Maintenance Guidance

Maintenance Guidance - General

Introduction

The operation of planned preventative maintenance programmes is an important feature of health and safety management. Maintenance is defined as 'actions carried out to retain an item in, or restore it to, an acceptable condition.' This extends to cover all pieces of equipment, the premises, services, vehicles, specialised equipment and health and safety control measures. By carrying out maintenance in a systematic manner, health and safety risks can be minimised and the working life of machinery and components extended. Stoppages and downtime due to accidents or failure can be reduced with quality being maintained.

Planned Preventative Maintenance

Planned Preventative Maintenance primarily takes the form of actions based around a time schedule, or hours run schedule:

Servicing/Inspection - e.g. replacement of consumables such as lubricants, fluids etc.

Working adjustments - alter settings with machine in motion

Running repairs - replace minor components without stoppage

Shutdown Maintenance - during pre-planned stoppage/outage.

Unfortunately, some unscheduled maintenance has to be carried out and this usually takes the form of:

Breakdown/emergency - used where failure causes minimum inconvenience

Opportunistic - unplanned stoppage creates convenient maintenance window

Hazards that can be encountered during maintenance work:-

Manual handling
Mechanical - machinery traps, entanglement, contact, ejection, reciprocating traps
Electrical - electrocution, shock, burns
Pressure - unexpected pressure releases, explosion
Physical - extremes of temperatures, noise, vibration, dust and fume
Chemical - gases, fogs, mists fumes, etc prejudicial to health
Structural - obstructions, floor openings
Access - work at heights, confined spaces
Biological - sewage handling, legionella

Precautions to be taken during maintenance

Risk assessments
The operation of safe systems of work, in certain cases permit to work systems
Designation of component persons for certain high risk operations
The use of method statements, particularly where contractors may be involved in maintenance operations
Enforcement of company contractors regulation where contractors are involved
Designation of controlled areas
Access control
The provision of information, instruction and training
Signs, marking and labelling, and
Appropriate personal protective equipment

Management of maintenance operations

Create an inventory of all items that require maintenance.

A list of all the equipment, premises, plant and services that require should be generated. Each piece of equipment should be, ideally, labelled with a unique reference number so that any testing, inspection and examination reports can be directly linked to that piece of equipment.

Establish the procedure for maintenance, including the method, the material and equipment to be used and the criteria for testing before re-commissioning.
Determine the frequency of such maintenance. You will guided by the manufacturer's instructions or the competent person in the determination of these frequencies. It is recommended that maintenance contracts are used to control this operation.
Identification of the persons competent to do the work.
Details of the hazards and specific precautions to betaken by maintenance personnel.