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Health & Safety Update (June 2010)

Safe Maintenance in Focus

To mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (which was on 28 April) the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) launched its new Healthy Workplaces Campaign for 2010/11, promoting safe maintenance across Europe.

In some European countries as much as 20% of all workplace accidents are connected with maintenance and in a number of sectors over half of all accidents are maintenance-related.

Maintenance is essential to prevent workplace risks, but it is itself a high risk activity for the workers that carry it out. It is estimated that in Europe 10-15% of fatal accidents at work can be attributed to maintenance operations. It is vital, therefore, that maintenance is carried out properly, taking into consideration workers' safety and health.

Poorly managed maintenance activities and procedures raise the risks of workplace accidents, including fatal accidents, involving workers at all levels across a wide range of industries. In one of the worst incidents of its kind in Europe, the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988 saw the North Sea oil and gas platform turned into a blazing inferno within seconds, killing 167 workers – a tragic example of the potential consequences of inadequate maintenance procedures.

You have a legal responsibility to maintain work equipment and to provide suitable and sufficient risk assessments for employees engaged in this hazardous activity. Call your consultant or our 24/7 Advice Service for further information on what you need to do.


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