European Agency and the Belgian EU Presidency show how safe maintenance can save lives

The conference ‘Maintenance: Do It Safely’ coincides with the release of EU-OSHA’s report, Safe Maintenance in Practice, outlining key strategies businesses should adopt to prevent maintenance risks. EU-OSHA Director Dr. Jukka Takala said, ‘these strategies include ensuring management is committed to a safety culture and the provision of clear working procedures, involving employees in safety, conducting a risk assessment and safety training, as well as implementing preventive measures’. The report details best practice examples of safe maintenance including that of the Air France engine maintenance workshops which now feature a simulation tool to help identify safety, ergonomic or production issues at the design stage.

The conference features not only a series of workshops, roundtable discussions and expert meetings, but will see Official partners of EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign recognized for their commitment to safe maintenance. The partners include a wide range of corporations and associations from the private and public sector, including some of Europe’s most well known companies.

At the conference event, entrepreneurs and OSH experts from all across Europe will share best practice ideas aimed to make maintenance operations safer, whether they are from government, large corporations or SMEs. For example, one workshop ‘Safe Maintenance through Design’ will tackle the question how accidents can be reduced through better design and planning of work and workplaces as well as through the use of modern technologies.

###

Links

Report Safe Maintenance in Practice (English)

Factsheet (available in 22 languages)

Maintenance at a glance

Healthy Workplaces campaign on safe maintenance

Notes to editors

1. The mission of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is to make Europe a safer, healthier and more productive place to work. EU-OSHA was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, EU-OSHA aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.

2. The Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2010-2011, which is co-ordinated by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and its partners in the 27 EU Member States, supports a wide range of activities at the national and European level that promote safe maintenance. It will highlight the importance of maintenance (of plants, equipment, machines and workplaces) to eliminate workplace hazards, and to provide safer and healthier working conditions in workplaces throughout Europe. It is backed by the EU Presidencies of Spain and Belgium in 2010 and of Hungary and Poland in 2011, by the European Parliament and the European Commission, and by the European Social Partners. http://hw.osha.europa.eu

3. Official Campaign Partners of the Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2010-2011: Air Liquide Welding, Baxter International, BusinessEurope, CEOC International, Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), DELPHI, Employee Assistance European Forum (EAEF), European Builders Confederation (EBC), European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), European Confederation of Police (EUROCOP), European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting (EFW), European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS), European Industrial Minerals Association (IMA – Europe), European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers' Federation (EMCEF), European Network FOCUS, European Process Safety Centre (EPSC), European Safety Federation (ESF), European Technology Platform on Industrial Safety (ETPIS), European Textile Services Association (ETSA), European Trade Union Committee for Education (CSEE-ETUCE), European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF), European Virtual Institute for Integrated Risk Management (EU-Vri), Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), Federation of Occupational Health Nurses within the European Union (FOHNEU), Federation of the European Ergonomics Societies (FEES), Gamesa, General Electric Energy, Granite Services International, Ideal Standard International, Intel International B.V., International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM), International Safety and Health Construction Coordinators Organisation (ISHCCO), Medicover, Pirelli & C. SpA, Pirelli Tyre SpA, TOYOTA Material Handling Europe, Union Network International Europa (UNI Europa)

Now you can follow us on Twitter, visit the Agency’s blog or subscribe to our monthly newsletter OSHmail. You can also register for regular news and information from EU-OSHA via RSS feed.

http://osha.europa.eu

Press inquiries

• Birgit Müller - International press +34 94 479 35 52 | news@osha.europa.eu
• Marta Urrutia - Spanish press +34 94 479 57 46 | noticias@osha.europa.eu
• Brenda O’Brien - Brussels Liaison Office +32 2 401 68 59 | obrien@osha.europa.eu