Preventive Maintenance free essay sample

A Health and Safety Guideline for Your Workplace Preventive Maintenance Why Preventive Maintenance? Preventive maintenance is predetermined work ? Maintaining equipment service records ? Scheduling replacement of components at the end of their useful service life ? Acquiring and maintaining inventories of: – – – least reliable components critical components components scheduled for replacements performed to a schedule with the aim of preventing the wear and tear or sudden failure of equipment components.Preventive maintenance helps to: ? Protect assets and prolong the useful life of production equipment ? Improve system reliability ? Decrease cost of replacement ? Decreases system downtime ? Reduce injury Mechanical, process or control equipment failure can have adverse results in both human and economic terms. In addition to down time and the costs involved to repair and/or replace equipment parts or components, there is the risk of injury to operators, and of acute exposures to chemical and/ or physical agents.Preventive maintenance, therefore, is a very important ongoing accident prevention activity, which you should integrate into your operations/ product manufacturing process. We will write a custom essay sample on Preventive Maintenance or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page ? Replacing service-prone equipment with more reliable performers By introducing the element of planning into your maintenance function, you are likely to reduce your repair and manpower requirements. Exploratory maintenance to anticipate and prevent breakdowns. Diagnostic measures to analyze your plant requirements include: ?Operating and performing specifications of equipment ? Past experience with components: – – – – – – – inspection records servicing records replacement frequency inspected component failures identify lubrication points on equipment colour code in order to identify lubrication frequency consult manufacturer and accepted industry best practices to establish schedule What is Involved? To be effective, your preventive maintenance function should incorporate the following elements: Planned replacements of components designed around the following: ?Electrical – live equipment Pneumatic Hydraulic Thermal Combustio n Falls – – slippery floors working at heights Many of these hazards are interrelated. Examine your process, the layout of your process area, and the process equipment used, to determine the exact nature of the hazards likely to be encountered during your maintenance activities. For example, maintenance work carried out in confined spaces carries a greater risk of critical injuries and acute exposures to chemical and physical agents. These risks are associated with equipment and materials in the space itself and from nearby operations.Fatalities are quite common. Controlling Maintenance Hazards Ideally, the hazards likely to occur during maintenance activities should be addressed in the planning stage. Process Selection Depending on the nature of the process, special precautions may be needed to protect workers when disassembling and cleaning equipment. Consider this factor when you make a decision to select one process over another. Also consider the following factors which contribute to the level of risk of your maintenance activities: ? ? How easy temporary structures are to erect How easy they are to accessHealth Hazards ? Chemical Agents – – – – – ? – – – process chemicals cleaning solvents unexpected reaction products dusts other chemical agents noise vibration other Physical Agents Ergonomic Hazards ? Biomechanical – – lifting, pushing, pulling (manual handling) stretching, ending (to reach hard to access areas) Preventive Maintenance  © Industrial Accident Prevention Association, 2007. All rights reserved. ? How much disassembly is required to access affected equipment ? Need for temporary hoisting equipment ? Need for personal protective equipment ?