What do employers have to consider

regarding maintenance?
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▼ Maintenance
Basic rules when conducting maintenance work
What do employers have to consider regarding maintenance?
Why is maintenance a high risk activity?

Klaus Kuhl and Ellen Schmitz-Felten, The Cooperation Centre (Kooperationsstelle), Hamburg

Contents
 1 Introduction
 2 Importance of maintenance
 3 OSH management
o 3.1 Organisational and operational structure
o 3.2 Qualification
o 3.3 Monitoring and continuous improvement
o 3.4 Outsourcing
 4 Risk assessment
 5 Preventive measures
 6 Measures in case of an accident
 7 Legislation
 8 Links for future reading
 9 References

Introduction
Maintenance can be seen as either reactive or proactive [1]. Reactive means engaging in
maintenance activity to resolve equipment and machinery which are not functioning properly.
Proactive maintenance occurs when steps are taken to maintain, clean and ensure optimum
functioning of machinery and equipment to prevent lack of optimum functioning. Employers
need to ensure that both proactive and reactive maintenance be considered within part of the
worker’s daily routine to maintain smooth running of the production process. This implies that
the necessary maintenance operations be carefully planned, that the maintenance personnel be
highly qualified and that they can perform the operations safely and in good health. Of special
importance is a comprehensive risk assessment, involving the maintenance workers themselves
and the resulting implementation of preventive measures. An effective monitoring system has to
be in place and a continuous improvement process should be installed.

Importance of maintenance
The understanding of the word “maintenance” varies slightly between European member states.
There is nevertheless a common European standard - EN 13306:2010 – defining maintenance as
a "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".
It implies a differentiation between preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance[2].

Maintenance plays an important role in the social and economic development of our society.
Figures are difficult to establish, due to maintenance being a cross-sector activity, however the
Forum Vision Instandhaltung (FVI) in 2005 estimated the turnover in Germany to be around 250
billion Euros, almost double that of the construction sector [3]. It is estimated that 6% of the
working population in Spain and France are involved in maintenance work [4]. This figure is
higher in Germany, where more than 15% of all working persons are involved in the
maintenance of machines and plants[5].

The burden for the society to keep buildings, machines, infrastructure etc. functional for
Germany is estimated by experts as steadily increasing to 13% of the gross domestic product
(315 billion Euros in 2004). At the organisational level, maintenance costs make up between
15%-40% of the overall operating costs [6] [7], while in petrochemical, electrical power, and
mining industries, manufacturing costs can surpass that of operational costs. Yet the costs caused
by insufficient or omitted maintenance are considered to be four to five times as much [8],
showing an enormous potential for savings through carefully planned maintenance.

Therefore companies employing a simple cost-cutting strategy with regards to maintenance may
experience serious backfire caused by increased downtime. Such a strategy will also aggravate
the accident and ill health situation, faced by maintenance workers: In France about 44% of all
fatal accidents in 2002 were related to maintenance [9]. More than 50% of all accidents in the
German metal sector production and one fifth of all fatal accidents in all sectors happen during
maintenance [5]. Similarly, between 2004 and 2008, there were slightly more violent and
accidental deaths amongst Finnish industrial maintenance workers than other occupational
groups[10]. The same study reported that this group of workers had a 20% higher incidence of
disability pensions than other employees. The situation regarding work related diseases is quite
similar: “Industrial maintenance employees have an 8-10 times greater chance of developing an
occupational disease than the average population.” (EU-OSHA, 2010). Europe wide it is
estimated that around 15-20% (depending on country) of all accidents and 10-15% of all fatal
accidents are related to maintenance operations [11]. The Austrian Ministry of Labour established
that 40% of all machine related accidents at do not happen during normal operations but rather
during maintenance work, although these jobs only take up 5% of the entire working time [12].
Workers doing maintenance tasks are at risk, because they perform difficult jobs, often within
tight time frames and in difficult, sometimes unfamiliar places. They are at risk, because they
may encounter complex and sometimes faulty machines and structures.
Adjusted management strategies establish the necessary maintenance steps to ensure the smooth
running of production. Structures, machines and plants are becoming increasingly complex and
need farsighted planning of maintenance. On the other hand more sophisticated appliances like
RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), which indicate the timely exchange of parts, can support
an effective form of preventive maintenance. This development obviously requires specially
qualified staff. This aspect has surely contributed to the increased outsourcing of maintenance [8].
Outsourcing may make highly specialised personnel available; however, it creates safety
problems on the other hand, because the service workers are usually less familiar with the
company-specific layout and construction of machinery and plants.

OSH management
Employers have to safeguard the smooth running of production by avoiding or at least
minimising any down time.This requires the diligent planning of maintenance tasks and the
precise securing of the quality and the safe conduction of the related operations. Maintenance
should be an issue of its own when formulating the company objectives[13].

Organisational and operational structure

Employers have to provide the necessary organisation and means for effective health and safety
protection. This includes allocating responsibilities. The health and safety personnel need to be
aware of how safe maintenance can improve motivation of staff and the production of the
company. The responsible persons have to have the necessary knowledge to conduct a related
risk assessment and to draw the right conclusions, see following section.

When determining the processes maintenance should already be considered in the design phase.
Structures, machines and plants should be built in such a way that they allow easy access and
safe work for maintenance personnel. Company operations have to be carefully planned so as to
allow the safe conducting of maintenance work while also giving consideration to unforeseeable
situations. The workers should also be consulted so that all important aspects will be taken into
account.

Qualification

Ensuring the qualification and further education of the workers performing maintenance tasks is
another important managerial issue. As buildings and machines become more and more
sophisticated maintenance staffs need to keep up with this development. Employees should be
given the opportunity to not only develop their knowledge but to also bring in their experience.
This is all the more important as maintenance tasks can always bring about unplanned and
unforeseeable dangerous situations. This is evident from studies with maintenance workers,
whereby lack of qualifications were found to be contributing factors towards reduced safety in
the railway maintenance [14] [15] or across different industries [16]. Workers need to retrieve all
their knowledge and skills in order to manage these situations safely. It also plays an important
role in changing risky behaviour on behalf of the workers. However, in this aspect it is also of
utmost importance that all superiors set a good example and always follow the determined rules
themselves.
Monitoring and continuous improvement

Good management should also seek advice from outside experts where necessary, provide for
effective monitoring, allow opportunities to learn from experience and thus create continuous
improvement processes. Finally all important aspects should be documented for further
reference. In order to have a comprehensive structure, employers should consider to implement
an OSH management system, this could even be integrated into a quality and environment
management system so as to make use of synergy effects.

Outsourcing

Maintenance tasks are often outsourced or assigned to an external service company because
specialists are needed to do the often complicated jobs. Similarly, the use of temporary or
migrant workers to conduct maintenance tasks is prevalent across sectors [16]. However, seen
from the OSH vantage point, this means that new issues arise that have to be tackled carefully:

 Outside workers are usually less familiar with the company-specific layout and
construction of machinery and plants.
 Communication between one’s own and outside workers may be problematic regarding
time, language and organisation.
 Coordination of production and maintenance work becomes more difficult.

It may be necessary to put a permission system in place, only giving specifically trained people
access to sensitive and dangerous areas. Coordinating panels involving the service company have
to be established while means and ways of communication between all stakeholders need to be
set up accordingly. The situation in small and medium enterprises can be quite different from
that of larger firms. They often have the opposite perspective, because they may be service
companies doing the maintenance work for larger companies or individual customers (e.g.
garages). From their point of view it is important to always have the right contact persons, to be
involved in the client’s risk assessment processes, to always be up to date regarding
developments of the contractor’s buildings and machines, to have the right equipment and to
receive sufficient training. In addition, the tasks and activities involving contracting staff needs
to be clearly defined, there needs to be good work organisation between the contracting and host
company and their workers, and there should be good communication up and down the
contracting chain.

Risk assessment
Preventive measures have to be based on a prior risk assessment. A risk assessment is a careful
examination of what, could cause harm to people, so that one can judge whether there are enough
precautions in place or more is needed to prevent harm. It involves identifying the hazards
present in any undertaking (whether arising from work activities or from other factors, e.g. the
layout of the premises) and then evaluating the extent of the risks involved, taking into account
existing precautions[4].

Any risk assessment process should:[4]

  look for the hazards (whether arising from work activities or from other factors, e.g. the
layout of the premises),
 decide who might be harmed and how,
 evaluate the extent of the risks involved
 decide whether existing precautions are adequate or whether more control measures
should be introduced
 involve employees and worker representatives, including consulting them about the risks
and prevention measures in the process and providing information on risk assessment
results
 take account of people’s abilities when planning work
 considering maintenance workers as part of risk assessments at the design and planning
stage, making use of their experience
 record the findings

The European Commission produced a guide on risk assessment at work in order to help
employers and employees implement the risk assessment requirements of the Framework
Directive 89/391/EEC, (see the section on legislation below). In this guide, maintenance workers
were identified as “workers who may be at increased risk”. The guide also points out the need to
conduct a separate risk assessment for maintenance activities [17].

The specific risk assessment has to examine: the work activities, the work equipment, the work
environment, the work organisation, physical and psychosocial hazards, information and training
needs. Typical hazards in maintenance work are:

 difficult access, working at height, working in awkward positions,

 working near running engines and at systems still under pressure,
 working with dangerous substances,
 electric shock, unsuitable tools,
 time pressure, improper planning, insufficient training, inappropriate communication,
 unforeseeable situations
 unfamiliar workplaces.

Outsourcing and subcontracting need special consideration, the risk assessment should include
both client’s and service provider’s perspectives and coordination and communication issues..

The results of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment should enable to choose which preventive
measures are most appropriate in order to prevent risks in general and also to prevent risks to any
individuals identified as being particularly at risk. The implementation may mean making
changes to the organisation and working procedures, working environment, Personal Protective
Equipment used; training management and staff; and improving communications. See Section 4
for typical measures.

The adoption of any policies and measures should always be carefully planned, and carried out
with consultation of the workforce and their representatives as a key component of success. This
should include coordination and communication between the client and service company
personnel. The general principle, also laid down in the respective EU directives (see Section 6,
Legislation), is that risks should be prevented at source and that work organisation, tasks,
equipment and tools should be adapted to workers in order to eliminate and reduce risks.
Measures should follow the prevention hierarchy:

1. Elimination of risks
2. Substitution e.g. of dangerous substances
3. Collective control measures like technical, organisational and administrative measures
4. Individual control such as personal protective equipment.

There must be periodic reviews to check that measures, policies and procedures remain
appropriate and are working and revised if necessary.

Preventive measures
The following table shows some typical hazards associated with maintenance work and related
possible preventive measures.

Table 1: Hazards and preventive measures

 Substitute the dangerous substance used in the process with a
hazard-free or less dangerous one. The CatSub and the Cleantool
websites provide information on possible substitutions [18] [19]
Exposure to chemical
 Set up safe systems of work
substances during
 Make safety data sheets available
maintenance of pipes,
 Empty and flush storage tanks or pipes, setting blind discs during
machines, etc
dismantling.
 Use appropriate protective equipment during maintenance work.

 Only purchase, design or manufacture machines that are easy

and safe to maintain. Make sure machines have a stop
mechanism or isolation switch so that when maintenance is
being done, it’s impossible for the machine to start while
maintenance work is underway.
 Develop and apply safe systems of work including permits to
work and lock-off procedures.
Unexpected start-up of
 Make sure that safe systems of work are communicated and
machines
understood by the workers when maintenance work is being
done, all machines are tagged that must not be used or switched
on while work is underway. This requirement should be
communicated not only to workers performing maintenance
tasks but also to all other employees in the area. It should be
included in the safety training.

Lack of knowledge  There is a legal obligation for employers to provide information

and awareness of and training on health and safety to all employees who need it,
safety issues including temporary staff and contractors.
  In addition to the necessary professional skills, workers should
receive safety and health training, and be informed about the
hazards related to specific jobs and about the safe working
procedures.
 Workers should be involved in risk assessment and the
development of preventive measures.|| Shift work, night shifts,
inflexible work schedules, unpredictable hours, long or
unsociable hours

 Design or purchase equipment and introduce work practices that

eliminate or reduce the physical strain.
 Provide maintenance workers who have to lift or move heavy
loads with a hoist or other lifting or transporting equipment.
Physical strain  Minimise the carrying distances.
 Ensure that there is enough space to do the work.
 Provide training on how to perform maintenance work
ergonomically.

 Consider maintenance in the design stage

 Ensure that, where appropriate, an edge protection system is in
place.
 Make sure that workers climbing and working at height are
secured and protected against fall at all times.
 Investigate whether it is possible to use a mechanical lifting
device to eliminate the need to climb (e.g.’ cherry picker’,
elevating work platform), or what system can be introduced to
Working at height or
minimise the risks during the climbing phase.
climbing structures
 Make workers aware of the danger and make sure they
understand the importance of the protective equipment they have
to wear, that they know how to use it properly and that it is
maintained and replaced as required.
 Include in the training information details of any health problems
that may affect a worker’s ability to work safely at height, and
the reporting protocol.

 Always ensure that everyone is aware of the presence of asbestos

so that the necessary measures can be taken.
 Make sure the workers performing maintenance tasks are aware
Exposure to asbestos of the risk and know how to protect themselves and others.
 Develop and communicate safe work practices for the workers
while providing the appropriate tools and protective equipment.

Working with (sub)  Develop an appropriate and effective communication structure

contractors covering all parties concerned
  Make sure that the job order or contract contains information on
the potential hazards, the measures that have been taken to
eliminate or limit them, those precautions that still need to be
taken, and safe behaviour
 Inform the contractor’s maintenance worker/s about inhouse
safety procedures, as well as any risks related to the task and
preventive measures that have been taken. This should be part of
the general induction procedure.
 Inform employees about the presence of contractors and the
tasks they are performing.

 Organisational measures such as careful planning of resources,

coordination and communication, clear roles and responsibilities,
adequate training and induction
Stress
 Raise awareness: workers, managers and supervisors have to be
aware of all potential risks.|-

Source: Adapted from EU-OSHA, 2010a[1]

Measures in case of an accident

The accident at Union Carbide India Ltd in Bhopal 1984 indicates how important it is to have
safe systems in place. On the other hand it also shows that it is equally important to be prepared
when accidents happen. These should include the relevant technical skills and procedures,
including first aid organisation, of fire fighting plans and of related alarm plans. At the same
time, other non-technical skills (e.g., decision making, situation awareness, communication and
co-ordination, teamwork) should also be developed [20]. Emergency arrangements must be
planned and regularly rehearsed.. Exercises should be conducted and reviewed regularly,
learning from incidents within and external to the organisation/ sector [21].

Legislation
There is no specific legislation dealing with occupational safety and health (OSH) in
maintenance. The directives laying down a general framework for the minimum requirements in
protecting workers at the workplace also apply to maintenance activities. The framework
directive, Council Directive 89/391 – "Framework Directive" about the general principles
concerning the prevention and protection of workers against occupational accidents and diseases,
contains the general principles of prevention, lays down employers’ obligations concerning the
assessment of risks, the elimination of risks and accident factors, the informing, consultation and
balanced participation and training of workers and their representatives[17].

On the basis of the "Framework directive" a series of individual directives were adopted, all
relevant for carrying out maintenance in a safe manner. Many of them include specific
provisions regarding maintenance activities and requirements for maintenance to eliminate
workplace hazards[17]. These directives - including the framework directive - had to be
transformed into the national legislation of the member states.

Links for future reading

EFNMS – the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (website, no publishing
date available). Retrieved 14 April 2011, from: [10]

EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (website, no publishing date
available), Legislation. Retrieved 14 April 2011, from: [11]

EU-OSHA - European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Facts 90: Maintenance and
OSH:A statistical picture, Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 2011.
Available at: [12]

EUR-Lex (website, no publishing date available),. Database on legislation. Retrieved 14 April

2011, from: [13]

SMRP – Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (website, no publishing date
available). Retrieved 14 April 2011, from: [14]

Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia. Maintenance, repair and opreations (26 May 2011).
Retrieved 8 June 2011, from: [15]

Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia.. Bhopal disaster (6 June 2011). Retrieved 8 June 2011,
from: [16]

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References
1.

 EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Safe Maintenance in Practice,
2010a. Available at: [1]
  CEN EN – European Committee for Standardization (2010). CEN EN 13306:2010
Maintenance - Maintenance terminology. Retrieved 14 April 2011, from: [2]
  Schuh, G., Lorenz, B.: ‘TPM – eine Basis für die wertorientierte Instandhaltung‘,
Betriebliche Instandhaltung, Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2009.
  EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2011), Risk assessment.
Retrieved 24 February 2011, from: [3]
  VMBG – Vereinigung der Metallberufsgenossenschaften, ‘Instandhaltung – schnell aber
sicher‘, Mitteilungsblatt Gesund+Sicher, Juni 2001.
  Eti, M.C., Ogaji, S.OT., & Probert, S.D., ‘Reducing the cost of preventative maintenance
(PM) through adopting a proactive reliability-focused culture’, Applied Energy, 83, 11, 2006, pp.
1235-1248.
  Simões, J.M., Gomes, C.F., & Yasin, M.M., ‘A literature review of maintenance
performance measurement: A conceptual framework and directions for future research’, Journal
of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, 17, 2, 2011, pp.116 –137.
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  INRS – National Research and Safety Institute, ‘Maintenance: des activités à risqué’, Fiche
pratique de sécurité, ED 123, 2005. Available at: [4]
  Korhonen P I, Saalo A, Pensola T, & Priha E., ‘Teollisuuden kunnossapitohenkilöstön
riskiprofiili (Risk profile of industrial maintenance staff)’, Helsinki, the Finnish Institute of
Occupational Health, 2011
  EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2010), Maintenance.
Retrieved 19 February 2011, from: [5]
  BMASK – Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales und Konsumentenschutz, Austria
(2010). Fachkonferenz Gesunde Arbeitsplätze - sichere Instandhaltung in Wien. Retrieved 19
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  ISSA – International Social Security Association, Maintenance and Changes in Plants with
High Safety Requirements – Practical Guidance, Jedermann-Verlag, Heidelberg, 2007.
  Turner, N., Chmiel, N., & Walls, M., ‘Railing for safety: Job demands, job control, and
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  Baldry, C., ‘Off the rails: Factors affecting track worker safety in the railway industry’,
Employee Relations, 28, 3, 2006, pp. 255-272.
  Underhill, E., & Quinlan, E., ‘How precarious employment affects health and safety at
work: The case of temporary agency workers’, Relations industrielles. 66, 3, 2011, pp. 397-421
  EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Maintenance and
Occupational Safety and Health — A statistical picture, 2010. Available at: [7]
  JobLiv Danmark, bst Sjaelland (2006). CatSub – catalogue of examples of substitution of
hazardous chemicals. Retrieved 13 April 2011, from: [8]
  KOOP – Kooperationsstelle Hamburg (2008). Cleantool – Europe wide database for parts
cleaning, metal surface cleaning. Retrieved 13 April 2011, from: [9]

  Crichton, M.T., & Flin, R., ‘Training for emergency management: Tactical decision game’,
Journal of Hazardous Materials, 88, 2-3, 2001, pp. 255-266.
 Crichton, M.T., Ramsay, C.G., & Kelly, T. ‘Enhancing organizational resilience through
emergency planning: Learnings from cross-sectoral lessons’, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis
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