Planned preventive maintenance (PPM) and work orders: a simple setup for small teams
A preventive maintenance setup a small team can run without a maintenance planner: list the assets, write one task list per equipment type, schedule it, turn every deficiency into a tracked work order, and close the loop with evidence. Where OSHA standards touch preventive maintenance, and how it differs from inspection.
By Hovermarks team
Quick answer. A small team's preventive maintenance setup needs five things: an asset list, one task list per equipment type taken from the manufacturer's instructions, a schedule for each, a way to turn every deficiency into a tracked work order, and a record that the work was closed out. OSHA has no general PM rule, but some standards require one, such as the crane preventive maintenance program in 29 CFR 1910.179(l).
Large facilities run maintenance from a planning group. Small teams run it from memory, a whiteboard and a vendor who calls when service is due. That holds until someone leaves. The setup below needs no planner: a register, a few task lists, and the habit of closing every job.
Where OSHA touches preventive maintenance
OSHA does not have a single preventive maintenance standard. Requirements show up inside the standards for particular equipment:
- Overhead and gantry cranes. "A preventive maintenance program based on the crane manufacturer's recommendations shall be established" (29 CFR 1910.179(l)(1)). Paragraph (l)(2) sets precautions before adjustments and repairs, and says the crane is not operated after repairs until guards are reinstalled and safety devices reactivated.
- Portable fire extinguishers. An annual maintenance check, with the date recorded and kept for one year after the last entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less (29 CFR 1910.157(e)(3)).
- Hazardous energy. The lockout/tagout standard "covers the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment" where unexpected start-up or release of stored energy could cause injury (29 CFR 1910.147(a)(1)(i)). Any PM task on that equipment starts with the energy control procedure.
Fire protection systems add consensus standards. NFPA 25 is titled the "Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems" (nfpa.org), and your authority having jurisdiction decides which edition applies.
Maintenance is not inspection
Keep them separate. Maintenance keeps equipment working. Inspection checks its condition against a standard and records what was found, often with a named or signed inspector, as in the monthly crane hook and rope certification records. One visit can do both, but each needs its own record, or the inspection evidence gets lost inside a service note.
A five-step setup
1. List the assets
Every asset that needs maintenance gets an entry with an ID, location, make, model and serial number, so you can find its manual. Start from the spreadsheet you already have. The asset register guide covers the fields.
2. Write one task list per equipment type
Take tasks from the manufacturer's instructions. Group them by frequency. Each task list says what to do, what "done" looks like, and what to measure.
3. Schedule each list
Attach each task list to the assets it covers at the manual's frequency, and give it an owner.
| Equipment | Task list | Frequency | Source | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead crane | Lubrication, brake and limit switch checks | Per manufacturer | 1910.179(l)(1) program | Maintenance tech |
| Air compressor | Drain receiver, check belts and filters | Weekly | Manufacturer's manual | Shop lead |
| Hydraulic press | PM per manual, under the energy control procedure | Per manufacturer | Manual and 1910.147 | Maintenance tech |
| Portable extinguishers | Annual maintenance check | Annually | 1910.157(e)(3) | Fire protection vendor |
| Dock leveler | Lubricate, check lip and hydraulics | Quarterly | Manufacturer's manual | Facilities |
4. Turn every deficiency into a tracked job
When a task finds a problem, record a deficiency against the asset with a photo and a severity. If it needs work, raise a work order from it: who, by when, which parts. If the asset is unsafe, tag it out of service until the work is done.
5. Close the loop
A job is done when the work order records what was done, the parts used and the time spent, and the deficiency it came from is resolved. Each quarter, check which assets generate the most work orders. That shows you where the schedule is off or the equipment is worn out.
Common mistakes
- Intervals copied from another site. Duty cycle changes everything.
- Deficiencies with no owner. A logged, unassigned deficiency is a record that you knew.
- Vendor work that never reaches the record. Ask vendors to report against your asset IDs, or attach their paperwork to the asset.
- PM tasks with no energy control step. If the machine is covered by 1910.147, the task list should say so.
How Hovermarks handles preventive maintenance
Hovermarks has no separate PM module. A maintenance routine is a checklist, from a template or built from scratch, on a schedule:
- Schedules cover one asset, a category or all assets, each with a checklist and an optional assignee. Frequencies are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, annually, or a custom number of days. The next-due date runs from the last completed inspection.
- Reminders. Assignees get a daily email for work due that day and a digest of overdue items. Overdue defects, corrective actions and work orders go to the assignee, or to site managers if nobody is assigned.
- Defects and corrective actions. A failed or flagged checklist creates defects and corrective actions automatically, on every plan, with severity from Low to Critical and up to 10 photos per defect.
- Work orders. Raise one from a defect. Each has a status (Open, In progress, On hold, Completed, Cancelled), a priority, an assignee, a scheduled date, parts and labor lines, estimated and actual cost, time tracking and a PDF. Completing it resolves the defect. Work orders are on every plan.
- Automation. On Professional, rules can raise work orders when an inspection fails, an inspection goes overdue, or a defect stays unresolved.