Summer and vacations are highly anticipated by the workforce, but at the same time offer an excellent opportunity to apply maintenance, repair and cleaning tasks. Especially in machinery, refrigeration systems, equipment and computer networks, which during the rest of the year carry out vital tasks for the operation of a company.
Summer has always been a synonym for vacations, rest and relaxation for most workers. However, it is also an ideal time to carry out specific maintenance tasks, due to less activity.
This circumstance offers an excellent opportunity to implement essential tasks such as equipment review, component replacement, machinery repair or training new operators, without causing serious delays in production or undermining the operations of the company.
Therefore, experts recommend implementing at this time, as far as possible, all those tasks necessary to ensure adequate performance of infrastructure and mechanical and technological equipment, as well as human capital.
Machinery and infrastructure
As we have analyzed in other posts, maintenance work has a direct impact on both the productivity of a company, as well as the quality and value of its assets.
This is because all good maintenance provides the following advantages:
- Avoid and reduce losses due to stoppages in production or irreparable damage to machinery and infrastructure.
- Reduces the number of incidents due to breakdowns, wear of parts or lack of material.
- Corrects defects or deterioration (such as oxidation, corrosion and wear), which lengthens the useful life of installations, machinery, equipment and dependencies.
- Avoid mishaps, and even accidents at work, by ensuring the proper functioning of critical facilities and equipment.
- Improves the perception of the company to its customers and target audience.
And since in summer the pace of work is usually significantly slower, it is possible to carry out review, inspection and repair processes in more detail, without having the pressure of deadlines or compliance with the respective production quotas.
In short, it will be possible to detect with greater fluidity and tranquility any failure or malfunction of equipment. This will increase the safety and productivity of the facilities, and help reduce operating costs.
For example, this time will be useful to carry out a detailed inspection of all the machinery, tools, parts or components that experience constant and intense wear (such as drills, crushers, cranes, transport lines, ovens and electrical equipment, among others).
We can also carry out a thorough cleaning of the industrial warehouse, accessing areas where there is accumulated excessive dust or dirt, and to which normally it would not be possible to have access, due to the heavy daily workload.
A concrete example is the cleaning of industrial ceilings. Removing dust from this area can be essential to keep illnesses and allergies suffered by workers at bay. Applying this task thoroughly in summer would allow that during the rest of the year we only carry out a simple cleaning in order to maintain the necessary cleanliness.
Ventilation and air conditioning systems
Similarly, summer is an ideal period to check the operation and condition of air conditioning systems. Although the high temperatures make it very necessary during the day, the lower presence of operators and workers would allow us to disconnect it for longer periods, in order to check in detail its correct operation.
This implies verifying the status of its networks, pipes, cooling-heating systems, motors and power supplies, among other relevant items.
Likewise, it is important to note that, regardless of the ambient temperature, the lack of maintenance in the ventilation systems can also cause respiratory problems caused by the germs that are housed and transported through its ducts. Therefore, it is essential to take extreme hygiene measures.
In this way, some corrective actions that can be implemented during the summer in air conditioning and refrigeration systems, which will also help maintain the productivity of the company, are the following:
- Control the temperature. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is recommended not to exceed 32 degrees during the day and 24 degrees at night. Thus, the ideal temperature in summer in the office should fluctuate between 23°C and 26°C.
- Adjust schedules. In jobs that are carried out in interior spaces, and that require the use of air conditioning, it saves energy and reduces the overload of equipment in times of very high demand.
- Promote labor flexibility. Offering employees the opportunity to work from home is a good option to avoid complications due to high temperatures, while ensuring the productivity and efficiency of the workforce and lower costs in the company’s facilities.
Tips for a basic verification checklist
Although summer is an ideal time to undertake maintenance tasks postponed during the rest of the year, it is not always certain which elements should be checked or repaired. Therefore, it is convenient to have a backup checklist that considers the most essential aspects according to the characteristics of each company.
This list, which can also be based on specialized applications or software, could consider some of the following points:
Make a backup of the data
It is a fundamental task for the management and security of the company to make a backup copy of all the documents, reports and files that have been collected both in the workstations and in the servers. And since the volume of work decreases in summer, it is the ideal time to implement it as soon as possible.
Fix the bugs
Do we need to reform a room or office? Is it necessary to repair any glass? Or perhaps; Is it required to paint several walls? Then we can take advantage of summer time to do all the physical reforms in the infrastructure, without excessively bothering the workforce. Also, when workers return from their vacations, they will surely feel much more comfortable and grateful to have a remodeled workspace.
Review all service facilities
As we have seen previously, it is convenient to verify the good condition and operation of the air conditioning installations. To this task we must add a complete revision of gas networks, Internet service, pipes and electrical wiring. It is essential to solve as soon as possible any failure that could make workers uncomfortable, or cause an eventual accident.
Check computer software and hardware
Computer equipment must be in good condition. And summer is the ideal time to check and correct any fault that has been detected during the course of the year, both in the units themselves (hard disk, memory and processors), and in peripheral devices (keyboard and mouse, among others).
Improve visible infrastructure
The central offices and their respective regional or local offices represent the image and very first impression of the company to whole people. Especially the facades. For this reason, it is very positive to take advantage of the vacation period to repair or remodel all the visible spaces for workers and clients that have any noticeable damage or wear.
Improve internal distribution
If the working days still include high attendance, it will always be positive to change the internal order of the furniture and improve the general appearance of the company or office. Especially if the space is better distributed. This will generate a better work environment and will contribute to the satisfactory achievement of the general objectives of the company.
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