What is good work control? We believe that it is about:
Knowing what needs to be done
Unless all aspects of the task in hand are known and understood it will be impossible to know who is to carry out the work, how it will be controlled and managed safely and even what it will cost. If this is difficult to get right for project work then it is many times harder where maintenance works are concerned.
However, Modus can demonstrate systems which do make it easier to plan both project and emergent maintenance works quickly and effectively by carefully managing the communication between all parties involved in the works.
Knowing who’s involved
It doesn’t matter if the job is a valve replacement or a shutdown all those involved in the task must be informed of what is expected of them and by when. This is where many work control systems fail because they assume that the task in hand is planned by a single individual who has an intimate knowledge of the project. A more effective approach is to identify those who are to be involved at the earliest stage and then make use of their experience and ability to develop the plan.
Knowing what the job involves
Each person involved in a single task will have their own requirements for labour, plant, materials, access, supervision, certification… the list could go on for a long time and that is only the requirements to complete the job. There is also an ever increasing list of statutory duties to slow the work down and trip people up. However, if the scope of work is understood and the right people have been consulted early then it becomes much easier for each person to understand their role and be able to document their input correctly whether it is to do with cost, timing or health and safety.
This all may sound like it can only be applied to large projects but the truth is that the vast majority of a company’s expenditure on maintenance will be on small jobs costing no more than a few thousand pounds. It is also true that many accidents occur on the same small jobs where planning and supervision tends to be found wanting. It is vital that any work control system is designed and implemented so that it can be used to control small tasks with little or no management overhead.
Hopefully, we can give you an answer.