (show or hide questions based on answers).
  • Take pictures or attach photos. Not possible with a paper-based form.
  • Electronic signatures.
  • Edit forms later without reprinting.
  • Restrict permissions (who can view, complete or approve).
  • Build forms with AI (describe what you need and MapTrack suggests the form).
  • Monitor odometer and service-interval triggers across your entire fleet.
  • Capture fuel receipts and trip logs alongside vehicle inspection data.
  • Compare vehicle downtime and repair costs to inform replacement decisions.

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What to include in a garage and workshop inspection checklist

This garage and workshop inspection checklist covers 11 key areas:

  • Workshop and inspection details: site, area, inspector, date and overall result
  • General housekeeping: clear floors and walkways, tidy benches, signage and adequate lighting
  • Vehicle hoists and lifting equipment: condition, inspection currency, controls and safety locks
  • Hand and power tools: guards in place, condition, RCD protection and safe storage
  • Electrical safety: leads, test and tag currency, switchboards and RCDs free of damage
  • Compressed air: hoses, fittings, whip checks, regulators and receiver condition
  • Fire protection and egress: extinguishers in date, exits clear and emergency lighting working
  • Hazardous chemicals: labelling, safety data sheets, segregation and approved storage
  • Environmental controls: bunding, spill kits, drainage protection and waste segregation
  • First aid, PPE and welfare: stocked first aid, available PPE and clean amenities
  • Corrective actions: each defect logged with owner, due date and close out

How to use this garage and workshop inspection checklist

  1. Plan the inspection and gather records: Decide the scope and frequency, and have the supporting records to hand such as hoist inspection certificates and the test and tag register. Walking with the paperwork lets the inspector confirm currency on the spot rather than guessing whether equipment is in date.
  2. Work through the workshop section by section: Move through the checklist in order, from housekeeping and access to hoists, tools, electrical, compressed air, fire, chemicals and environmental controls. Mark each line pass, fail or not applicable so nothing is skipped and the result is consistent between inspections.
  3. Record defects with enough detail to act: For every fail, write what is wrong and where, not just a tick in the fail column. A clear note such as bay two hoist locking latch not engaging is actionable; a bare fail is not, and the defect tends to drift unfixed until the next inspection.
  4. Assign and prioritise corrective actions: Give each defect an owner and a due date, and prioritise by risk. Anything that makes equipment unsafe, such as a faulty hoist or damaged lead, should be tagged out of service immediately rather than left in use until the repair is scheduled.
  5. Close out and file the inspection: Confirm corrective actions are completed, sign off the inspection and file it. Track which actions are still open against the next inspection so issues are genuinely resolved and the dated record builds the compliance history of the facility.

In MapTrack, you can track your fleet with gps and digital pre-starts. Each submission is stored as a timestamped PDF against the asset record.

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How often should you complete this checklist?

Run a documented workshop inspection on a regular cycle, monthly for most busy vehicle and plant workshops, with a quick daily housekeeping and access check at the start of each shift. Higher risk items have their own legislated cycles: vehicle hoists require periodic inspection by a competent person, electrical equipment must be tested and tagged on the relevant interval, and fire equipment is serviced to AS 1851. The monthly checklist confirms those programs are current, it does not replace them.

Also inspect after any change that alters the risk, such as installing a new hoist, changing the chemicals stored on site, or following a workshop incident or near miss. Review the trend of recurring defects over time, because the same fault appearing inspection after inspection is a signal to fix the underlying cause rather than re-logging it each month.

Frequently asked questions

The Work Health and Safety Act places a primary duty on a business to provide and maintain a workplace, plant and systems of work that are safe and without risks to health. The Work Health and Safety Regulation adds specific duties for plant and the working environment. A regular documented inspection is the practical mechanism for meeting those duties in a workshop: it verifies hoists, electrical equipment, fire protection and chemical storage are controlled, and the completed records provide objective evidence that the duty holder was actively managing risk, which is exactly what a regulator looks for after an incident.

Vehicle hoists are lifting equipment and require periodic inspection and maintenance by a competent person at the interval set by the manufacturer and the relevant standard, typically at least annually, with daily operator checks before use. This workshop checklist does not replace that statutory inspection. Instead, the hoist section confirms the certified inspection is current and that there are no obvious defects such as fluid leaks or a locking latch that will not engage. Treat a failed hoist line as a reason to tag the hoist out of service immediately.

A workshop inspection is a recurring check against a fixed list of known items to confirm the facility is in a safe condition right now. A risk assessment is a deeper, less frequent exercise that identifies hazards, evaluates the level of risk and decides what controls are needed. The two work together: the risk assessment defines which controls matter and feeds the content of the inspection checklist, and the regular inspection then verifies those controls are still in place and effective day to day.

The inspection should be done by someone competent in the workshop environment, usually the workshop supervisor, leading hand or a nominated health and safety representative, who understands the equipment and can judge whether an item is a genuine defect. They mark each line, record defects and assign corrective actions. For specialised items such as hoist certification or electrical test and tag, the checklist confirms a suitably qualified person has done the underlying inspection rather than the workshop inspector performing it themselves.

Yes, it is completely free. Open it in your browser, then use Print and choose Save as PDF to keep a copy or print a pad for the workshop. You do not need a MapTrack account. If you want to move beyond paper, MapTrack runs inspections as mobile forms, schedules recurring checks, and tracks corrective actions and asset history to close out, so defects are followed through instead of sitting in a folder. Start free or book a demo to see how.

Applicable regulatory standards

This template aligns with the following regulations and standards:

  • Work Health and Safety Act 2011, primary duty to provide a safe workplace
  • Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017, plant and workplace duties (including general workplace and plant requirements)
  • AS 2550 series, Cranes, hoists and winches (safe use, where applicable to vehicle hoists)
  • AS 1851, Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment

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    <li style="margin:4px 0;">Electrical safety: leads, test and tag currency, switchboards and RCDs free of damage</li>
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