Carrying out preventative planned maintenance on instrumentation and control equipment
Overview
This standard identifies the competences you need to carry out preventative planned maintenance activities on instrumentation and control equipment, in accordance with approved procedures. You will be required to carry out the planned maintenance activities on instrumentation and control equipment such as pressure, flow, level and temperature instruments; fiscal monitoring equipment; smoke, heat, gas, water, chemical and metal detection and alarm systems; industrial weighing systems; linear and rotational speed measurement and control; vibration monitoring equipment; photo-optic instruments; nucleonic and radiation measurement; analysers recorders and indicators; telemetry systems; emergency shutdown systems and other specific instrumentation. This will involve checking and maintaining a range of equipment and components such as valves, actuators, sensors, switches, transmitters, transducers, transponders, wires/cables, pipework and hoses, in order to minimise down time, and to ensure that the instrumentation and control equipment perform at optimum level and function to specification.
Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for the planned maintenance activities undertaken, and to report any problems with these activities or with the tools and equipment used that you cannot personally resolve, or that are outside your permitted authority, to the relevant people. You must ensure that all tools, equipment and materials used in the maintenance activities are removed from the work area on completion of the activities, and that all necessary job/task documentation is completed accurately and legibly.
You will be expected to work with a minimum of supervision, taking personal responsibility for your own actions, and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.
Your underpinning knowledge will provide a good understanding of your work, and will provide an informed approach to applying planned maintenance procedures to instrumentation and control equipment. You will understand the process of developing planned maintenance, and its application, and will know about the maintenance criteria in adequate depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out the activities safely and effectively, and for ensuring that the system is maintained to the required specification and remains compliant with all standards and regulations. In addition, you will be expected to report where the outcome of the maintenance activity identifies the need for further investigation or maintenance work.
You will understand the safety precautions required when carrying out the maintenance activities, especially those for isolating the equipment and for taking the necessary safeguards to protect yourself and others in the workplace. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- work safely at all times, complying with health and safety legislation and other relevant regulations, directives and guidelines
- follow the relevant maintenance schedules to carry out the required work
- carry out the maintenance activities within the limits of your personal authority
- carry out the maintenance activities in the specified sequence and in an agreed timescale
- report any instances where the maintenance activities cannot be fully met or where there are identified defects outside the planned schedule
- complete and store all relevant maintenance documentation in accordance with organisational requirements
- dispose of waste materials in accordance with safe working practices and approved procedures and leave the work area in a safe condition
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the health and safety requirements of the area in which the preventative maintenance activity is to take place, and the responsibility these requirements place on you
- the isolation procedures or permit-to-work procedure that applies to the instrumentation and control equipment being maintained
- the specific health and safety precautions to be applied during the planned maintenance activities, and their effects on others
- what constitutes a hazardous voltage and how to recognise victims of electric shock
- how to reduce the risks of a phase to earth shock (such as insulated tools, rubber matting and isolating transformers)
- the importance of wearing protective clothing and other appropriate safety equipment (PPE) during the maintenance activities
- hazards associated with carrying out maintenance activities on instrumentation and control systems (such as handling fluids, stored pressure/force, electrical supplies, process controller interface, using damaged or badly maintained tools and equipment, not following laid-down maintenance procedures), and how to minimise these and reduce any risks
- how to make sensory checks (by sight, sound, smell, touch)
- where to obtain, and how to interpret drawings, schematic and physical diagrams, specifications, flow charts, manufacturers' manuals, maintenance schedules and other documents required for the maintenance activities
- the various planned maintenance schedules that are generally used (such as condition based maintenance, scheduled maintenance and total preventative maintenance (TPM)
- the schedules and methods to be followed, in compliance with organisational procedures for planned maintenance on instrumentation and control equipment
- the basic principles of how the system functions, its operating sequence, the working purpose of individual units/components and how they interact
- the equipment operating and control procedures, and how to apply them along with the planned maintenance procedures
- the reasons for making sure that control systems are isolated or put into manual control, and appropriate trip locks, keys or program overrides are inserted, before removing any sensors or instruments from the system
- the identification of instrument sensors (including how to identify their markings, calibration information, operating parameters and working range)
- methods of checking and calibrating instruments, and the type and range of equipment that can be used
- the testing methods and procedures to be used to check that the system conforms within acceptable limits
- the procedure for obtaining consumables and `lifed' items that will require replacing during the planned maintenance activity
- organisational policy on the repair/replacement of components during the maintenance process
- how to make adjustments to components/assemblies to ensure that they function to specification
- how to compile planned maintenance records/logs/reports, which comply with organisational policy and procedures
- the problems that can occur whilst carrying out planned maintenance activities, and how they can be avoided
- the organisational procedure to be adopted for the safe disposal of waste of all types of material
- the extent of your own authority and to whom you should report if you have problems that you cannot resolve
Scope/range
Carry out all of the following during the planned maintenance activities:
- plan and communicate the maintenance activities so as to minimise any disruption to normal working
- obtain and use the correct issue of organisational and/or manufacturers' drawings and maintenance documentation
- adhere to procedures or systems in place for risk assessment, COSHH, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other relevant safety regulations
- where appropriate, ensure the insertion, or program override, of any relevant system trip defeats (such as fire extinguishant, emergency shutdown)
- ensure the safe isolation of instruments (such as process, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical)
- provide and maintain safe access and working arrangements for the maintenance area
- carry out the maintenance activities, using appropriate techniques and procedures
- functionally test and adjust equipment to specification
- re-connect and return the system to service on completion of the maintenance activities
- dispose of waste materials in accordance with safe working practices and approved procedures, and leave the work area in a safe condition
Carry out planned maintenance activities on four of the following types of instrumentation and control equipment:
- pressure (such as absolute, gauge, vacuum)
- flow (such as orifice plate, venturi tube, electromagnetic, ultrasonic, differential pressure cell, positive displacement)
- level (such as floats, displacer, differential pressure cells, load cells, ultrasonic, conductivity)
- temperature (such as bi-metallic, thermocouples, resistance, infra-red, thermal imaging)
- weight (such as mechanical systems, load cells/strain gauges, transducers)
- fiscal metering (such as gas, electricity, water, fuel)
- detection and alarm (such as smoke, heat, gas, chemical, water, metal)
- speed measurement (such as mechanical, electrical, stroboscopic)
- emergency shutdown
- speed control (such as mechanical governors, electrical governors, DC speed controller, AC motor control systems, stepper motors, invertors)
- vibration monitoring (such as vibration switches, proximity probes, seismic velocity transducer, linear variable differential transformers, portable data collectors)
- nucleonic and radiation (such as Geiger-Muller tube, neutron counter, photomultiplier tube, proportional counter)
- analysers (such as gas detection, spectroscopy, oxygen analyser, water analysis, moisture measurement, density)
- recorders and indicators
- telemetry systems (such as master station, outstation, stand alone systems)
- valves and valve mechanisms (such as control valves, valve actuators and positioners)
- other specific instrumentation or control equipment
Carry out planned maintenance activities, using one of the following types of maintenance schedule:
- condition based maintenance
- scheduled maintenance
- preventative planned maintenance
- total preventative maintenance (TPM)
Carry out twelve of the following planned maintenance activities:
- removal of excessive dirt and grime from instruments and sensing elements
- visual examination and testing of the instrumentation against the maintenance schedule
- checking condition of all pipework and connections (such as free from damage, correctly secured, leak free)
- checking condition of all cables/wires and connectors (such as free from damage, correctly clipped up)
- checking correct operation of all gauges and sensors
- checking correct operation of warning and alarm systems (such as smoke detectors, alarms and lights)
- monitoring of component condition/deterioration
- replacing `lifed' consumables (such as filters, fluids, back-up batteries)
- making routine adjustments (such as setting working clearance, adjusting actuator mechanisms)
- making sensory checks (such as sight, sound, smell, touch)
- carrying out system self-analysis checks
- carrying out leak checks on all connections
- testing and reviewing system operation
- confirming that signal measurement and transmission are satisfactory
- recording the results of the maintenance, and reporting any defects found
Ensure that the maintained instrumentation and control equipment/system meets all of the following:
- equipment remains compliant with appropriate regulations and safety requirements
- all planned maintenance activities have been completed to the required schedule
- instrumentation and control equipment operates within acceptable limits for successful continuous operation
- any potential defects are identified and reported for future action
Complete and store all relevant maintenance documentation in accordance with organisational requirements, using one of the following:
- maintenance log or report
- organisational-specific documentation
- job cards
- permit to work/formal risk assessment and/or sign-on/off procedures
- electronic reports