Safety Precautions and Practices in Operation and Maintenance
Safety Precautions and Practices in Operation and Maintenance
Safety Precautions and Practices in Operation and Maintenance
site activities
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Preventive maintenance or preventative maintenance, as the name indicates, prevents the occurrence of
asset and equipment failures. This maintenance strategy is carried out on a regular basis, and this means
that the equipment is inspected even if there are no signs of failure. This way, any equipment failure is
avoided as much as possible to make sure the proper functioning and safety of the assets.
Preparing preventive maintenance plans for equipment and facilities means preventing breakdowns and
reducing the probability of equipment failures that interfere with the companies’ performance. This
maintenance routine is programmed using maintenance plans, which allows the responsible department
to control operations and to know in advance which parts or resources are required to make sure a
suitable preventive operation.
In addition, preventive maintenance ensures the reliability of the equipment since all operations are
carried out at pre-defined intervals and do not impact the company’s performance.
Corrective maintenance is a set of technical tasks designed to repair equipment failures as there is a
need to fix them or even replace them. This type of maintenance is used to correct errors in the
equipment which needs to be serviced to restore its initial function.
These maintenance practices don’t require a maintenance plan and, therefore, the chances of not having
enough spare parts in stock are very high. Additionally, it can also happen that there may not be any
maintenance technician available to solve the problem immediately since the failures are not predicted.
While sometimes, it is unavoidable, corrective maintenance ends up having a greater financial impact, as
it often implies a long equipment downtime. In addition, a significant amount of these failures can be
avoided if preventive maintenance plans are in place.
Nevertheless, the corrective maintenance model is always necessary and can be applied to equipment
with a low-level of criticality whose failures do not interfere with the company’s productivity.
The main difference between these two maintenance types is the equipment or installation servicing time.
In the corrective maintenance type, the operation is done only when there is a failure or malfunction, and
on the other hand, in the preventive, as the name indicates, the equipment has maintenance plans to
avoid/prevent the most complicated breakdowns.
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Installation Activities
• Person installing product has
• An obligation under HSAW 1974 to conduct work safely
• Report any safety concerns to manufacturer and user (in writing)
• Connect or disconnect to make safe (gas)
• Report issues to the relevant authority
• Sub-contractors work under main contractor who has responsibility for conformity etc.
Installation Considerations • What are the considerations when installing equipment? • Site conditions / preparation / access
• Minimise disruption to other work • Tools / specialist equipment • Provision of services • Water • Drainage • Electricity •
Compressed air Installation Considerations (continued) • Storage of parts and materials • Security of attachment • Floor bolts
• Structural integrity • Alignment • Connections to services • Working clearances • Guards and emergency stop switches
Installation Considerations • What are the considerations after installation? • Commissioning • Performance testing •
Monitoring
Preventive Maintenance Preventive maintenance can be defined as follows: Actions performed on a time- or machine-run-
based schedule that detect, preclude, or mitigate degradation of a component or system with the aim of sustaining or
extending its useful life through controlling degradation to an acceptable level.
Advantages • Cost effective in many capital-intensive processes. • Flexibility allows for the adjustment of maintenance
periodicity. • Increased component life cycle. • Energy savings. • Reduced equipment or process failure. • Estimated 12% to
18% cost savings over reactive maintenance program.
Disadvantages • Catastrophic failures still likely to occur. • Labor intensive. • Includes performance of unneeded
maintenance. • Potential for incidental damage to components in conducting unneeded maintenance.
Measurements that detect the onset of system degradation (lower functional state), thereby allowing causal stressors to be
eliminated or controlled prior to any significant deterioration in the component physical state. Results indicate current and
future functional capability.
Advantages • Increased component operational life/availability. • Allows for preemptive corrective actions. • Decrease in
equipment or process downtime. • Decrease in costs for parts and labor. • Better product quality. • Improved worker and
environmental safety. • Improved worker morale. • Energy savings. • Estimated 8% to 12% cost savings over preventive
maintenance program. Disadvantages • Increased investment in diagnostic equipment. • Increased investment in staff
training. • Savings potential not readily seen by management.
Commissioning • What is commissioning? • Commissioning is to effect the safe and orderly handover of the unit from the
constructor to the owner, guaranteeing its operability in terms of performance, reliability, safety and information traceability
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