European Week of Safety and Health

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EUROPEAN WEEK OF SAFETY AND HEALTH

 

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Maintenance

European Safety Week 2010 takes place week beginning October 25th and the theme of the 2010-11 campaign is Safe Maintenance


Regular maintenance is essential to keep equipment, machines and the work environment safe and reliable. Lack of maintenance or inadequate maintenance can lead to dangerous situations, accidents and health problems.

Maintenance is a high-risk activity with some of the hazards resulting from the nature of the work.

Maintenance is carried out in all sectors and all workplaces. Therefore, maintenance workers are more likely than other employees to be exposed to various hazards.


According to the European Standard EN 13306, maintenance concerns the "combination of all technical, administrative and managerial actions during the life cycle of an item intended to retain it in, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform the required function".


Maintenance is a generic term for variety of tasks in very different types of sectors and all kinds of working environments. Maintenance activities include:

 

  • inspection
  • testing
  • measurement
  • replacement
  • adjustment
  • repair
  • upkeep
  • fault detection
  • replacement of parts
  • servicing
  • lubrication
  • cleaning

Maintenance is critical to ensure continuous productivity, to produce products of high quality and to keep company's competitiveness but it also has an impact on occupational safety and health.


Firstly, good maintenance is essential to keep machines and work environment safe and reliable. Secondly, maintenance itself is a high-risk activity and it has to be performed in a safe way, with appropriate protection of maintenance workers and other people present in the workplace.


Safer and healthier workplaces through adequate maintenance

Regular maintenance has an important role in eliminating workplace hazards and providing safer and healthier working conditions. Lack of maintenance or inadequate maintenance can cause serious and deadly accidents or health problems.


Accidents due to faulty electrical installations (cables, plugs, equipment)

  • shock and burns
  • fires
  • ignition of potentially flammable or explosive atmospheres

Accidents happen because lifting equipment is not inspected and not maintained regularly

  • lifting chains are dirty/corroded and fail, causing heavy load to fall

Accidents happen as a result of lack of maintenance of working and walking surfaces and traffic routes

  • uneven
  • potholed
  • sloped or slippery surfaces cause `fork-lift truck accidents, slips and trips

Dust poses a potential health risk to workers in woodworking industry. Maintenance of dust control equipment is crucial in all dust producing processes to prevent exposure of workers to dust

  • ventilation ducts must be kept free from blockages and repaired if damaged
  • filter units need to be maintained regularly according to manufacturer's recommendations

 

Why maintenance is important

Without proper maintenance things can go dramatically wrong in the workplace. It is estimated that around 15-20% (depending on country) of all accidents and around 10-15% of all fatal accidents are related to maintenance operations.

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Regular maintenance is essential to keep equipment, machines and the work environment safe and reliable. It helps to eliminate workplace hazards. Lack of maintenance or inadequate maintenance can lead to dangerous situations, accidents and health problems.


Maintenance is a high risk activity. It has to be performed in a safe way!

Maintenance for safety

Proper maintenance is essential for eliminating hazards and managing risks at the workplace. Lack of maintenance or inadequate maintenance can cause serious and deadly accidents.

  • Many accidents, such as slips, trips and falls, happen because of lack of maintenance or as a result of poor quality maintenance
  • Lack of maintenance and regular service of construction equipment and machinery may lead to their failure and cause injuries to the operators and other workers (e.g. defective conveyors, derricks, hoists, faulty ladders, etc.)
  • Poor standards of maintenance are a major underlying cause of accidents in the catering industry. Most accidents resulting from poor maintenance involve equipment (e.g. faults in plugs or cables, poorly maintained gas appliances) or happen due to leaks and spillages.
  • Safety critical equipment can fail due to lack of maintenance causing serious accidents

More information

On the campaign website www.osha.europa.eu you will find a wide variety of campaign material e.g. fact sheets, good practice case studies, links to related sites.