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"Maintenance (of plants, equipment, machines, workplaces) is essential to eliminate workplace hazards, and to create a safe working environment. Maintenance must be carried out in a safe way, with appropriate protection provided for maintenance workers and other people present in the workplace." Highlighting one of the major incidents that shocked the world, Derek Maylor, Chair of the NW BTU Health & Safety Co-ordinators Committee said: "We can all remember the shocking TV pictures of the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988 as the oil rig turned into a fireball. Flammable gas had ignited on the Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea, turning it within seconds into an inferno. In one of the worst incidents of its kind in history, 167 workers were killed." He explained further: "The incident was put down to a failure in the permit to work and associated isolation systems. Both of which are critical to ensuring maintenance can be carried out safely." Quoting from the campaign document, Derek concluded: "Whilst this is an extreme example, in every industry sector, throughout the UK, similar stories could be told: accidents and ill health resulting not from ‘acts of God’, but because safety and health aspects were not considered when maintenance activities were being planned, or because proper maintenance had not been carried out, sometimes months or even years before." EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign will focus on the importance of safe maintenance in European workplaces, and draw attention to the risks when it is not carried out properly. It will be officially launched appropriately on 28 April 2010 and support a wide range of activities at both the European and national level. The campaign document can be downloaded here from the E-Library Database Read the news report on the day of the Piper Alpha Disaster from BBC News here Source: EU-OSHA / Unionsafety / BBC |
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