There is no shame in using checklists for maintenance reliability

by Terrence O'Hanlon, Publisher and CEO Reliabilityweb.com and Uptime Magazine

Astronauts use them, airline pilots use them, lawyers use them, doctors and medical specialists use them but many maintenance team members do NOT use them.

I am talking about checklists.

There is no shame in using checklists for maintenance reliability.  Checklists can help us remember the things we already know how to do but may overlook because we do the task so often.  Can you imagine a pilot failing to check the fuel level before taking off?  It is a major cause of aviation incidents and accidents. (Remember that next time a friend offers to take you in in his Cessna.)

With an aging workforce and unskilled replacements, companies are finding it challenging to maintain the same workforce performance levels previously achieved.  Checklists are one element that can help capture some of that workforce knowledge.

Most us find it hard to recall a list that is longer than 5-7 steps, especially in a pressurized or reactive environment.  Checklists are an excellent stress reducer.  They can make our loves simpler and much more productive.

In his paper titled “Procedure based Maintenance”, Jack Nicholas Jr. states, “that in the field of maintenance the traditional approach has been to rely upon the intuitive knowledge and skill of the crafts-persons who conduct it. There is a great deal of pride of workmanship and, in all too many organizations, a great deal of psychic income in addition to significant overtime pay for successful emergency repairs to return equipment to operation after unplanned shutdowns.”

Jeff Shiver, CMRP of People and Processes reflects on the value of using checklists for maintenance planning stating “in visiting various locations, I find that many established Planners don’t have a process to ensure consistency in their planning approach. Sure, the initial job plan can be simple such as the identification of crafts required, estimated hours, and a list of the required materials as a minimum. But that’s just a start and you should be using a continuous feedback loop to improve it over time for repetitive tasks. Ensure consistency by using a checklist.”

Here is a checklist designed to aid the checklist creation process and ensure that your checklist helps instead of hurts.

Download the PDF Version of the checklist for creating a checklist here

The use of checklists is becoming a buzzword in literary circles so expect that to flow downhill at your company as your CEO read the latest on the New York Times best seller list (see below). 

Malcomb Gladwell posted a review of the best selling book The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (ISBN 978-0312430009) on Amazon.com “The Checklist Manifesto, begins on familiar ground, with his experiences as a surgeon. But before long it becomes clear that he is really interested in a problem that afflicts virtually every aspect of the modern world--and that is how professionals deal with the increasing complexity of their responsibilities. It has been years since I read a book so powerful and so thought-provoking.

Gawande begins by making a distinction between errors of ignorance (mistakes we make because we don't know enough), and errors of ineptitude (mistakes we made because we don’t make proper use of what we know). Failure in the modern world, he writes, is really about the second of these errors, and he walks us through a series of examples from medicine showing how the routine tasks of surgeons have now become so incredibly complicated that mistakes of one kind or another are virtually inevitable: it's just too easy for an otherwise competent doctor to miss a step, or forget to ask a key question or, in the stress and pressure of the moment, to fail to plan properly for every eventuality. Gawande then visits with pilots and the people who build skyscrapers and comes back with a solution. Experts need checklists--literally--written guides that walk them through the key steps in any complex procedure. In the last section of the book, Gawande shows how his research team has taken this idea, developed a safe surgery checklist, and applied it around the world, with staggering success.”

If you do not already do so, you should consider creating checklists to ensure consistency and compliance for the maintenance related tasks that ensure reliability at your company.

I would like to hear about your experiences with checklists or better yet, please share your checklists or your procedure for creating checklists with me! 

Thank you for reading this post.