Dock Daily Safety Inspection
Start-of-shift safety walk of every dock position, covering levelers and dockboards, vehicle restraints and wheel chocks, signal lights, dock door and edge protection, lighting, and housekeeping, plus the tagging and lockout of any position found defective.
- Audience
- Dock supervisors and designated dock associates who perform the start-of-shift dock walk
- Review cycle
- quarterly
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- Revision
- 1
What is in the procedure
8 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.
- 01
Purpose
FixedThis procedure establishes the start-of-shift safety walk of the dock.
- 02
Scope
CustomizedThis procedure applies to every dock position on the property, inbound and outbound, and to the dock floor, apron, approach, and the equipment permanently assigned to each position: the leveler or dockboard, the vehicle...
- 03
Responsibilities
CustomizedThe person performing the walk inspects every position, records the result including passes, tags out any position that fails, and hands the record to the supervisor before the first trailer is worked.
- 04
Procedure: Position Equipment Checks
FixedAt each position, with no trailer present and the door secured, check the following.
- 05
Procedure: Floor, Edge, and Housekeeping Checks
Customized1. Walk the dock floor and apron and look for spills, standing water, ice, snow tracked in, oil, grease, and hydraulic fluid, and get them cleaned or treated before the shift starts.
- 06
Procedure: Tagging and Locking Out a Failed Position
Customized1. Any defect that could cause injury takes the position out of service immediately.
- 07
Records and Trend Review
CustomizedThe completed walk is recorded for every position, including the positions that passed, with the date, the shift, the person who performed it, each defect found, the action taken, and the time any position was taken out...
- 08
References
Fixed29 CFR 1910.22 Walking-working surfaces, general requirements.
OSHA references
Dock Daily Safety Inspection: 29 CFR 1910.22(d)
Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.
| Standard | Title | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| 29 CFR 1910.22(d) | Walking-working surfaces: inspection, maintenance, and repair | The employer must ensure walking-working surfaces are inspected regularly and as necessary and maintained in a safe condition, that hazardous conditions found are corrected or repaired before an employee uses the surface again, and that when correction cannot be made immediately the hazardous condition is guarded to prevent employees from using the surface until it is repaired. |
| 29 CFR 1910.22(a) | Walking-working surfaces: surface conditions | All places of employment, passageways, storerooms, service rooms, and walking-working surfaces must be kept in a clean, orderly, and sanitary condition, and must be maintained free of hazards such as sharp or protruding objects, loose boards, corrosion, leaks, spills, snow, and ice. |
| 29 CFR 1910.26 | Dockboards | Dockboards must be capable of supporting the maximum intended load. Dockboards put into initial service on or after January 17, 2017 must be designed, constructed, and maintained to prevent transfer vehicles from running off the dockboard edge, unless run-off protection is not needed. Portable dockboards must be secured in position by anchoring them or by using equipment or devices that prevent them from moving out of a safe position. |
| 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1) | Duty to have fall protection: unprotected sides and edges | The employer must ensure that each employee on a walking-working surface with an unprotected side or edge that is four feet or more above a lower level is protected from falling by a guardrail system, a safety net system, or a personal fall protection system, subject to the exceptions stated in the standard. |
| 29 CFR 1910.145(f) | Specifications for accident prevention signs and tags: accident prevention tags | Tags must be used as a means of preventing accidental injury to employees exposed to hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions, equipment, or operations that are out of the ordinary, unexpected, or not readily apparent, and each tag must contain a signal word and a major message that indicates the specific hazard or the action to be taken. |
| 29 CFR 1910.178(k)(1) | Powered industrial trucks: trucks and railroad cars | The brakes of highway trucks must be set and wheel chocks placed under the rear wheels to prevent the trucks from rolling while they are boarded with powered industrial trucks. |
Compliance checklist
What an inspector looks for
Dock walking-working surfaces are inspected regularly and hazardous conditions are corrected or guarded before employees use them again
29 CFR 1910.22(d)
The dock floor, apron, and threshold are clean, orderly, and free of spills, ice, snow, debris, and protruding objects
29 CFR 1910.22(a)
Levelers and dockboards are sound and capable of supporting the maximum intended load, and portable dockboards are secured against movement by anchoring or by devices that keep them in a safe position
29 CFR 1910.26
On dockboards placed in initial service on or after January 17, 2017, run-off protection on the deck is present and undamaged
29 CFR 1910.26
Employees are protected from falling at any unprotected dock edge four feet or more above a lower level
29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1)
Every open dock door with no trailer present carries its gate, barrier, chain, or net in the protecting position
Failed positions carry an out-of-service tag stating the hazard and the action required, and only authorized personnel remove it
29 CFR 1910.145(f)
Serviceable wheel chocks are present and accessible at every position that relies on them
29 CFR 1910.178(k)(1)
The completed walk is recorded each shift and repeat defects are escalated for permanent correction
Waitlist
Generate this SOP for your facility
At launch you answer the facility questionnaire once and this template comes back with your equipment, your titles, and your sign-off sheet attached.
This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.