Work Safety Improvement Within Autonomous Maintenance

Abstract

Employers are under a legal obligation to provide employees with safe and hygienic conditions of work. These conditions are created by environmental factors that depend on the specifics of the enterprise, production technology and used machinery and equipment. A large number of the risks to which employees are exposed is associated with the use of machinery, equipment and working tools (as confirmed by Statistics Poland). Numerous manufacturing companies increasingly use the practice of involving operators, independently from the maintenance department, in the upkeep and maintenance of machinery and equipment in order to increase efficiency. These activities are undertaken within the scope of Autonomous Maintenance (AM), which is one of the essential elements underpinning the TPM system. The activities performed by operators within AM, such as daily inspections, lubrication or simple repairs, reduce the number of machinery breakdowns. Nonetheless, they could be a potential source of risk for employees. Companies applying the traditional division of tasks entrust the performance of such activities to qualified maintenance staff, so the proper identification of risks that takes into account the specificity of the activities performed by operators and the provision of training in the safe organization of work represent a significant feature of safety improvement. Enterprises may adopt multiple solutions in this regard, including the tools and techniques of the concept of Lean Manufacturing.