Lubrication Roles and Responsibilities

 Lubrication Roles and Responsibilities

 

Lubrication accounts for a significant proportion of equipment failures in many organizations, known and unknown. Improper lubrication practices are at the heart of many equipment reliability issues.

Studies have shown that 70-85% of equipment failures are human induced, simply stated, maintenance/production practices and processes are directly responsible for these failures.

 

In a survey conducted online, companies responded that poor lubrication practices represent about 40% of maintenance-related human induced failures. In the same study, more than 80% of respondents stated that they consider lubrication to be a significant problem in their operation.

 

Albert Einstein once stated:

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results”

As such discipline is not an option in order to mitigate the chance of failure due to improper lubrication practices. Discipline is often seen as a confrontation word however it this further from the truth.

 

Webster’s Dictionary defines discipline as “a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity”

 

Repeatability and continuity are not an option if one wants sustainability and continuous improvement. Continuous improvement can only be introduced into a process once sustainability has been demonstrated with discipline.

 

Lubrication discipline is a requirement and not an option if an organization wants to mitigate “human induced failures”.

One method to mitigate human induced failures would be to define Roles and Responsibilities in Lubrication Best Practices in your organization using the RACI Model.

Having been educated in the RACI Model may years ago I wonder why few organizations apply this model to their critical processes and I consider lubrication is a critical process in maintenance anmd production.

 

The process for creating a RACI Model requires:

Defined processes for lubrication best practices as they apply to:

> Hydraulics > Bearings > Adding oil to a oil mist regulator/reservoir 

> etc. How do you ensure Lubrication Practices are followed? 

The Author: Ricky Smith CMRP, CMRT, CRL

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