We have about 8 forklifts in our facility. 3 that are dedicated in production, 1 for maintenance and the remainder are warehouse and outdoor forklifts as our buildings aren't connected.
Our forklift seats are looking rough and have been for the 3 years I've been here. The employees, noticing that they were an issue, took it upon themselves to fix them with black duct tape. While I appreciate the effort, we have a no tape policy and they aren't permanent fixes. The tape also looks bad and is peeling.
The issue is that I don't think I can get approval to replace all of the seats, especially when it's not been an issue in any audit. I'm not even sure that one seat will get approved because they are still functional.
We have our unannounced coming up in a month (or the audit period starts in a month), and the auditor coming is one who was here when I started 3 years ago, and he made a comment on how rough they looked. Knowing this, I anticipate him taking a closer look at them when he comes.
What are some options I have for repair. Will a vinyl sheet that is affixed on there work? Does vinyl hold up to constant on/off motion?
Should I push to have the taped up ones repaired? Do I wait for the auditor to inevitably say something?
I'm just at a loss of what is the best next step (excluding full replacement, which I would ideally have done).
