Author : Salla Lind
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789513873448
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (734 download)
Book Synopsis Accident sources in industrial maintenance operations by : Salla Lind
Download or read book Accident sources in industrial maintenance operations written by Salla Lind and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Industrial maintenance operations involve specific safety risks for maintenance workers. Such risks arise, for example, from the need to work in close proximity to machinery and processes, the execution of tasks during various times of the day and the infrequency of certain tasks. Additional sources of risks include system design and working conditions that may not support safe and quick maintenance work. In maintenance, as in most kinds of work, variation in human performance, organizational issues, such as poor working instructions and inadequate supervision, can all increase the frequency and probability of risks. This thesis considers accidents and accident prevention in industrial maintenance operations. The thesis explores potential and realized accident sources and offers proposals to manage the risks and prevent accidents in companies. The focus is from the maintenance workers' perspective. Three studies were carried out during 2002-2006 to discover the kinds of risks that are prevalent in maintenance operations and how accidents could be prevented. First, the maintenancerelated risks were charted in three companies that provide maintenance services. The companies served 15 customer sites between them. The studies involved personnel interviews, observation and risk assessment. Second, the types and sources of fatal and severe non-fatal workplace accidents were charted by exploiting public accident reports. Third, a risk assessment method was developed for identification and management of maintenance-related risks in any company. Fourth, the utilization of public accident reports was explored to discover the extent to which companies adopt such information. Fifth, a fatal accident was remodelled using fault tree analysis. The results of the studies showed that the most typical accident types among fatal and severe non-fatal accidents were crushing, falls, and accidents caused by tumbling objects. Additionally, the most typical risks in companies were risks arising from physical and cognitive ergonomics, such as poor working posture, heavy lifts and hurried working. The most severe observed risks corresponded to these accident types. On the basis of the findings in the companies and the real accident data, a method was developed for use by the companies in their risk assessment. The method contains three separate parts for 1) maintenance planning and management, 2) identification of actual accident risks and 3) a brief check-list for the maintenance workers. The study on the adoption and use of accident reports in companies revealed that, though such reports are regarded favourably, they are seldom utilized in any systematic way. More effective utilization could help the companies to identify risks in their own operations and ascertain the potential risks at the various customer sites. The accident reanalysis demonstrated that a fault-tree model could help to combine the technical and human-based failures together with hazardous conditions in detail into a single model. Such a model could provide detailed information about event chains and their interconnections. This information could promote maintenance safety effectively and even reveal the possible root causes of accidents. As a result of the findings, a set of proposals was drawn up to promote maintenance safety. Among the proposals are ways to identify maintenance-related risks, ideas for maintainability design in the system and in the workplace, and suggestions for task planning and design. Accident prevention in industrial maintenance must take into account the various components of maintenance work, i.e., task, worker, working environment and the object system of maintenance. The organizational matters play the key role due to, for example, resource allocation, and safety planning and risk management. In addition, cooperation with the operators and other workers on customer sites could help to identify and manage task- and site-specific risks.
