One of the greatest challenges facing utilities providers is the fact that much of the infrastructure for energy distribution is old and in need of repair or upgrades. The age of these systems makes it very challenging to prevent breakdowns and malfunctions.
Inconveniencing customers would be bad enough. Unfortunately, these system failures also pose a serious risk to the workers tasked with maintaining and repairing them. Every electrician or engineer dreads working on old equipment because they know the risks are higher.
The best way for utilities companies to protect their workers, then, is to set up effective preventative maintenance programs. Doing so will improve the integrity of the infrastructure, which reduces the likelihood of a breakdown. And the fewer breakdowns, the fewer workers and contractors will have to put their safety at risk d
oing repair tasks.
(Find out how to Effectively Eliminate Breakdowns with Total Productive Maintenance)
The better the maintenance programs, the safer the workers. That's why utilities companies should compile and analyze the data their technicians collect in the field. This will help them predict which components of the system will fail, when it will fail, and where accidents are most likely to occur. Scheduling maintenance around those projections will significantly reduce the number of problems associated with aging infrastructure.
That data will also help managers decide which areas of the system needs an update and which updates are most urgent. Following the data when doing upgrades will maximize the lifespan on the system without compromising the safety of the people who work on it.