Dos and Don’ts Of Plant And Equipment Maintenance

Maintaining your plant and equipment is essential for ensuring that they run smoothly and don’t cause any problems down the line. However, it can be tricky to know exactly what you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to maintenance. In this blog post, we will discuss the dos and don’ts of plant and equipment maintenance so that you can keep your machines in good condition!

Dos and Don’ts Of Plant And Equipment Maintenance

While maintaining your plant and equipment is essential, there are certain dos and don’ts that you should bear in mind. Here are some of the basic dos and don’ts when it comes to maintenance:

The Dos Of Plant And Equipment Maintenance

• Ensure maintenance is carried out by a competent person (someone who has the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to do the work safely);
• Maintain plant and equipment regularly – use the manufacturer’s maintenance instructions as a guide, mainly if there are safety-critical features;
• Have a procedure that allows workers to report damaged or faulty equipment;
• Provide the proper tools for the maintenance person;
• Schedule maintenance to minimize the risk to other workers and the maintenance person wherever possible;
• Ensure maintenance is done safely, machines and moving parts are isolated or locked, and flammable/explosive/toxic materials are dealt with properly.

The Don’t Of Plant And Equipment Maintenance

• Ignore maintenance;
• Ignore reports of damaged or unsafe equipment;
• Use faulty or damaged equipment.

Plant and equipment must be made safe before maintenance starts.

Safe isolation

• Ensure the moving plant has stopped and isolate electrical and other power supplies. Most maintenance should be carried out with the power off. If the work is near uninsulated, overhead electrical conductors, eg close to overhead traveling cranes, cut the power off first.
• Lock off machines if there is a chance the power could be accidentally switched back on.
• Isolate plants and pipelines containing pressured fluid, gas, steam, or hazardous material. Lock off isolating valves.

Other factors you need to consider

• Release any stored energy, such as compressed air or hydraulic pressure, that could cause the machine to move or cycle.
• Support parts of the plant that could fall, eg support the blades of down-stroking bale cutters and guillotines with blocks.
• Allow components that operate at high temperatures time to cool.
• Place the mobile plant in neutral gear, apply the brake and chock the wheels.
• Safely clean out vessels containing flammable solids, liquids, gases, or dust, and check them before hot work is carried out to prevent explosions. You may need specialist help and advice to do this safely.
• Avoid entering tanks and vessels where possible. This can be very high-risk work. If required, get specialist help to ensure adequate precautions are taken.
• Clean and check vessels containing toxic materials before work starts.