What this is
What is a lubrication record?
What is a lubrication record?
It is the point-by-point evidence that a lubrication round was carried out correctly: the product used, whether it matched what was specified, the quantity applied and whether the point itself was accessible and sound. It exists because a completed round and a correctly executed one are not the same thing.
Why does the record ask whether food grade lubricant was used?
In food production areas, only lubricants approved for incidental food contact may be used at points with any contact risk. Mixing that up with a standard industrial grease is a contamination event, not a maintenance shortcut, so the field exists to make the check explicit at every point rather than assumed for the whole round.
What does 'over-greasing avoided' actually check?
It checks that the technician stopped once the correct quantity was applied rather than continuing until grease visibly purged. Over-greasing blows seals and pushes lubricant into product or process areas — more grease is a failure mode here, not a safety margin.
Scope
When is a lubrication record required?
This is the record of what happened at each lubrication point on a route, not the plan behind the route and not the daily condition check that happens alongside it.
Use this template when
- A scheduled lubrication round is due, daily, weekly, monthly or ad hoc
- A technician is applying grease or oil to specified points and needs to record product, quantity and condition per point
- A point is being checked for correct lubricant, food grade compliance where relevant, and accessibility
- Purged grease condition needs capturing as an early warning of bearing wear
- The round is being scored for completion so gaps in the route are visible, not averaged away
Do not use it for
- Daily PM Checklist, which bundles a lubrication check alongside fluid levels and visual condition as one item, rather than tracking each lubrication point individually.
- Preventive Maintenance Plan, which sets the route, interval and specified lubricant this record is checked against, rather than capturing the round itself.
- Meter Reading Record, which tracks usage-based readings such as running hours, not lubrication activity.
- Storeroom Condition Inspection, which covers how lubricants are stored, not how they are applied at the point.
- Anything outside KnowMaintain, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process.
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 55001 cl.8.2 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 55001 cl.8.2 covers management of change and the operational controls needed to keep asset performance from degrading in ways that were not planned for. Lubrication is one of the most basic of those controls, and the clearest place where skipping it shows up as a failure later.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Apply operational controls needed to deliver the asset management plan | Lubrication points |
| ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Retain documented information as evidence that controls were carried out as planned | Header |
| ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Manage the risk that a substituted or incorrect input degrades asset performance | Lubrication points |
| ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Identify and control conditions that could lead to unplanned degradation of asset condition | Lubrication points |
| ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Evaluate whether operational activity is producing the intended asset outcome | Result |
| ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Route findings from operational activity into corrective action where needed | Result |
What it does not cover
- A round marked complete with points logged as 'Substitute used' and no follow-up, which lets the wrong lubricant sit in a bearing until it fails on schedule.
- A food-contact point marked 'No' for food grade with the round still closed out, which is a contamination finding treated as a routine tick.
- Purged grease recorded as 'Dark or gritty' with no action raised, which throws away the earliest warning the bearing gives before it fails.
- A point marked 'Not accessible' with no note on when it will actually be reached, which quietly drops that point out of the route indefinitely.
- Over-greasing answered 'No' with no quantity or excess-removed detail captured, which leaves a blown seal risk undocumented until product turns up where it shouldn't.
Global
Lubrication Record requirements by country
ISO 55001 sets the asset management framework, but what actually forces disciplined lubrication practice — especially the food grade requirement — comes from sector-specific food safety and hygiene regimes layered on top of it.
ISO 21469 (food grade lubricants)
Product certification standard
Lubricants certified to ISO 21469 are formulated and manufactured for acceptable use where incidental food contact is possible, giving the 'Food Grade Where Required' field a concrete standard to point to rather than a generic label.
21 CFR 178.3570 and NSF H1 registration
FDA regulation, NSF certification scheme
US food and beverage sites typically require NSF H1-registered lubricants at any point with incidental food contact, and auditors expect the specific product used to be traceable back to that registration, not just described as 'food safe'.
Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 and ISO 55001 cl.8.2
EU food contact materials regulation, applied through operational control
Food contact material rules extend to lubricants that can contact product incidentally, and the asset management control in cl.8.2 is the mechanism a site uses to make sure the right product actually reaches the point, round after round.
How to complete it
How to complete a lubrication record, step by step
The fields are simple to answer. Whether they add up to defensible evidence depends on judgement calls made at the point, not on the form itself.
The scoring gives it a middle value, but a substitute lubricant is either engineering-approved for that point or it isn't. A site needs a standing rule for when a substitute is acceptable, or the field just documents an unauthorised deviation without ever calling it one.
Not every point on an asset in a food area carries the same contact risk. Deciding which points are genuinely 'Not required' versus which are being waved through to avoid the cost of a food grade product is the call that determines whether the field means anything.
'Dark or gritty' and 'Watery' are early bearing-wear signals, not aesthetic notes. Whether a result in either category automatically opens a condition-monitoring follow-up, or sits as a comment on a lubrication record nobody revisits, decides whether the field earns its place.
A point requiring guard removal or otherwise inaccessible on the round needs a real plan — a scheduled shutdown, an engineering fix, or a documented risk acceptance — rather than being carried forward unaddressed on every round indefinitely.
What auditors find
Most common lubrication record findings
The same handful of gaps recur across lubrication programme reviews, almost always found only once a bearing has already failed.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Points marked 'Substitute used' with no record of who approved the substitution | ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Require an approval reference whenever the specified lubricant is not used, rather than accepting the substitute silently. |
| Food grade answered 'No' at a food-contact point with the round still marked complete | ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Block round closeout on any 'No' at a required food grade point until a corrective action is raised. |
| Purged grease condition consistently skipped as optional when the point was hard to reach | ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Make purged grease condition mandatory whenever a point is marked accessible, so the hardest points aren't also the least monitored. |
| Completion percent reported to management with no reference to Score Percent alongside it | ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Report the two figures together, since a high completion rate with a low quality score describes a well-documented failure, not a success. |
| Nipple or fitting damage noted but the point still marked 'Point Completed: Yes' | ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Treat a damaged or missing fitting as an automatic block on marking the point complete, since grease cannot have been correctly applied. |
| Repeated 'Awkward' or guard-removal access answers with no engineering change raised | ISO 55001 cl.8.2 | Escalate a point that is persistently hard to access into a modification request rather than treating every round as a fresh inconvenience. |
Case in point
Case in point: the gearbox bearing that failed on a fully completed route
A conveyor gearbox sat on a weekly lubrication route with a 100% completion record for the previous quarter. The specified grease had been substituted three rounds running because the correct product was out of stock, each time logged as 'Substitute used' with no engineering sign-off and no flag raised beyond the record itself.
The bearing failed mid-shift, the gearbox seized, and the line stopped for the length of a full teardown and rebuild. The lubrication record showed exactly what had gone in and when — the evidence was complete — but nothing in how the round was scored or reported had turned three consecutive substitutions into a decision anyone was asked to make.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
3 sections
- Reference
- MNT-029
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- LUB-2026-000
- Scoring
- Completion percent
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 55001 cl.8.2
- Links
- Links Asset, Substance
- Tags
- Maintenance, Preventive
- Sections
- 3
- Fields
- 42
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 1
- Links out
- 6
Header
13 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format LUB-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Raised By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Area
The area within the site.
Exact Location
Drop a pin for anything hard to find.
Asset*
Asset ID*
Format AST-0000.
Links to FDN-002 Asset ID
Wrong Grease Is Worse Than No Grease
Mixing incompatible greases destroys bearings faster than running them dry. In food areas, only food grade lubricants approved for incidental contact may be used.
Route Or Schedule*
PM Plan ID
Links to MNT-021 Plan ID
Lubrication points
Repeats14 fieldsPoint Description*
Lubricant Specified*
Substance ID*
Links to FDN-006 Substance ID
Correct Lubricant Used*
- Yes3 pts
- Substitute used1 pt
- Wrong0 pts
Food Grade Where Required*
- Yes3 pts
- Not required3 pts
- No0 pts
Quantity Applied
Point Accessible*
- Yes3 pts
- Awkward1 pt
- Requires guard removal0 pts
Nipple Or Fitting Sound*
- Yes3 pts
- Damaged0 pts
- Missing0 pts
Old Grease Purged
- Yes3 pts
- No1 pt
Over Greasing Avoided*
Over greasing blows seals and pushes lubricant into product. More is not better.
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Excess Removed
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Condition Of Purged Grease
Dark, gritty or watery purged grease tells you about the bearing before it fails.
- Clean3 pts
- Slightly discoloured2 pts
- Dark or gritty0 pts
- Watery0 pts
Point Completed*
- Yes3 pts
- Not accessible0 pts
- No0 pts
Finding
Result
15 fieldsItems Assessed*
Excludes anything marked N/A.
Items Failed*
Score Percent*
Calculated on submission. High is good. N/A items leave the denominator.
Result Band*
- Pass3 pts
- Caution1 pt
- Fail0 pts
Completeness Percent*
How much of the template was actually answered. A high score on a half completed form is not a high score.
Points Missed*
Contamination Concerns Found*
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Oil Analysis Sample Taken
Oil Analysis ID
Links to MNT-034 Record ID
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Technician*
Signature*
MNT-029 · record IDs look like LUB-2026-000 · Links Asset, Substance
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The route gets walked and the form gets filled in. Catching the substituted product, the failed food grade check and the bearing warning hiding in the purged grease is the work that actually protects the asset.
Holds the lubrication route against the asset register, keeps completion and quality scores visible side by side, and tracks every point through to its next round.
Picks up food grade failures and contamination concerns as corrective actions with a real owner, so a 'No' at a food-contact point doesn't stay buried inside a completed round.
Keeps the specified lubricant for each point tied to what's actually in stock, so a substitution gets flagged as a sourcing gap rather than a silent workaround on the route.
Surfaces recurring substitutions, damaged fittings and degrading purged-grease trends across rounds, and holds every write to the record for your approval before it touches the register.
This template lives in KnowMaintain — asset maintenance. Work orders, planned maintenance, calibration, reliability and shutdowns.
Meet KnowMaintain→Glossary
Lubrication Record definitions and key terms
- Lubrication point
- A single grease nipple, oil fill, or reservoir on an asset that receives lubricant on its own schedule, tracked individually on the route rather than as part of a single asset-level tick.
- Food grade lubricant
- A lubricant formulated and certified for incidental contact with food product, required at any point where leakage or migration could reach the product stream.
- Purged grease
- Old grease displaced from a bearing by fresh grease during application; its colour and texture are an early diagnostic signal for bearing condition.
- Over-greasing
- Applying more lubricant than a point needs, which can blow seals and push grease into product or process areas rather than protecting the bearing.
- Completion percent
- The share of a route's lubrication points that were visited and answered, distinct from whether the lubrication carried out at each was actually correct.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about lubrication record
What is the lubrication record template based on?+
It is built against ISO 55001 cl.8.2, the operational control clause covering how planned asset management activity is actually carried out and evidenced.
What sections does the lubrication record contain?+
Three sections: Header, Lubrication points and Result. Lubrication points repeats for every point covered on the round.
Does a high completion percent mean the lubrication was done correctly?+
No. Completion percent measures whether points were visited and answered. Score Percent and the per-point correct lubricant and food grade answers are what indicate whether the lubrication itself was done right.
Why does the record separate 'correct lubricant' from 'food grade'?+
A lubricant can be the wrong product entirely, or the right general type but not food-grade certified where the point requires it. They are different failure modes with different consequences, so they get separate fields.
What should happen when purged grease looks dark or gritty?+
It should be treated as an early bearing-wear signal and followed up, not just logged. Left unactioned, it discards the record's most useful diagnostic information.
Can the lubrication record template be changed?+
Yes. The route structure, lubricant options, scoring and conditional rules are all editable, and the links to the substance and asset registers come with it. Most sites run it as installed for a cycle before tightening it.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Planned Maintenance
Asset Register
Holds every piece of equipment, machine, vehicle and tool you track
Tool and Equipment Register
Holds portable tools, gauges, lifting accessories and small equipment that sit below asset level but still need control
Maintenance Request
Asks maintenance to look at a problem or carry out a job
Work Order
The main record for a planned maintenance job, covering what, where, who and when
Corrective Work Order
Covers a repair to fix something that has already failed or degraded
Emergency Work Order
Covers urgent work where equipment has stopped or become unsafe
More in PM Schedules
Preventive Maintenance Plan
Sets out what preventive work each asset needs, how often and why
Daily PM Checklist
Covers daily checks such as lubrication points, fluid levels and visual condition
Weekly PM Checklist
Covers weekly preventive tasks including cleaning, belt and chain checks and minor adjustments
Monthly PM Checklist
Covers monthly preventive tasks including deeper inspection, filter changes and fastener checks
Quarterly PM Checklist
Covers quarterly preventive tasks that usually need the asset stopped
Annual PM Checklist
Covers the yearly overhaul tasks, including full strip down where required
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 55001:2014 cl.8.2 — Management of change and operational control
- ISO 21469 — Safety of machinery, lubricants with incidental product contact
- 21 CFR 178.3570 — Lubricants with incidental food contact (US FDA)
- Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 — Materials and articles intended to come into contact with food
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.