Abstract
Maintenance, preserving well-established status, and changes, which constitute the basis for innovation and improvement, are the daily business of all employees responsible for process plants. As indicated in various legal and technical standards, the relevant methods to ensure both occupational safety and process safety are hazard analysis and risk assessment.
In practice, the accident rate of maintenance work is still a major focus point. Besides the human tragedy involved with these accidents, the financial loss due to business interruption and image loss may jeopardize the future of hitherto successful companies. Moreover, managers in charge at the time of the accidents could face prosecution. Therefore, safety, with its social, legal and economical aspects must be an integral part of any overall business optimization strategy.
To improve safety during maintenance works, the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry (Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie, BG RCI) has developed safety briefing sets, which enable superiors to share their knowledge about safe working to their subordinates and colleagues, for example within an awareness campaign.
