Danger on the shopfloor

Poorly Managed maintenance activities and procedures raise the risks of workplace accidents, including fatal accidents, involving workers at all levels across a wide range of industries.

Indeed, asset-management firm MCP reports that up to 20% of all workplace accidents in some European countries are linked to maintenance, while in a number of sectors over half of all accidents are maintenance-related. It adds that 10-15% of fatal accidents at work are due to poorly executed maintenance operations.

In one of the worst incidents of its kind in Europe, the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988 saw the North Sea oil and gas platform turned into a blazing inferno within seconds, killing 167 workers - a tragic example of the potential consequences of inadequate maintenance procedures.

Workers’ safety

Maintenance must be carried out properly, “taking into consideration workers’ safety and health”, urges Birmingham-based MCP. “To do this, companies need to understand and measure their maintenance and asset-management performance.

“Achieving the highest standard in equipment maintenance is all well and good, but even well-maintained machines can still be hazardous to a badly trained operator.”

Competence is linked to safety and plant efficiency. Section 2 of the UK Health and Safety at Work Act requires all employers, “to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all his/her employees”. Section 3 extends this to non-employees.

In order to do this, an employer must understand the legal duties facing him/her and keep up to date with any changes. Section 2 also requires employers “to provide such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the H&S at work of all employees”.

Managers have to protect themselves with respect to corporate manslaughter. Even without sufficient evidence for a corporate manslaughter charge, the UK’s HSE can get a conviction under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, which applies to individuals.

As part of its work in this area, MCP recently carried out a research study of more than 350 companies to understand their approach to maintenance-related training. The study found that only 16% of companies have provided their staff with formal training in maintenance management techniques.

In addition, only 18% of companies reported that all their plant operators were fully trained and competent to operate production equipment.
The findings, said the company, show that many organisations still have some way to go to improve performance in the provision of effective training.
“All too often training is based on the ’watch Nelly approach’, or initial training is not followed up with checks to ensure the standard operating procedures are being adhered,” said MCP.

“It is also a common practice to transfer operators to equipment on which they have not being trained when staff shortages occur.” Instead, MCP urges companies to adopt a structured approach to training that “can not only prevent safety risks, it can also improve equipment performance and plant efficiency”.

Europe-wide Campaign

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched its new Healthy Workplaces Campaign for 2010/11, promoting safe maintenance across Europe.

Launching the campaign at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, the EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion, László Andor, said the 20% of accidents currently linked to maintenance is too high.

“Our overall strategy is to cut work-related accidents in the EU by 25% over the coming years,” said Andor. “This campaign will help to raise awareness about maintenance-related risks, saving lives across Europe and bringing us closer to our overall goal for safer and healthier workplaces.”