Carrying out maintenance of treatment processing plant and equipment

Overview

This Standard is about carrying out maintenance work on treatment processing plant and equipment to ensure the treatment process operates efficiently.

This Standard is suitable for operators carrying out first line maintenance as well as third party contractors carrying out maintenance on water, waste water, or sludge treatment processing plant and equipment.

Performance Criteria

You must be able to:

  1. arrange for all materials, tools and parts to be available as recommended by manufacturers
  2. shut down or isolate, or request designated personnel to shut down or isolate, electrical and mechanical instruments and equipment being worked on
  3. operate treatment processes without the use of computer systems, or where there is a computer failure, to the required standard
  4. carry out maintenance within agreed timescales and in the specified sequence using procedures specific to the site
  5. follow manufacturers' specifications and safety procedures for dealing with instruments and equipment
  6. check that safety monitoring procedures and equipment are in place and functioning throughout the maintenance work
  7. make sure that work is carried out using equipment, tools and procedures specific to the site
  8. restore plant and equipment to specified operational performance when maintenance is finished, in line with organisational requirements and safety procedures
  9. make sure waste materials and unwanted components are disposed of in accordance with safe working practices and approved procedures
  10. report malfunctions of instrumentation, equipment or the plant environment promptly to the designated personnel
  11. report malfunctions and maintenance requirements which are outside the responsibility for the job role and which require designated skilled people or maintenance work
  12. report any instances where maintenance activities cannot be met or where defects are identified
  13. provide maintenance reports to designated personnel where decisions outside your authority are required
  14.  identify malfunctions or other maintenance which might be required using performance checks, observation, noise, heat, vibration and remote monitoring
  15. inform affected personnel when plant and equipment is to be shut down and when to expect plant and equipment to be re-started and re-commissioned
  16. issue and display safety warnings in advance of operational changes to plant and equipment
  17. record maintenance work in the designated place
  18. store maintenance records in an auditable format
  19. provide access to maintenance records on request

Knowledge & Understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. the organisation’s process for safe working practices when dealing with equipment, instrumentation and environment
  2. the role and purpose of data audit trails in quality assurance, health and safety and regulatory requirements
  3. the organisation’s operation and maintenance methods and procedures and consequences of carrying out maintenance incorrectly and/or outwith limits of responsibility and authority
  4. who to contact when maintenance and problems affecting treatment operations occur
  5. procedures and the factors to be considered for isolation, diverting flows, bypassing treatment process units, operating temporary plant  and shut down of plant and equipment, and who has authority to carry this out
  6. typical and unusual problems which may occur during maintenance and how these can be resolved
  7. the need for information which is provided to other people relating to maintenance activities
  8. how to source materials and parts
  9. the characteristics of faulty equipment and instrumentation and the outcome of equipment and instrumentation breakdown
  10. why it is important to comply with the organisation’s confidentiality policies and cyber security protocols
  11. the organisation’s process for operating treatment processes when there is a computer system failure
  12. the impact of changes in the catchment or distribution system on treatment process operations
  13. why it is important to maintain site security
  14. mechanical and electrical principles for maintenance of treatment process plant and equipment
  15. the organisation’s procedures for recording and storing information
  16. how and when to produce data in text, tabular and graphical formats and how to interpret it