Most forklift inspection rules in Ontario come down to one short section of one regulation, plus a CSA standard that everyone — inspectors, insurers, and your own health and safety committee — expects you to follow. Here is what is law, what is standard, and what an inspector asks for first.
The law: OHSA and Regulation 851
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) is the umbrella. Underneath it, Regulation 851 (Industrial Establishments) treats a forklift as a "lifting device," and section 51 sets the rules:
- The truck must be plainly marked with enough information for the operator to determine the maximum rated load — the capacity plate, and a plate for any attachment.
- It must be thoroughly examined by a competent person to determine its capability of handling the maximum load as rated, before first use and then at least once a year (or more often if the manufacturer says so).
- A permanent record of that examination, signed by the competent person who did it, must be kept.
- The truck may only be operated by a competent person — which is where operator training comes in.
What "competent person" means
The OHSA defines a competent person as someone who is qualified through knowledge, training, and experience to organize and perform the work, is familiar with the Act and regulations that apply, and knows the actual or potential hazards involved.
For the annual examination, that means a trained forklift technician — not the operator doing a walk-around. For daily operation, it means a trained and evaluated operator. They are two different bars, and inspectors check both.
CSA B335: the standard everyone expects
CSA B335, the Safety Standard for Lift Trucks, is not written into Regulation 851 by name. But the OHSA requires employers to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances, and Ministry inspectors, insurers, and courts treat B335 as the definition of "reasonable" for forklifts.
B335 covers pre-operation inspections every shift, maintenance and repair by qualified people, operator training with practical evaluation, and re-evaluation on a regular cycle (three years is the common practice) or after an incident, a near miss, or a change of equipment.
What the annual inspection covers
A thorough annual examination is a structural and mechanical inspection of the whole truck against the rated capacity. On a typical counterbalance forklift it includes:
- Mast, carriage, rollers, and tilt cylinders — cracks, wear, and free movement
- Lift chains — lubrication, anchors, and elongation (chains are replaced at 3 percent stretch)
- Forks — heel wear (forks are pulled from service at 10 percent thickness loss), cracks, tip alignment, and hooks
- Hydraulic system — leaks, hose condition, cylinder drift under load
- Brakes, parking brake, and steering
- Tires, wheels, and wheel fasteners
- Overhead guard, load backrest, seat belt, and seat switch
- Capacity plate and attachment plate legibility
- Propane system integrity, or battery retention and cable condition on electrics
- Horn, lights, backup alarm, and any other safety device
Documentation to keep
The signed annual examination record is the one document the regulation names, so keep it permanently with the truck file. Alongside it, keep the pre-shift inspection sheets, preventative maintenance records, repair invoices, and operator training and evaluation records. When an inspector or an insurer asks, you want to hand over a folder, not a shrug.
Common ways GTA fleets fail an inspection
These are the findings we see over and over across the east GTA and Durham:
- Missing, painted-over, or unreadable capacity plate
- An attachment (clamp, rotator, sideshifter) with no derated plate
- Worn or bent forks that were never measured
- Stretched lift chains and dry mast rollers
- Horn, backup alarm, or lights not working
- Seat belt removed or seat switch bypassed
- Active hydraulic leaks and a mast that drifts under load
What happens during a Ministry visit
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development inspector can ask for the annual examination record, training records, and pre-shift checklists on the spot. They can issue compliance orders, stop the use of a truck, and lay charges under the OHSA, where maximum fines run to six and seven figures. The record is the first thing they ask for, and a truck with an unreadable plate is the first thing they notice.
How Bailey handles it
We perform annual thorough examinations on-site for every brand, fix what we find on the same visit whenever parts allow, and give you the signed record for your file. If you run a mixed fleet, one visit covers all of it.