Electrical Preventive Maintenance Checklist and How-To Guide

You walk into your office on a Monday morning, only to find your computers, lights, and essential machinery inoperable. Such a scenario isn’t just inconvenient; it’s a direct hit to your business’s productivity and safety. This is where the unsung hero of the workplace, electrical preventive maintenance, comes into play.

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In this article, we’ll dive into the nitty-gritty of electrical preventive maintenance, laying out a comprehensive checklist and guiding you through setting up an effective electrical service plan. With a blend of expert advice and user-friendly software solutions, we’ll show you how to keep your business running smoothly and safely, backed by hard-hitting UK fire statistics that underline the importance of regular electrical maintenance.

Key Takeaways

What Is Electrical Maintenance?

During electrical maintenance appointments, electrical systems are tested, monitored, fixed, and broken parts are replaced. These maintenance procedures involve all critical equipment – lighting and electrical distribution systems, generators, transformers, machines and digital communication tools, such as computers. These maintenance appointments can be conducted internally by a certified employee or externally.

Electrical Preventive Maintenance

What Is Electrical Preventive Maintenance?

To make sure that every piece of electric equipment is in perfect working order and doesn’t pose a hazard, regular preventive maintenance is a must. That means setting regular maintenance and service intervals before a problem occurs. Waiting for important equipment to break before taking steps to repair it is a recipe for disaster. In a best-case scenario, the machine will break and cause unexpected downtime, leading to decreased productivity and a loss of money. In a worst-case scenario, it could lead to an electrical fire that endangers the health and safety of your employees.

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Managing maintenance is quite a challenge. A maintenance management software helps you to easily manage processes for thousands of assets.

What Is a Preventive Electrical Maintenance Schedule?

An electrical preventive maintenance plan or schedule sets the base for regular maintenance and service appointments. Depending on the type of equipment that is being serviced, government regulations and guidelines might recommend or dictate a specific interval. Not only does it determine when certain machines need to be checked, but it also provides an electrical preventive maintenance checklist with all necessary steps that need to be taken to ensure your equipment runs smoothly.

If you are interested in creating a maintenance schedule yourself, you might want to check out this blog article about creating an effective preventive maintenance program in 8 steps.

Electrical Preventive Maintenance

Where Is Electrical Maintenance Performed?

In Residential Locations

While preventive maintenance of electrical equipment is of extreme importance for businesses and public buildings, it also shouldn’t be neglected for residential homes. As the above statistic mentioned, approximately 20,000 fires of electrical origin happen in UK dwellings each year. The risk for these types of accidents can be prevented with proper preventive maintenance.

In Industrial & Commercial Establishments

Factories and commercial establishments are just as likely to suffer from electrical fires due to the number of electrical devices they operate. Electric motor preventive maintenance can help keep machines running and avoid downtime. Business owners are not only responsible for the equipment and location, but have a responsibility to their workers as well. That means ensuring their safety when working around and with electrical equipment is a top priority.

Prevent Unexpected Downtime

In Healthcare

Hospitals, private practices, and nursing homes often work with a vast array of critical equipment that should receive electrical preventive maintenance on a regular basis. The health and safety of staff and patients depend on this type of medical equipment working perfectly at all times. Hospitals equipped with an emergency power supply also need to make sure this is serviced at regular intervals to still be able to treat patients in case of power outages or emergencies.

Electrical Preventive Maintenance Checklist:

Regular Inspections and Repairs

Every piece of electrical equipment that a household or company operates should be inspected regularly – be it an expensive forklift or something as insignificant as a kettle. Depending on the type of equipment, this can happen at varying intervals. Pre-emptive inspections can uncover flaws long before they lead to graver issues so that the device or machine can be repaired or replaced on time. This prevents damage and malfunctions to electrical connections and local networks.

Examine Electrical Distribution Systems

Not just electrical devices, but the entire electrical distribution system should be part of the electrical preventive maintenance. Faults and flaws that could potentially lead to electrical fires can be uncovered by a certified electrical inspector. Fixing or replacing faulty parts prevents power outages, fires, or even fatalities.

Remember Service Equipment

Service equipment that is vital to your company should also not be forgotten when an electrical preventive maintenance plan is made. Every piece of critical equipment that is needed for your business to function has to be included.

Electrical Preventive Maintenance

Check Lighting Systems

Lighting systems are a part of the electrical preventive maintenance schedule that can be easily overlooked. Electric light is an ingrained part of our day-to-day lives that we don’t really think about until it’s gone. To make sure that everything is in working order and to avoid outages, even the lighting system has to be checked on a regular basis.

Monitor Electrical Systems in Hazardous Locations

Hazardous locations can be a dangerous environment to work in – even more so if an electrical fault causes a fire. This is why it is especially important to stick to the electrical preventive maintenance schedule to avoid accidents, breakdowns, and potential fires.

Examine Special Occupancy Units

Not just residential homes or workplaces can be at risk for electrical malfunctions. Electrical systems at schools, prisons, hospitals, daycare centres and other public buildings also need regular maintenance to ensure the safety of the public.

Checking for Signs of Electrical Malfunction

Electrical malfunctions are one of the leading causes of electrical fires, so they need to be avoided at all costs. By conducting regular maintenance checks, a certified electrician can spot weaknesses and look out for signs of malfunction before they become a problem.

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Maintenance Management Software

A clever asset and maintenance management software like ToolSense will greatly improve your workflow when it comes to maintenance and servicing. You can set service and maintenance intervals for each individual asset, and the software will remind you when the next appointment is due. You can also keep track of your equipment’s location, runtime, downtime and much more. Repairs, spare part requests, and work orders are all stored in an asset’s lifecycle folder along with photos, videos, and warranty information. Everything you need to know about your machines will be kept in one easily accessible place. Because the electrical preventive maintenance software is cloud-based, it can be accessed from any device and any location.

Maintenance Management Software Dashboard

The Benefits of Electrical Preventive Maintenance

How ToolSense Improves Your Maintenance Management

Conclusion

Electrical preventive maintenance is important for a number of reasons. An electrical preventive maintenance software can help ensure the safety of your staff, keep all your important equipment running, and save money on unexpected repairs. With ToolSense, you receive an easy-to-use and cloud-based asset management solution that all your employees can operate. With all the information around your equipment in one place, developing and sticking to an electrical preventive maintenance program is easy.

FAQ

What Is a Preventive Maintenance Plan?

A preventive maintenance plan determines service intervals and appointments to make sure a piece of equipment functions perfectly. It also specifies which parts need to be checked or replaced.

What Is Preventive Maintenance?

Preventive maintenance services a piece of equipment at regular intervals to make sure that it is in perfect working order. Faults can be determined and fixed before they cause larger issues.

What Is Electrical Preventative Maintenance?

During preventive maintenance appointments, electrical equipment is serviced to make sure that it functions correctly and is safe to use. Electrical maintenance encompasses all electrical components of the infrastructure.

How Do You Prepare a Preventive Maintenance Schedule?

With the help of equipment data, you can determine which machines to prioritise according to maintenance needs, set suitable intervals and specify which parts need to be checked. Once the schedule has been in use for a while, it is recommended to assess the success and make adjustments.