Top OSHA Violations You Should Avoid
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t just protect your organization in an audit or inspection. It’s in everyone’s best interest to be proactive about your employees’ health and safety. Maintenance workers are usually very familiar with OSHA regulations because maintenance work affects the entire organization—whether it’s on a production line, a construction site, or in a building. Maintenance techs are responsible for their own safety on the job, but they also contribute to the safety of building occupants and visitors. CMMS software helps improve workplace safety and implement worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards, thereby preventing future workplace injuries and illnesses. MPulse customers use CMMS software to comply with OSHA standards by… Documenting safety training Publishing safety data as a reminder to employees Standardizing checklists for scheduled inspections Creating a paper trail showing preventive measures Updating safety procedures Detailing emergency procedures in case of a natural disaster or other incident OSHA Violations to Avoid Proactive action provides long-term benefits when it comes to OSHA. Here are the top OSHA violations and how to avoid them. Safety Training OSHA requires organizations to record and track safety training for employees. CMMS software helps you track health and safety data and resolve potential risks before outside auditors do, such as who’s had what training. Additionally, automated alerts notify maintenance managers when certifications will expire. Documentation Inconsistent record-keeping procedures can cause OSHA citations and fines. CMMS data provides both the big picture and the little details, so your maintenance tasks are both visible and verifiable. Much of that documentation is also automated. And best of all, you can access the information in minutes, instead of spending hours or even days sorting through a paper filing system. Failure to Report OSHA requires most employers with more than 10 employees to keep a record of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. (Certain low-risk industries are exempt, and minor injuries requiring first aid only do not need to be recorded.) Employers must report any worker fatality within 8 hours and any amputation, loss of an eye, or hospitalization of a worker within 24 hours. Failure to report serious injuries is a significant OSHA violation. COVID-19 OSHA has issued temporary enforcement guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 can be a recordable illness if a worker is infected as a result of performing their work-related duties. Using CMMS software to log employee incidents properly and to maintain records in accordance with OSHA’s current standards allows you to present the solid documentation that OSHA demands. Hazards Employers must make information about the identities and hazards of chemicals available and understandable to workers. Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to evaluate the hazards of the chemicals they produce or import, and prepare labels and safety data sheets to convey the hazard information. Additionally, employers must label hazardous chemicals, provide safety data sheets for their exposed workers, and train them to handle the chemicals appropriately. Safety in the workplace requires documentation, particularly for creating procedures and recording maintenance activities. And there’s nothing better at documenting those tasks than CMMS software. When you have solid data on your side, it makes it much easier to support your maintenance team and avoid OSHA violations. Have questions? Contact us. We have answers.
Creating Reasonable Benchmarks
CMMS software does more than keep your work orders organized and your team on schedule. It also helps you answer the deeper questions like, “How do I measure effectiveness of preventive maintenance?” Creating reasonable maintenance management benchmarks help you evaluate your team’s performance. Firstly, you start by measuring your team’s metrics. Secondly, you evaluate your company’s performance by comparing your metrics and processes with those of other organizations. Maintenance Benchmarking and Best Practices Using benchmarks, you can identify best practices that drive the metrics. Start by using your CMMS data to measure your team’s current key performance indicators (KPIs) and create a baseline. Then, research your industry’s benchmarks to see how you’re performing and where you should look for improvements. You can find benchmarks from industry associations, maintenance journals, benchmark databases, and other sources. Additionally, use your professional network to find common benchmarks that your industry uses. For example, common benchmarks in manufacturing include: Planned maintenance tasks vs. total maintenance tasks Planned and scheduled maintenance as a % of hours worked Unplanned downtime Reactive maintenance tasks Maintenance overtime Work orders reworked as a percentage of total work orders Training Safety Benchmarking in Facilities Management Facilities management maintenance has its own benchmarks. Like manufacturing, you also start with your CMMS data to see where you are. Then you compare your data with similar organizations. The facility management benchmarking process can include: Space utilization Facility operating costs by type Service provider performance Overtime Occupant satisfaction Planned maintenance tasks vs. total maintenance tasks Facility condition Sustainability criteria Facility safety Environmental control Business metrics (facility cost as % of total payroll, sales, etc.) Next Steps The next step is to analyze your performance versus the top performers. Make sure you dig deeper than the numbers—because processes, workflows, and other factors can affect these KPIs. As a result, you should understand how those numbers are calculated to make sure you’re making a fair comparison. Then, based on your team’s performance and the industry standards, use your benchmarks to determine realistic KPI goals for your organization. Also, create a reasonable timeline with goal-based milestones and efficiency goals. (Check out our earlier blog series for more information about the steps involved.) Above all, it’s vital to strategize about new workflows and processes, adjustments in data collection or software, or training plans. Need more information on creating reasonable benchmarks? Contact us. We’re here to help.
What You Need to Know About Asset Management
Asset management helps your organization get the maximum value from the assets it owns. It’s common for large organizations to have a formal CMMS asset management plan. But, it’s just as important for small and medium-sized businesses. Creating a strategic plan can impact the uptime and total life of key assets. Fortunately, CMMS makes it easy. Create a CMMS Asset Management Plan Setting up your CMMS for facility and asset management helps your organization get the most out of its investments. While creating an asset management plan might sound complicated, it actually boils down to making a few proactive decisions about your MPulse data. Identify critical assets Pick the ones that would take a significant investment to replace, and the ones that most directly impacted production capacity. Capture purchase information For each critical asset, gather information on each asset’s purchase date, purchase price, startup date, and warranty expiration date. Choose the data Identify the data you want to collect, track, and report on. Let the power of CMMS do the hard work Every job entered into the work management system created a historical record that calculates the labor costs and links the cost of the parts and inventory used for the job. Benefits of CMMS Asset Management The advantages of asset management really come into play when it’s time to make important decisions. One of the most frequent is the classic, “Do we repair it or replace it?” question. Using your CMMS data, you can determine… What was the purchase price of the asset? When did we acquire it? How much has it cost to maintain it, especially in the past year? How much downtime is the asset experiencing lately? With a little more information about operations, you can also calculate the opportunity cost due to downtime. Comparing that to the estimated cost (and potential added productivity) of a new asset would give you the answer. Additionally, you’ll have the data to back it up. If you’re thinking in terms of maximum uptime and total lifecycle cost, you’ll move beyond using your CMMS as a simple work order tracker and PM scheduler. CMMS can help you create a wealth of asset information—helping your organization make more informed decisions, and potentially saving it a lot of money. Contact us for more information on facility maintenance and asset management software. We’re here to help.
Build a Strong Team Using CMMS
Team building strategies in the workplace are overlooked or underemphasized in the maintenance department. But, that’s a mistake. With MPulse Software, it’s much easier to build a strong team using CMMS. Maintenance may look like a solitary job. But your technicians work with other team members, vendors, and almost every department in an organization at one time or another. Building a strong team and encouraging working relationships between maintenance and other personnel benefits everyone. And that includes the organization as a whole. While you can find many team building strategies for the workplace, the maintenance department has some unique issues to consider. Below are the team building tools you need. Team Building Strategies in the Workplace Communication CMMS software makes communication between team members, internal departments, and outside vendors much easier. MPulse tools that promote communication include service requesting, PM scheduling, and automatic notification features. For example, MPulse can quickly route requests to the appropriate people for review and approval, based on predetermined criteria. That enables your team to respond faster. Plus, the requester to get the status of the work order at any time, eliminating tedious emails and/or phone calls. Technology Some “old school” industrial employers are still wary of mobile technology. But mobile devices are an excellent way to improve communication. And that’s the foundation of any maintenance team. Many organizations have discovered mobile technology is a natural fit with maintenance workflows—and mobile CMMS, specifically. It allows maintainers to access information and record data on the spot—where maintenance happens, instead of in a plant or building office. Recognition Improving the relationship between other departments and maintenance starts with mutual respect and communication. You can help by ensuring all parties understand each person’s role and appreciate the benefits they bring to the organization. Make sure the people in positions of power understand what your maintenance program does and the value you bring to the organization. Share your projects, goals, accomplishments, and results for both the department and for your team members. Training Part of investing in your maintenance team is making sure they have the right training to do their jobs. Professional development as an investment in the future of the entire organization. It pays big dividends in the long run. While budget may limit formal training, think outside the box. Create a professional growth/training program for your maintenance staff. Ask them to share their experience with other team members, like an in-house apprentice program. Reward strong work performance with additional opportunities for education. What’s your strategy for building a strong team using CMMS? Leave a comment below or contact us.
How Organization Improves Efficiency
Maintenance is as much about managing documents and information as fixing things. That’s why improving efficiency in a business can make a big difference in your bottom line. The right tools make organization as easy as possible. Above all, that includes keeping the resources you and your team need right where you need them. Of course, your CMMS software can help. Media Management for Improving Efficiency in a Business Maintenance professionals need quick and easy access to a variety of sources: documents, videos, photos, supplier websites, intranets, and more. With MPulse Media Management, your team can quickly and easily access these resources from all over your organization and all over the globe, right from your CMMS software. Your team can add links to maintenance manuals, internal documents, vendor websites, and much more. As a result, all the information is stored with the work order or asset record, so it’s easily accessible the next time around. Additionally, Media Management also lets you link videos, photos, documents, and websites to your Dashboards, so it’s right there waiting for you every time you sign in. How to Improve Efficiency in a Business with CMMS Maintenance operations that improve organization can also improve safety, response time, inventory availability, labor resources, and communication. These strategies to improve efficiency in a business solves maintenance challenges for all types of industries—from manufacturing to education to government agencies, and more. Managing documents and information stored in MPulse eliminates lost information between shifts, reducing confusion and errors. Media integration can work with a dashboard to provide rich media as part of each user’s main “console.” The media attachment capability ties any relevant documentation to the work order. This is a great way to keep your objective evidence handy and connected to the relevant scheduled audit trigger events. Media tools also can help with training new maintenance workers by making it easier to find and access resources. Documents and other information become more accessible and safe, even available via remote access. During emergencies, details for insurance purposes, emergency inspection checklists, vendor and contact information, and other critical information is easy to access. Organizations can improve regulatory compliance for critical assets, while also ensuring safety and satisfaction. [related-content] Want more information on how efficiency can be improved in a business? Contact us. We’re happy to share the secrets we’ve learned over the years!
Is Your Calendar Working For You?
In every maintenance office in every building, you’ll find a calendar on the wall or desk. Not long ago, you had to write on a paper calendar or manually transfer dates to a different program. But now you can easily visualize maintenance work with calendar scheduling software. How Can Maintenance Calendar Software Help Me? MPulse’s Calendar Management makes sure your whole maintenance team is on the same page. For example, streamlining simple, yet time-consuming, tasks is a huge benefit of preventive maintenance calendar software. You’ll be able to see what needs to happen when, quickly and easily. MPulse lets you create CMMS calendars for anything—work order due dates, scheduled maintenance, warranty expiration, employees or vendors, task type, completion dates, and much more. Plus, MPulse Calendars work seamlessly with maintenance work order creation. MPulse Calendars can be customized and filtered. Drag-and-drop capability lets you reschedule in a flash. View calendars by month, week, or day. Plus, there’s no limit to the number or type of calendar views. What Are the Benefits of Preventive Maintenance Calendar Software? Your MPulse calendars can show exactly what your team needs to do—it can include inspections, deadlines, tasks, meetings, travel information, and more. Some things populate automatically, like weekly staff meetings. You can quickly add others on the fly. You’ll always see what’s coming up in your maintenance inspection software calendar, so your team is ready to go when the time is right. Visualizing your team’s week or month with a maintenance calendar gives you a really good idea about how to get high priority work done quickly, while making sure lower priority work doesn’t slip through the cracks. [related-resource] Calendars are a huge part of the maintenance operations management field—from preventive maintenance planning to staff schedules. The ability to visualize what needs to happen and when helps maintenance teams stay on the same page, no matter how busy they get. How could a calendar view in your CMMS software help your maintenance operations? Leave a comment or contact us.
Define Your Maintenance Management Goals
Maintenance professionals are busy people, which often makes it hard to find time to look at the bigger picture. But if you don’t know where you want to go, you can’t move forward. MPulse can help you define your maintenance management goals and build processes in the database to support them. Maintenance management goals can be big or small. Either way, you need to pick goals that are achievable. MPulse customers offered some great suggestions for maintenance management goals. Some you may have already done. Some you might do later. Pick one or two, and start there. Document Maintenance Activities Recording maintenance tasks, activities, repairs, and information in CMMS software is the first step when you are just starting out. You can’t measure anything until you have something to measure. You also want to document maintenance tasks for regulatory compliance. Plan Preventive maintenance tasks are usually the first thing maintenance professionals think about. But planning applies to everything from scheduling to staffing to purchasing to asset disposal. A goal without a plan is just wishful thinking. Make Resources Easily Accessible Don’t waste time looking for stuff. Keep the things your team needs (historical records, part information, vendor contact details, manuals, etc.) in easy-to-find places, like your CMMS database. Automate Put your available tools to work for you. Use your CMMS software to automate the tedious stuff (data entry, email, request approval), so you and your team can focus on more important things. Link Parts Inventory is hard, but the first step is simple. Link parts with your work orders (and your assets), and you are on your way to bigger goals like controlling the cost of maintenance. Train Your Staff Training is the fastest way to improve your maintenance team’s efficiency and get the best return on investment (ROI). And don’t forget about training yourself as well. The payoff is far greater than the cost. Control Costs Perhaps the biggest—and most universal—goal of all is controlling costs. CMMS helps you capture key data and turns it into reliable information to help make cost-effective choices about asset management. As you move forward, you’ll likely ask different questions and get to bigger goals. As your goals change, your team changes, and your organization changes, adjust your maintenance goals to fit. Have questions? We have answers. Leave a comment or contact us.
What is Corrective Maintenance and When Should You Use It?
Corrective maintenance doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. It’s closely related to proactive strategies like preventive maintenance (PM) and predictive maintenance (PdM). But it offers additional benefits that can improve the productivity and efficiency of your maintenance team. What is Corrective Maintenance? Maintenance professionals perform corrective maintenance in order to rectify and repair faulty systems and equipment. The goal is to restore something that’s broken to full operation. Corrective maintenance occurs when a technician finds a problem during a scheduled PM or PdM task. If the issue is quick and easy to fix, the technician may repair it at the same time as part of the preventive maintenance task. However, if it’s more complicated, your tech will create a separate work order, and it becomes a corrective maintenance task. Some MPulse customers also call it “repair from PM.” What’s the Difference Between Preventive and Corrective Maintenance? PM is triggered by time, meter, or event. Preventive maintenance prevents breakdowns by performing maintenance based on average or expected life statistics (usually determined by the equipment manufacturer or vendor). The most common example is changing the oil in a car every X,000 miles or every X months. Maintenance shops use CMMS software to set up scheduled preventive maintenance tasks, preventing failure and prolonging asset life cycles. However, if you need to schedule a future repair, it becomes corrective maintenance. During this corrective maintenance task, the team will repair, restore, or replace the asset. When Do I Use Corrective Maintenance? Safety inspections are common PMs that can result in corrective maintenance. During the inspection, the technician will spot an issue that could cause a breakdown or fault in the equipment. The issue hasn’t caused any downtime yet — but it will if it’s not fixed. If not repaired and a breakdown occurs, your team will need to perform emergency maintenance. One MPulse customer experienced this recently when a scheduled inspection on the company’s HVAC system revealed the need for a new filter. Normally, replacing a filter occurred on a PM schedule. However, bad air quality from nearby wildfires significantly reduced the lifespan of the air filter, requiring an early replacement. The technician created a work order to fix it after a new air filter arrived. Benefits of Corrective Maintenance When a maintenance team establishes and regularly performs PM and corrective tasks that contribute to the upkeep of assets, an organization may be able to sidestep serious problems that arise as a result of neglect as well as delay more expensive maintenance. Preventive maintenance schedules and inspections generated from preventive maintenance software help spot issues before they occur. Taking the next step by scheduling corrective maintenance tasks improves employee safety and reduces emergency maintenance issues. CMMS software can help. Contact us to learn more about corrective maintenance strategies. We’re here to help.
How CMMS Software Can Help You Meet OSHA Requirements
Maintenance workers are usually very familiar with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations because maintenance work affects the entire organization—whether it’s on a production line, a construction site, or in a building. And while maintenance techs are responsible for their own safety on the job, they also contribute to the safety of building occupants and visitors. That’s a lot of responsibility. Safety in the workplace requires documentation, particularly for creating procedures and recording maintenance activities. The only way to prepare for the prospect of random inspections is with a proactive safety initiative supported by consistent documentation. And there’s nothing better at documenting those tasks than CMMS software. OSHA Maintenance Requirements Inconsistent record-keeping procedures are a common cause of OSHA citations and fines. CMMS data provides both the big picture and the little details, so your maintenance tasks are both visible and verifiable. And best of all, you can access the information in minutes, instead of spending hours or even days sorting through a paper filing system. Our customers use MPulse CMMS software to… Update safety procedures Document safety training Publish safety data as a reminder to employees Standardize checklists for scheduled inspections Create a paper trail showing preventive measures Detail emergency procedures in case of a natural disaster or other incidents And best of all, much of that documentation is automated. Once it’s set up, your maintenance team is ready to go. Your maintenance technicians have custom checklists, resources like repair and preventative maintenance manuals, asset history, and safety procedures right there with the work order. Health & Safety OSHA maintenance safety is not just about protecting your organization in an audit or inspection. It’s in everyone’s best interest to be proactive about your employees’ health and safety. CMMS helps maintenance teams stay organized and in compliance by… Tracking employee health and safety information Documenting work procedures to make sure they are being followed Keeping equipment safe and reliable Ensuring all safety inspections and tests are done properly and on schedule Determining when it’s time to repair or replace malfunctioning equipment Documenting preventive maintenance on key assets Creating reports for audits Archiving work history Storing employee training and certifications Tracking incidents Related Article: Top OSHA Violations You Should Avoid in 2021 You can use CMMS software to track healthy and safety data and resolve potential risks before outside auditors do. And that means your CMMS documentation can save your organization a lot of time, money, and worry. How does your organization use CMMS software to meet OSHA maintenance requirements? Contact us today to learn more about how MPulse Software can assist with OSHA safety regulations for maintenance workers. Or get for a free trial!
How To Build A Culture of Collaboration
The maintenance department is in the unique position of interacting with most, if not all, other departments. As a result, it pays to develop a culture of collaboration. It makes your team’s job easier, which also makes your job easier. What’s a Culture of Collaboration? Building a culture of collaboration means your employees communicate and work together across functional and departmental lines. It’s not just management speak, however. High-performing organizations often find a collaborative company culture plays a huge role in everything from employee retention to productivity. Creating a culture of collaboration also enables your organization to benefit from your team’s knowledge. Maintenance techs are often a great resource to identify ways to do things better or make things safer. That’s because their hands-on experience with your assets gives them insight into what’s working well—and what’s not. What Can I Do to Encourage Collaboration? Contrary to popular belief, improving collaboration doesn’t have to take a lot of time. You can develop better working relationships by just spending a few minutes each day making sure people feel heard and valued. Here are six ways to encourage collaboration… Invest in technology that makes collaboration easy. Use your CMMS software to improve communication. For instance, automated updates and notifications make sure everyone is on the same page. Prioritize teamwork. Your workplace culture starts at the top, so managers should lead by example with sincere efforts. Asking for employee feedback and ideas should be your first step. Build relationships between team members. Employees who have strong working relationships with coworkers are more likely to take on new challenges. For example, team building and off-site meetings are two great places to start. Make time for face-to-face communication when possible. Talk to people in person when possible, and encourage your team to do the same. Sometimes contextual messages get lost in digital communication. Schedule casual check-ins. Take the time to casually chat with all team members to get informal feedback and information. Celebrate achievements. Often the maintenance department doesn’t get a lot of credit for their contributions. As a result, make sure everyone knows how your team impacts the whole organization. Maintenance teams aren’t short of ideas on ways to improve things, particularly as it often directly affects their workload. Above all, make the most of their knowledge. What are you doing to create a culture of collaboration? Leave a comment or contact us, because we all can learn from each other. [related-content]