 |
 |
|
The report, Safe Maintenance In Practice, which is available as a pdf download from the E-Library Database, details some best practice currently in place across Europe. There is also a Summary Report which gives the main points to be found in the full report. Again this is available for download from the E-Library Database of this website. The EU-OSHA website points out: "Buildings and machinery become unsafe if they are not maintained properly. Yet maintenance can be a high-risk activity. Safe procedures for maintenance operations should be part of companies’ safety management systems. This is more likely to happen if there is management commitment, employee involvement, effective risk assessment, good communication, safety training and effective use of more than one preventive measure. Many companies consider maintenance operations at the design stage of buildings and equipment to help eliminate risks during future maintenance operations." The full report will be of use to all USRs, especially given the current attitude toward health and safety at work in the UK and the state of the economy. Traditionally, business in the UK have seen budgets for health & safety as the first casualty of any economic down-turn and as a way of reducing costs whilst maximising profit. Maintenance has been an issue for many years, with the lack of it being implicated in major incidents involving the loss of life and injuries in the railways and building industries. The main point here is to prevent injury and loss of life, and as the website states: "Maintenance is not only necessary to ensure reliability of technical structures or productivity of the company, but regular maintenance has an important role in providing safer and healthier working conditions. While maintenance is absolutely essential to keep equipment, machines and the work environment safe and reliable and prevent harm, the maintenance work itself is a high-risk activity. This report provides information on successful initiatives in the workplace illustrating how safety and health risks associated with maintenance can be managed. Many companies, insurers and authorities have successfully developed solutions to improve safety and health during maintenance. The new approaches presented in this report demonstrate clearly that good occupational safety and health (OSH) management practices are at the heart of reliable and safe maintenance." You can download both documents from the E-Library Database by choosing "EU-OSHA Reports/Notices" from the drop-down categories menu. Source: EU-OSHA
|
 |
