Bad maintenance practices tend to sneak into the way things get done. Here are three more to guard against:
Bad Practice #38 — Erasing Forensic Evidence.
Whether involved in a rush repair job or noticing something wrong during a crammed routine maintenance schedule, take care to preserve evidence of such things as carbon tracks, loose connections, and moisture damage. Yes, repair these things — but photograph and document them first.
Bad Practice #39 — Erasing Adjustment Drift Evidence.
Always take “as found” measurements and document existing settings before changing settings on adjustable breakers, process controls, and other equipment.
Bad Practice #40 — Merely Filing or Archiving Evidence of Problems.
Preserving evidence is good, but you need to tie things together through analysis and trending to determine and solve for the root cause. You also need to determine if a problem is a “one-off” or a recurring one that needs extra attention. If maintenance reports repeatedly show water ingress at a breaker panel, that problem needs to be investigated rather than just recorded for posterity’s sake.
