A Brief Introduction to Maintenance Training
Learn more about maintenance training and how it can help your organization keep your tools and equipment in optimal condition.
Published 31 Oct 2024
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4 min read
What is Maintenance Training?
Maintenance training refers to learning and upskilling tasks to better inform and equip maintenance workers with the necessary skills for their jobs. It involves seminars, learning materials, meetings, and hands-on training sessions.
Importance
Maintenance training is an important part of any business, particularly in ensuring workplace safety and equipment efficiency and condition. Before properly performing maintenance tasks, training is essential to make sure your employees are aware of the right safety procedures before, during, and after work. Regular maintenance training also helps ensure that workers are updated on any possible changes in practices.
Regular maintenance training also helps with the following:
Improving productivity in the workplace
Encouraging employees to work faster and respond quicker
Reduced cost on issues caused by improper maintenance practices from lack of training or outsourcing workers
Increasing the lifespan of your equipment with the right maintenance procedures
Lessening the chances of injuries from improper or unsafe maintenance practices
Types of Maintenance Training
There are four main types of maintenance, namely routine or preventive, planned, corrective, and predictive maintenance. Following this, there are different maintenance training tasks associated with each one.
Routine or Preventive Maintenance Training
For this type of maintenance, common training plans include doing the following:
Conducting regular training sessions on repair work for equipment that needs routine maintenance
Orienting workers on how to spot signs of damage, wear and tear, and potential issues
Practicing safety procedures and emergency practices to follow
Planned Maintenance Training
Training for planned maintenance is almost the same as training for routine or preventive maintenance tasks. However, since planned maintenance is more time-consuming, the training needed for it can be more complex depending on the situation and equipment to be maintained.
Corrective Maintenance Training
Corrective maintenance training has some differences from the other types of maintenance training since it deals with fixing issues as they happen or after. Training for corrective maintenance includes:
Learning troubleshooting skills for diagnosing issues accurately and quickly
Practicing techniques for swift repairs to minimize downtime
Replacing damaged or worn-out components quickly and efficiently
Communicating to coordinate responses during breakdowns
Predictive Maintenance Training
Compared to the other types of maintenance training, predictive maintenance is often more focused on how to determine the appropriate schedule for planned and corrective maintenance to avoid issues or predict their possibilities. Training for this type of maintenance typically includes the following:
Understanding the data generated by sensors and monitoring tools
Interpreting data to predict when maintenance is needed
Learning how to use the equipment and software for data collection
Creating reports and sharing findings with relevant stakeholders
Uses for Maintenance Training
Maintenance training is necessary for all fields that require maintenance for their assets and equipment. Common uses for maintenance training include:
Aviation maintenance
Forklift maintenance
Elevator maintenance
Vehicle maintenance
Computer and IT maintenance
What to Include in a Maintenance Training Course
Each maintenance training course will differ depending on the industry, need, and resources available. However, an ideal maintenance training program should have the following:
Clear schedule of when training should be held
Plan for who will manage the training program
Lesson plan suited to your workers’ needs and the work environment
Supplementary materials for workers to do further or additional study
It is important to be aware that each worker has different needs and responsibilities that need to be considered during the training program. It is very likely that, in some cases, not all workers may be able to attend or learn at the same pace as others. In order to best accommodate everyone and their needs, it would be best to have a digital solution to help you out.
A digital training platform allows for more flexibility in training courses, as well as in completing them. It provides resources for workers on the go, as well as encourages them to learn in ways that are engaging and easy to track with analytics.
Efficiently Conduct Maintenance Training Programs with SafetyCulture
Why SafetyCulture?
Maintenance training programs can be difficult to carry out, however, with a digital operation platform that comes with a learning and upskilling solution for workers, you can conduct and promote maintenance training anytime and anywhere, allowing workers to study with flexibility. In particular, using a platform to create and manage training courses for each kind of maintenance need that can be accessed on any mobile device allows workers to learn and train in a way that is beneficial and effective to them, all while complying with deadlines and timelines set by management.
One such platform you can use for you and your workers is SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor). Ready for both mobile and desktop use, SafetyCulture is an operations platform that can be used anytime and anywhere as a training resource for groups and individuals. Through this, you can create and manage a maintenance training schedule and program, as well as monitor the progress of your team or organization.
Use premade course templates to get started and edit them as you see fit, or have the option to create your own from scratch. All courses can be accessed at all times, making them suitable as a training session’s main material or supplementary materials after. At the end of each training session supplemented with SafetyCulture’s Training feature, analytical reports can be generated to monitor training progress and make changes as needed.
As an operations platform, with the right training, SafetyCulture can also help streamline maintenance tasks and workflow. With this mobile-first tool, alongside training staff, you can also do the following:
Schedule training sessions and reviews in-app
Report issues with training and maintenance tasks
Address spotted problems by creating corrective actions
Communicate maintenance activities with your team or organization with Heads Up
Monitor the movement of assets and their maintenance schedules in one place
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