Maintenance staffs require a wide range of skills to provide the level of service and reliability that guests expect. Your maintenance staff have to be on target, all the time. Every assignment must be done right, every activity must be done when required, and mistakes are simply not an option. To approach this ideal, they need a solid system of procedures—and a commitment to follow them.

The obstacles are many. Maintenance mechanics may or may not have formal trade training (millwrighting, welding, and electronics to name a few). The nature and location of the work further complicate maintenance activities. Given the unique demands of the work environment, maintenance staff must use the best available processes and procedures to ensure that their work is done to the highest possible standard and in the safest possible manner. What they need, in short, is a state-of-the-art maintenance worker protocol.

As a manager, your goal is to provide the tools your mechanic teams need, develop a safety culture by promoting proper ways of working, and then employ advanced technology and teamwork to really make their operations safe and productive.


THE GOOD OLD DAYS ARE GONE
Does the following scene sound familiar?

The radio says there’s a ground fault on tower 7 of the main lift, and the lift is down with a line of full chairs. Knowing that it’s cold and dark, and that the likely cause is a broken brittle bar, you jump on a sled with wrenches and a spare brittle bar in hand. With all those guests in the air and getting cold, you scramble up the tower and proceed to the lead-in sheave switch set. You quickly diagnose the problem, confirm your assumption, and replace the switch. Then you settle in on the tower head to observe operations; after about 20 minutes, as the cold settles in, you deem the repair a success, and descend the tower. Then you bomb back down the hill to the safety and comfort of the maintenance shop to warm up and move on to the next task.

That’s how it was in the good old days. In today’s safer world, the same scenario might play out as follows:

The radio says there’s a ground fault on tower 7 of the main lift and the lift is down with a line of full chairs. Knowing that it’s cold, dark and that the likely cause is a broken brittle bar, you prepare your personal protection equipment (PPE) for working at heights, call for another mechanic to support you on the repair from the ground or the operator station, make sure your radio batteries are charged, and safely access the tower with the support of other safety pros on the hill. You climb the tower ladder, using a safe climbing technique. Then you tie off 100 percent to prevent an accidental fall, and anchor yourself to a suitable location on the tower head. You quickly diagnose the problem and confirm your assumption.

You then call your support to lock out the lift and confirm it cannot be started without your command, to allow reasonably safe access to the sheave train and to replace the switch. A radio communiqué between your position and the operator station verifies the repair while you are in position, before the lift is re-started, and the radio call confirms you are safely away from the hazards of the operating machine before the lift is re-started. You settle in on the tower head to observe operations; after about 20 minutes, as the cold settles in, you coordinate with other professionals on the team to confirm the success of the repair and descend the tower, again using a safe climbing technique, and 100 percent tie off. Later, you regroup with the team to debrief and document the repair, to understand the cause of the problem to devise a plan to prevent its future occurrence.


IN WITH THE NEW
We used to take so many chances for the benefit of our patrons. Fortunately, we now have better personal protective equipment, protocols and procedures today. And we know that it’s worth using these, for our own safety. It won’t hurt the guests if it takes us a few minutes longer to do the job the right way.

Oh, and it’s also required by government regulations.

All our work, at ski areas and in other industries, is guided by government regulations for industrial establishments. While these rules can sometimes seem onerous, they generally succeed at promoting a safe work environment. And they are mandatory.

When a worker is injured during the course of his or her work, authorities such as OSHA investigate; and these investigations have become more common in the past year or so in our industry. In many instances, workers or their managers are subject to fines or charges if negligence is discovered, all of which can be avoided by following a few rules, among them:

By law, workers must:

• understand and follow The Occupational Safety and Health Act
• follow safe work procedures
• use personal protective equipment, machine guards and safety devices
• report unsafe conditions and acts
• report accidents, incidents, injuries and illness immediately.

Similarly, legislation requires employers to provide a safe and healthy workplace. Among the requirements:

• make sure all health and safety requirements are met
• establish and maintain a health and safety program
• ensure associates have the information, training, certification, supervision and experience to do their jobs safely
• ensure that material and equipment is stored, labeled, transported and used safely
• provide medical/first aid
• ensure associates participate in health and safety discussions.


TOOLS FOR SAFETY
To make sure you are doing the right thing for both employees and resort guests, two useful tools are Safety for the Task Assessments (STA) and Job Safety (or hazard) Assessments (JSA). These tools are commonly used to anticipate the hazards that might be encountered during the work, and to prescribe the preventive means to avoid them.

Every task has a starting point and an ending point. The task can be broken down to a series of repeatable steps which, when completed in the same manner each and every time, will ensure a consistent result and safe work practices. A Safety for the Task Assessment (STA) outlines the steps of a defined task to ensure that the worker uses the proper method. Take, as an example, the task of welding a cracked joint on a terrain park feature. The Safety for the Task Assessment would look something like Figure A, above.

A Job Safety Assessment (JSA) has a wider scope than the STA, as a job may require more than one task. STAs are generally used by workers on a daily basis for expected work during a day/shift or other period. The JSA defines the work planned, the hazards expected, and the mitigating means that the worker will use to ensure that they complete the tasks safely.

In the course of any regular operating day, a ski area mechanic might fix a snowmobile, repair a leaking snowmaking pipe, or fix a lift; the intent of each JSA is to focus the mechanic on the proper tools and personal protective equipment (PPE) to complete each of these jobs in a compliant and safe manner. An example of a Job Safety Assessment is shown (facing page, Figure B) completed for the three tasks described earlier.

When a fully implemented safety documentation system is in place, each job is planned, completed and recorded on a regular basis. These records, in turn, facilitate work planning and due diligence. This is simply the best way to track the department’s performance and continually improve procedures and processes.

To help resorts develop Job Hazard Assessments (JHAs), the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) is working with resorts and insurance companies to create JHAs for many resort departments, including lift ops and maintenance, ski patrol, terrain parks, snowmaking, and groomers. According to Dave Byrd, NSAA director of education and risk, the JHAs could be posted to the NSAA website (www. nsaa.org) by early July. He suggests that areas download the Word documents and modify them to suit the resorts’ specific facilities and procedures.

While NSAA has been trying to determine what types of workers’ comp incidents are most common and therefore are most in need of attention, Byrd notes that resorts can review their own data, to figure out what specific types of injuries are occurring and why, so that they can devise specific solutions for them.

PPE, ANCHORS, AND OTHER TOOLS
A ski area mechanic works in a variety of positions—on the ground, in the air, wherever the work requires completion. Through the course of a normal day, a mechanic might don a harness, ride a snowmobile, or use a specialized tool to adjust a complex hydraulic or pneumatic system. Each activity could require specific personal protective gear, and a mechanic must be competent in use of all of these.

Personal protective gear for maintenance personnel typically includes steel-toed boots, a hardhat, safety glasses, gloves, a lock with a tag identifying the mechanic, a harness with lanyards to ensure 100 percent tie-off, communication gear, plus other specialized tools.

Anchors are required when working at a height. There is a rigid definition of the height above which this is required, and of the equipment required. The anchor, for example, must have a 5,000-pound capacity, and be engineered to ensure that the worker has proper tie off while working above the ground. In the case of a tower head repair, as in our first example, the mechanic would ensure that he had an anchor strap to wrap the tower head structure, and lanyards to secure himself to the anchor the entire time he was in position. (There is an obvious element of training for working at heights,0 which is part of the mechanic’s preparation, too.)

Equipment inspection is the best means to ensure that your PPE is fit for service when you need it. Every manufacturer of PPE lists inspection criteria on the item tag or instruction sheet; third-party inspection is a viable option for those not wanting to complete this vital activity themselves.

How important is this inspection? Very. You need to know that your gear is in good shape before it is used or required; our motto is, “you only wear it if your life can depend on it.”

Lock-out, tag-out, of course, is a key part of maintenance protocol. Locking out energy sources is the best way to ensure that a mechanic is not exposed to hazards of operating equipment. If work is required on operating systems, extra vigilance is required to ensure a good project and a safe result. Take extra precautions to ensure safety when working remotely from controls.

Incorporating STAs and JSAs into your maintenance work is a simple process, but requires a dedicated approach. Instruction and training is typically required for teams new to these methods. Coaching and confirmation will also ensure success.

Know that every accident is avoidable, and that there is no job worth risking your life/limb for. Implementing improved processes is a good thing—a safer way of working is a better way of working.

—KC