Planned Preventative Maintenance

Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM)

We take so many things for granted in today’s world. We pick up a phone to speak to someone, we turn a tap the water flows, we go on line and communicate with the rest of the world, we press a button for entertainment and flick a switch for light and heat. Electricity is at the root of each and every one of these everyday services without it almost everything comes to a halt, including your business.

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 Regulation 4 (2) states:

‘Regular inspection is an essential part of any preventive maintenance programme. Practical experience of use may indicate an adjustment to the frequency at which preventive maintenance needs to be carried out. This is a matter of judgement of the Duty Holder who should seek all the information he needs to make his judgement including reference to the equipment manufacturers’ guidance.’

Why is Planned Maintenance Important?

Electrical failure and machinery breakdown costs business and industry through the extra expense of repair, downtime, disruption and ultimately loss of profit. Electrical system malfunctions are the leading cause of fire in commercial buildings.

Implementing an effective Electrical Planned Preventative Maintenance programme will go a long way to reduce the risk of fire and cut the cost of unscheduled breakdown and repair.

What Exactly is PPM?

Planned Maintenance is a preventive maintenance program of scheduled regular electrical maintenance testing and actions with the specific primary intention of preventing breakdowns and system failures.

By locating, identifying and subsequently replacing worn components before they actually fail, disruption and repair costs are kept to a minimum. Whilst having the additional opportunity to gauge the useful life of existing equipment.

Do I Need Electrical Planned Maintenance?

The answer lies in how you assess your own particular business. If an unwanted and unscheduled electrical outage is unlikely to have a negative impact on your business and there is little risk of an electrical fire consuming your property, then the likely answer is - No.

If however, like the majority of businesses if the lights were to go out and the computers fail, production will be significantly reduced or indeed come to a stop. Then here are some things you might like to consider

Even a small electrical failure may on average result in a minimum of 6 hours business disruption
Health and Safety compliance is increasingly highlighted and controlled for electrical systems
Reliance on computers or sophisticated electronic production machinery that requires a high level of quality power demands continuity and essentially any downtime must be planned
The use of Thermal Imaging, an essential part of any PPM program can prevent energy loss
Thermography statistics estimate that between 1 and 4 % savings in energy costs can be achieved in a maintained system over a non- maintained system
It is estimated that effective maintenance can reduce the risk of an unscheduled electrical outage by as much as 66%

Finally, do you wish to reduce the overall risk of breakdown and the subsequent financial impact on your business?

I've had all my compliance tests, what else needs to be done?

You may have had CGE carry out your Fixed Wire and Portable Appliance Testing and even diagnostic Thermal Imaging but, by themselves, these services do not make a complete maintenance program. Testing provides the information feedback that needs to be taken into consideration before conducting the planned maintenance.

Every system is individual and a priority for any Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) program must include an inventory of the system and identification of critical loads. An up-to-date one line diagram or Schematic Drawing of the electrical distribution system is essential and will save a lot of time in locating the cause of a failure.

Documentation for electrical systems is critical. CGE will provide you with a comprehensive report including the results of all testing, an inventory and a complete record of all maintenance performed.

When unscheduled downtime is not acceptable, CGE’s electrical Planned Maintenance is cost-effective because of the benefits it provides.