European Week for Safety and Health focuses on safe maintenance 02 November 2011

Safe maintenance is the focus of the European Week for Safety and Health at Work this week (24—28 October 2011), which is witnessing a series of awareness-raising events, including workshops, seminars and exhibitions.

"The safe maintenance campaign is drawing record levels of involvement with our Europe-wide network of focal points, and more than 50 companies and organisations that joined as campaign partners," states Dr Christa Sedlatschek, director of EU-OSHA.

"Maintenance work can often be seen simply as a disruption to normal service, but it is fundamental to the ongoing safety integrity of every system as well as being a time when special risks need to be managed," insists HSE chair Judith Hackitt.

"All organisations, irrespective of their size and purpose, need to look closely at how they manage maintenance. With good planning and the right skills, it can be done safely and efficiently and lead to increased productivity in the longer term," she adds.

HSE, in conjunction with EU-OSHA, is making a range of information and tools available to help plant engineers and managers that want to participate in the initiative during and after this European Week.

The week is part of the Healthy Workplaces campaign, organised by EU-OSHA (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work) and its partners across the EU.

"Since April 2010, the campaign has mobilised some 10,000 people ... to bring safe maintenance to the fore," says Sedlatschek. Benefits of being a campaign partner include greater employee engagement (43%) and better networking activities (64%)', she adds.

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Health & Safety Executive

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