Equipment Inspection & Maintenance

Equipment Inspection & Maintenance
 

Equipment inspection and maintenance is the process of preparing gear for the next job.  The process involves equipment checks as well as cleaning, disinfecting, repairing, rebuilding and resupplying.

Equipment Checks

Preparing for the next project should begin at the present job. There are many types of equipment checks.  Because Equipment Checks can vary in focus (what is looked at), depth (how much scrutiny) and frequency it is important to determine the focus of the Check.  The focus also determines the competency required of the people conducting the inspection.  A description of each type of check is provided below.

1.  Pre Use Checks done at the beginning of each shift ensuring the gear’s operatibility
2. Post Use Rehabilitation reviews the gear to determine it’s presence, cleanliness and operatibility before going back out on a project.
3. Monthly Visuals are required on specialty gear (eg fire extinguishers)  to ensure it’s operatibility.
4. Annual Calibration tests the gear to ensure it is accurately measuring and/or operating within manufacturer’s specifications.
5. Yearly Inspection reviews equipment strength, cleanliness or accuracy to ensure it is within manufacturer’s tolerances.
6. Hydro Static Tests are to ensure pressure vessels have the strength to withstand the expansion and contraction of the vessel (eg. Compressed gas cylinder) while in use.

Inspecting

To be efficient at Post Use Rehabilitation personnel must be thoroughly familiar with the equipment they are inspecting.   Components that may need to be inspected can include:
   1.  Drivers (eg. power supply, wheels, gears, pulleys and handles)
   2.  Structure (eg. walls, plates, housings and brackets)
   3.  Connectors (eg. piping, tubing, belts and chains)
   4.  Indicators (eg. Id markings, gauges, buttons and dials)
   5.  Consumables (eg. gas, air, materials)

A component based inspection really looks at the equipment.  You can see the unit “deteriorate” and track it’s demise.  This tracking develops a greater trust of the device by limiting “surprise failures” in the field.  It enables maintenance personnel to perform preventative maintenance reducing failure costs ranging from lost productivity to loss of pride.

Each of the above components can have the following issues:
   1.  Dirt (eg. water or mineral residue, markings/stains, powders, oils and adhesives)
   2.  Bio materials (eg. body fluids, mould, and feces)
   3.  Wear & Deterioration (eg. age, discolouration, abrasions, polishing and snags)
   4.  Damage (eg. thinning or advance stages of polishing, bends, breaks, cracks, tears,
         elongation, compression, and unusual noises (eg. grating, grinding, etc.)
   5.  Inaccuracy (eg. malfunction, inaccurate indications)
   6.  Voids (eg. empty vessels such as tanks, area on shelves etc., missing markings, signs
        and/or labels, missing items, missing consumables)
For every issue found during the rehab process a remedial action must be taken.

Cleaning

The most common remedial action is cleaning and disinfecting.  Cleaning can be accomplished by physically removing contaminants by scraping, brushing, vacuuming, washing/rinsing, and/or wiping.  You can also chemically removing contaminants by neutralizing the material with an antidote or disinfecting/sterilizing.  When cleaning, you need to consider:
     - what is needed to remove the type of dirt (cleaning products, tools and materials)
     - restrictions (contact with water, cleaning product, use of scrub brushes, etc.)
     - how to dry the device, and
     - what are the expectations - how clean is clean,

Each “dirt” type is removed differently.  For instance bio materials use a disinfectant where as powders need vacuuming.  No matter the process however, the standard or benchmark of cleaning and disinfecting is that each piece of equipment is clean enough to contact your skin on your face.

Maintenance

Repairing and/or adjusting equipment to remediate wear, deterioration and damage may also have to be completed.  Maintenance is a three phase process.  The process begins with the one who finds the failure.  As this may not be the one who fixes the problem, you need a system to make things happen.  Writing “broken” on a piece of paper and attaching it to the device doesn’t help anyone. No matter what happened (big or little), you need to record the incident in which the failure occurred.  Any sounds, noises or nuances seen, smelled or heard just prior to or immediately after the event needs to be recorded.  Suggestions and your own troubleshooting experience can also provide an insight.  The second step diagnosis the issue and the third step is then repairing the device.

Maintenance begins during the regular inspection.  This process may see the part deteriorate and the part is replaced when the amount of wear and tear drops the part below the manufacturer’s specifications.  For instance, with gas monitors, regular bump testing a sensor shows the deterioration of the cell long before it fails.  With experience, you may be able to predict when the accuracy will fail.  With this knowledge, you can pre-order a part for replacement just before it goes.  This eliminates the embarrassment of device failure while on the job.  That’s preventative maintenance at it’s best.

Calibration

Many pieces of equipment need calibration to verify performance.  The process uses special equipment and trained individuals to perform the checks.  These checks collaborate the accuracy of the device.

Calibration can also determine where in the life cycle a part or device is.  Calibration can show the deterioration of the item.  In order for this deterioration to show, you need more than one test at a single point of time.  Many of the parts that calibration process tests deteriorate over time and therefore you need a collection of them to see the big picture.  All calibration reports must be saved in order to compare, not just with the last one but maybe the last 5 or 6 before you begin to see a pattern.  To simplify seeing the big picture, many calibration services now provide graphs in their reports that show what’s gone on since the purchase of the device.  Therefore the more the information, the better decisions can be regarding device replacement.

Re-supplying

Filling the voids is what re-supplying is all about.  This IS your inventory check (absence or presence) of all the little pieces (eg. 4 carabiners) listed on the Inventory Tag that must be found or replaced as necessary.  At this stage you are restocking the supplies, however it doesn’t end there.  For instance all vessels must be looked at and be topped up.  Vessels include air tanks as well as tires.  The big issue in re-supplying is keeping the inventory levels topped up so that re-supplying can occur when needed.

Documentation
 
Each time a check is conducted, calibration performed or restocking completed a piece of paper will be generated.  The documentation does a number of things.  First it’s substantiates the promise of professionalism.  Secondly it enables cost tracking and third the paperwork provides advice.  Each properly completed piece of paper provides information that is necessary for our operation and even sometimes the client.  For instance:
    - inspection sheet proves we’ve complied with the Confined Space legislation,
    - Equipment Inventory Sheets enables us to track what is deployed,
    - repair tag helps with the diagnosis
    - equipment log helps us to track where the device is in the repair process, and
    - bump test sheets as well as Certificates of Calibration verify the needed performance levels.

Summary

Maintenance is a whole process.  Untrained inspectors check only the operability of the pencil they are using.  This doesn’t help anyone.  By following a standard practices, you can ensure that in the field failure and the resulting embarrassment is greatly reduced.

Maintenance Inspection Chart 

Item	Pre Job Inspect	Post Use Rehab	Monthly Visual	Calibration	Yearly Inspect	Hydro Stat
Electrical Equipment	✓	✓			✓	✓
Gas Monitors	✓	✓		✓
Harnesses	✓	✓			✓
Winch	✓	✓
SRL	✓	✓			✓
Davit Arm/Tripod	✓	✓			✓
Retrieval Rope	✓	✓			✓
Retrieval System Hardware	✓	✓			✓
Air/Oxygen Cylinders	✓	✓			✓	✓
Air/Oxygen Regulators	✓	✓
Respirator Masks	✓	✓			✓
O2 Delivery Gear	✓	✓
Defibrilator	✓	✓	✓
Fire Extinguishers	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓

Expectations of Rehabilitiation

Step	Benchmark/Expectations	Restrictions
Clean	Clean enough to kiss	* Different dirt have different cleaning processes * Different equipment have different cleaning processes
Counting	The numbers must match	If a part is missing, a replacement may take up to 2 weeks to arrive
Maintenance/Adjusting	ID Phase - a good description of the issue is on the repair tag	Sometimes the problem is hard to define
	Diagnose Phase - pinpoint problem by next shift	Varying technical ability may hamper this
	Repair Phase - back in service	If a part is missing, a replacement may take up to 2 weeks to arrive
Ops Testing	Does it work the way it should.	Experience may create a variance of acceptability.
Calibration	Is it within tolerance range	Manufacturer tolerances may not be available.