Overview of assessment

A person who demonstrates competency in this unit must be able to assess current proactive maintenance practices for plant and equipment and adapt and implement these practices to achieve improvements in sustainability.

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Assessors must be satisfied that the candidate can competently and consistently apply the skills covered in this unit of competency in new and different situations and contexts. Critical aspects of assessment and evidence include:

identifying key features of maintenanace strategies, including breakdown maintenance, TPM, RCM and OEE

identifying current maintenance strategies and practices in a work area

analysisng work area maintenance strategies and practices for sustainability related implications

developing and implementing sustainability improvements.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

This unit of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or a simulated workplace environment.

Assessment should emphasise a workplace context and procedures found in the candidate’s workplace.

This unit of competency may be assessed with other relevant units addressing sustainability at the enterprise level or other units requiring the exercise of the skills and knowledge covered by this unit.

The competencies covered by this unit would be demonstrated by an individual working alone or as part of a team.

Method of assessment

In all cases, practical assessment should be supported by questions to assess underpinning knowledge and those aspects of competency which are difficult to assess directly.

Where applicable, reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity, age, gender, demographics and disability.

The language, literacy and numeracy demands of assessment should not be greater than those required to undertake the unit of competency in a work-like environment.

Guidance information for assessment

Required knowledge includes:

requirements of the proactive maintenance strategy being implemented

principles of operation of the equipment/plant

likely abilities of operations personnel with regard to inspections and servicing

maintenance procedures relevant to jobs, equipment and processes

methods of making/recommending improvements

environmental impacts of materials and energy used/emitted

environmental sensitivities of all areas impacted by the work/process area (and related areas where impact spreads beyond immediate area, e.g. by loss of containment)

root cause analysis and problem solving

mitigation strategies as relevant to work/process area

sustainability issues relevant to the work/process area

Required skills include:

communicating with relevant personnel

planning, organising and prioritising tasks

reading and interpreting technical information and procedures

recording data and converting to maintenance and sustainability relevant information

solving problems to root causes

identifying maintenance strategies and practices and their impact on sustainability as they apply to equipment and processes in a work area

Process

Process may include:

any manufacturing, logistics, administrative, information technology or other business process which uses equipment or plant that requires maintenance

Interactions with the environment

Interactions with the environment may include:

drawing physical resources from the environment

releasing materials to the environment (e.g. emissions)

drawing energy from/releasing energy to the environment

Environmental sensitivities

Environmental sensitivities may include:

fragile areas and rare or threatened species

heritage or culturally sensitive issues

hazardous emissions

real or perceived overuse of scarce resources

regulated emissions or other regulatory issues

noise

community perceptions or other issues

Sustainability issues

Sustainability issues (as relevant to the work/process area) may include:

need to reduce the carbon footprint of product and process through reduction in use of:

energy

water

raw materials

emissions

embedded carbon in transport, storage, rework and errors, and inefficient processes and design

Sustainability related issues may also exist irrespective of the carbon equivalence aspects of the issue. This may include:

current and future availability of raw materials

current and future availability of energy

extent and type of waste generation and disposal

efficiency of process in terms of consumption of materials and energy regarded as in short supply or which are regarded as environmentally sensitive

the extent to which the production process, product and waste affects the environment, including effects on:

climate

quality of local air and water

ecology

noise

relationship with the local and broader community, (e.g. effect of operations on aesthetic appearance, preservation of heritage, and proximity to schools and religious facilities)

extent of regulatory oversight and extent and cost of compliance

Procedures

Procedures include:

all work instructions, standard operating procedures, formulas/recipes, batch sheets, temporary instructions and similar instructions provided for the smooth running of the plant

good operating practice as may be defined by industry codes of practice (e.g. good manufacturing practice (GMP) and responsible care) and government regulations

Procedures may be:

written, verbal, computer-based or in some other form

TPM

TPM refers to:

the strategic application of total quality management to maintenance with the intention of increasing reliability, getting it right first time and increasing overall equipment efficiency (OEE)

RCM

RCM refers to:

a strategy which moves maintenance from reactive, or even planned/programmed, towards a focus on uptime and OEE

Similar strategies

Mean time between failure (MTBF):

is one key measure of the effectiveness of a maintenance procedure, and is an indicator as to whether root causes are being found and resolved. If MTBF is reducing, then it is an indicator that the maintenance regime is failing

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA):

is a systematic approach that identifies potential failure modes in a system, product, or manufacturing/assembly operation caused by either design or manufacturing/assembly process deficiencies. It also identifies critical or significant design or process characteristics that require special controls to prevent or detect failure modes. FMEA is a tool used to prevent problems from occurring

Some industry sectors have highly adapted forms of FMEA and may practice traditional FMEA in their routine maintenance while using another technique, such as hazard and operability studies (HAZOP), for design and modification

HAZOP is:

a form of FMEA which has been practiced by the process industries for over 30 years and examines the implications of changes in process conditions to process stability

Condition monitoring:

involves monitoring of equipment usually through technical analysis or visual inspection of:

performance in use, including vibration monitoring, noise and extent of exhausts

instrumental analysis of lubricating oil and exhausts

components, such as bearings, seals and hoses

to determine the current state of the equipment, monitor the change in this condition and predict when it needs servicing/maintenance to maintain reliability and performance against sustainability related criteria (e.g. emissions)

OEE

OEE is:

the combination of the main factors causing loss of productive capacity from equipment/plant and is where:

availability takes into account losses due to breakdown, set-up and adjustments

performance takes into account losses due to minor stoppages, reduced speed and idling

quality rate takes into account the losses due to rejects, reworks and start-up waste

Maintenance practices

Maintenance practices are the detailed application of the maintenance strategy to individual items of equipment and the maintenance responsibilities and tasks to employees and contractors. Examples that may impact on sustainability include:

increased inspection frequency of equipment above minimum requirements

lubrication and filter changeovers above minimum requirements in order to achieve higher environmental performance

replacement at set intervals to eliminate/reduce breakdowns

duplicate circuits

remote monitoring

increased training of operators in equipment monitoring and minor maintenance