Basic rules to get it right

The specific details of maintenance vary between industry sectors and depending on tasks. But there are some common principles:

• Integration of OSH management into maintenance management
• Structured approach based on risk assessment
• Clear roles and responsibilities
• Safe systems of work and clear guidelines to follow
• Adequate training and competence
• Involvement of workers in the risk assessment and maintenance management process
• Effective communication

Five basic rules for safe maintenance

1. Planning
   
   
2. Making the work area safe
   
   
3. Using the appropriate equipment
   
   
4. Working as planned
   
   
5. Final check

1. Planning

Maintenance should start with proper planning. A risk assessment should be carried out and workers should be involved in this process. Issues to be covered at the planning stage are:

Employers need to ensure that workers have the skills that they need to carry out the necessary tasks, are informed about safe work procedures, and know what to do when a situation exceeds their competence. Employers should think carefully about the 'chain of command' among those who are involved in a maintenance task, and any procedures that will be used for the duration of the activity, including reporting procedures if there should be a problem. This is especially important if the maintenance is carried out by subcontractors.

Consulting workers and keeping them informed is vital throughout the planning stage. Not only should employees carrying out a maintenance task be informed of the outcomes of the initial risk assessment, but they should also be involved in it. Because of their familiarity with the workplace, they are often in the best position to identify hazards and the most efficient ways of dealing with them. Workers’ participation in the planning process increases not only the safety of maintenance work, but also its quality.

2. Making the work area safe

The work area needs to be secured by preventing unauthorised access, for example, by using barriers and signs. The area also needs to be kept clean and safe, with power locked-off, moving parts of machinery secured, temporary ventilation installed, and safe routes established for workers to enter and exit the work area. Warning cards should be attached to machinery, with the date and time of lock-off, as well as the name of the person authorised to remove the lock – this way, the safety of the worker performing the maintenance on the machine will not be jeopardised by another worker inadvertently starting it up.

If possible, guards should be designed so as to allow minor maintenance on the machines without removing the safeguards. If the guard must be removed or deactivated, then lock-off procedures should be followed. Maintenance operators and workers shall be trained on how and under which conditions safeguards may be removed.

3. Using appropriate equipment

Workers involved in maintenance tasks should have the appropriate tools and equipment, which may be different from those that they normally use. Considering that they may be working in areas that are not designed to have people working in them, and that they may be exposed to a variety of hazards, they must also have appropriate personal protective equipment.

With respect to the equipment and tools to be used, employers should ensure that:

All personal protective equipment must:

For example, workers cleaning or replacing filters on extraction ventilation may be exposed to concentrations of dust that are much higher than normal for a particular workplace. Access to these filters, which are frequently located in the roof area, has to be made safe as well.

4. Working as planned

Safe work procedures have to be communicated, understood by workers and supervisors and applied correctly. The work should be monitored so that the agreed safe systems of work and sites rules are observed. Maintenance is often carried out under pressure – for example when a fault has brought the production process to a standstill. Safe procedures need to be followed, even when there is time pressure: shortcuts could be very costly if they lead to accidents, injuries, or damage to property.

Procedures need to be in place for unexpected events. Part of the safe system of work should be to stop work when faced with an unforeseen problem or a problem exceeding one’s own competence. It is very important to remember that exceeding the scope of one’s own skills and competence may result in accidents.

5. Making final checks

The maintenance process needs to end with checks to make sure that the task has been completed, that the item under maintenance is in a safe condition, and that all waste material that has been generated during the maintenance process has been cleaned away. When all is checked and declared safe, then the task can be signed off, and supervisors and other workers can be notified.

The final step involves completing a report, describing the work that has been performed and including comments on any difficulties that have been encountered, together with recommendations for improvement. Ideally, this should also be discussed at a staff meeting where the workers involved in the process, as well as those working around them, can comment on the maintenance activity and come up with suitable suggestions to improve the process.