The role of the maintenance organisation in an
integrated management system
Keywords
Management, Maintenance,
Manufacturing
Abstract
Owing to global competitiveness, competing in a global marketplace where
businesses are now trading
internationally and are expected customers are demanding the highest
to have management systems
certified to international
standards, enhancing customer-
supplier relationships and
stakeholder perceptions. This
paper discusses several
international standards, such as
the ISO 9000 series of quality
management systems standards,
the ISO 14001 environmental
management systems standard
and the internationally developed
British Standards Institute OHSAS demonstrate management best practice;
18001 Health and Safety
Management specification, and
how they might affect
maintenance organisations in the
future.
Managerial Auditing Journal
17/1/2 [2002] 20±25
# MCB UP Limited
[ISSN 0268-6902]
[DOI 10.1108/02686900210412207]
[ 20 ]
Chris Bamber
COrE Research Group, The School of Management, University of Salford, UK
John Sharp
COrE Research Group, The School of Management, University of Salford, UK
Mick Hides
COrE Research Group, The School of Management, University of Salford, UK
Introduction
Companies manufacturing or processing
products for sale in the developed world are
standards of quality. Customers now also
expect a commitment to environmental good
practice and supplies from operations that do
not expose their employees to unsafe or
illegal practices. Furthermore pressures
from other business stakeholders (such as
shareholders, owners, business partners,
government agencies and various pressure
groups) are influencing companies to
insisting on compliance to legislation and
regulations, while at the same time reducing
costs and reducing the negative impacts on
the environment (Bamber et al., 1999). The
way most companies demonstrate to their
stakeholders that they fulfil these demands is
through independent certification of their
management systems. In fact in the UK the
larger customers such as Rover, Vauxhall
and British Aerospace have long since
demanded of their supply base, third party
certification to the ISO 9000 series quality
management systems, and more recently
have started requesting that suppliers hold
certification to ISO 14001 environmental
management systems standard.
International certifiable
management systems
Third party certification (assessment of the
organisation’s compliance to a known
standard by an independent verification
body) of a company’s management system is
seen by business stakeholders as an
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indication of the organisation’s ability to
comply to the requirements laid down in the
assessment standard used (i.e. certification
to ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems
Standard shows a commitment to quality and
that a certain level of quality management
maturity is achieved).
The International Standards Organisation
(ISO) provides guidance on the
implementation and development of certain
management system models, namely for
environmental management and quality
management that provide a framework for
certification and assessment. For instance,
many organisations have their quality
management system approved to the ISO
9000-quality management series. Likewise,
the UK Institute of Environmental
Management indicate that the number of
firms seeking UKAS (United Kingdom
Accreditation Service) accreditation to ISO
14001 is increasing, pointing to a rapid
increase in the demand for certification
(IEM, 1996). Both ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 are
part of a world trend and the spread of these
standards is staggering with global
certification spanning 76 countries (Rothery,
1995).
There is growing evidence that many
organisations are approved or seeking third
party approval to the ISO 9000 series and the
ISO 14001 standards, but there is little
documented on the number of third party
approvals for an Occupational Health and
Safety Management Systems (OH&SMS). The
British Standards Institute (BSI) provides a
guide to OH&SMS; that is BS 8800: 1996.
However, on this issue it has been suggested
that the decision of the ISO is not to pursue
the introduction of an international
OH&SMS standard (Zuckerman, 1997).
Nevertheless, the option for certification to
an OH&SMS is available and offered by
certain UKAS members (NQA, 1997). The UK
guide to OH&SMS, BS 8800: 1996, details two
Chris Bamber, John Sharp and
Mick Hides
The role of the maintenance
organisation in an integrated
management system
Managerial Auditing Journal
17/1/2 [2002] 20±25
approaches to occupational health and safety
management: first, for organisations wishing
to base their approach in accordance with the
Health and Safety Executive guidance HSE
(1993) encompassed by HS(G)65; second, for
organisations wishing to base their OH&SMS
on ISO 14001 the environmental standard,
and as such defines the common features in
both systems.
More recently, international collaborators
have developed a specification which gives
requirements for an occupational health and
safety (OH&S) management system, to enable
an organisation to control its OH&S risks and
improve its performance. The British
Standards Institute (BSI) produces the
Occupational Health and Safety Assessment
Specification OHSAS 18001. According to BSI,
the specification OHSAS 18001: 1999 has been
developed in response to the urgent customer
demand for a recognisable occupational
health and safety management system
standard against which their management
systems can be assessed and certified.
The BSI states:
OHSAS 18001 has been developed to be
comparable with the ISO 9001: 1994 (quality)
and ISO 14001: 1996 (environmental)
management systems standards, in order to
facilitate the integration of quality,
environmental and occupational health and
safety management systems by organisations,
should they wish to do so.
Correspondence between OHSAS 18001: 1999,
ISO 14001: 1996 and ISO 9001: 1994 is shown in
the occupational health and safety
assessment standard and is discussed in
further detail by Bamber et al. (1999).
The effects of systems
certification on maintenance
practice
It has been suggested by authors Bamber et
al. (2000) that total productive maintenance
(TPM), and hence world class maintenance
practice, provides the hub of an integrated
manufacturing management system and can
support the operational elements of
management certification systems. The goals
of TPM and the improvement focus of a TPM
programme coupled with the practical
application of manufacturing management
techniques cements ISO 14001 Environmental
Management, ISO 9000 series Quality
Management and OHSAS 18001 Occupational
Health and Safety Management requirements
together. A representation of an integrated
certifiable manufacturing system
incorporating TPM and 5S (housekeeping
philosophy) is given in Figure 1, which
shows the sub-system relationships and the
improvement focus and goals of the system.
This approach to maintenance management
puts a greater emphasis on the role of
maintenance in the modern manufacturing
organisation, which communicates a higher
value-adding status to the maintenance
activities, and hence the maintenance
engineering role.
The traditional maintenance role has been
considered by Sharp and Kutuocuoglu (1997)
as a support function, non-productive and not
a core activity, adding little value to the
business, while other efforts to improve the
performance of maintenance functions such
as advocated by the Terotechnology (see Blau
et al. (1997) for more information on this
approach) concept have according to Bamber
(1998) failed. Nevertheless, Sharp and
Kutuocuoglu (1997) have noticed,
particularly over the last 15 years, that
manufacturing industries have used many
differing approaches to improving
maintenance effectiveness. Accordingly, the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in
the UK recognise that maintenance of assets
and machines is an essential part of the
operations function and an effective
maintenance strategy can significantly
contribute through adding value to
manufacturing (DTI, 1988). Maintenance
management systems are now taking on a
new role of enabling and supporting certified
management systems. These maintenance
management directions are continually
shaping the role of the maintenance
organisation into a value-adding element
able to contribute strategically to business
performance and improvement.
Certified management systems
affecting the modern maintenance
organisation
The many global forces affecting business are
driving change throughout organisations
and for the modern maintenance
organisation this has a profound effect on
their role. For instance, the relatively new
management systems standards ISO 14001
(Environmental) and OHSAS 18001 (Health
and Safety), coupled with the standard ISO
9000 (Quality series), could signify for the
modern maintenance organisation an
emphasis toward the issues outlined in Table
I. Identified within Table I are some of the
expectations that may be placed on
maintenance engineers operating in an
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Chris Bamber, John Sharp and Figure 1
Mick Hides A representation of an integrated certifiable manufacutring system incorporating TPM and 5S
The role of the maintenance
organisation in an integrated
management system
Managerial Auditing Journal
17/1/2 [2002] 20±25

Table I
Roles of the modern maintenance organisation: a certified management systems perspective
O H SAS 18 001: ISO 900 0: 199 6 ISO 14 001:
19 99 (draft series 1996
Issues of m a nagem ent certific ation system s a ffectin g the H ealth & Safety (Q uality (E nvironm e ntal
role of the m od ern m aintenan ce organ isatio n specificatio n) m ana gem en t) m an agem en t)
T o ensure com plia nce to exac ting specific atio ns D D D
T he creatio n and ad herenc e to operating and start u p/close
dow n p ro ced ures D I D
P roc ess e valu ation , m on itorin g, capab ility assessm en t an d
im provem en ts I D D
D efining and com m unicating o perational requ irem e nts and
definitio ns D D D
P erform ance m e asurem e nt and evaluation inc ludin g audit and
assessm ent D D D
F acilitatin g the he alth an d safe ty o f the w o rke rs D I
F acilitatin g he alth and safety of the com m unity D I
C on tributing to the p ro tectio n of the en viron m ent I D
Iden tification and elim ina tion o f w a ste s I I D
A c om m itm e nt to p reven tion of p ollution I D
C om pliance to legislatio n a nd regulation s D D
N ote s: D = de fin ed requ irem en ts; I = im p lied re quire m ent

environment typifying that of a develop the improvement initiatives of the

manufacturing organisation subscribing to
an integrated certified management systems
approach. The modern maintenance engineer
is expected to contribute fully to the
continuous improvement of operations,
working in teams on environmental, quality
or health and safety projects.
Furthermore because there is a
requirement to involve, communicate and
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manufacturing facilities it is envisaged that
the modern maintenance engineer can play a
crucial and valuable training and facilitation
role toward developing all production
associates. This view that maintenance staff
can play a critical role in training and
development of production associates along
with contributing to continuous operational
improvements is seen in the philosophy of
Chris Bamber, John Sharp and
Mick Hides
The role of the maintenance
organisation in an integrated
management system
Managerial Auditing Journal
17/1/2 [2002] 20±25
Figure 2
Maintenance engineering activities towards
satisfying managment systems certification
Total Productive Maintenance (Sharp and
Kutuacuoglu, 1997). Additionally, once
quality, environmental or health and safety
improvements have been made, it is
important that adequate controls are in place
to ensure that the benefits of the
improvements are maintained. For the
maintenance organisation such controls may
be integrated into a planned maintenance
system that involves routine monitoring,
calibration, repairing and replacement of
plant and components to ensure continued
capability. This method of maintenance
engineering management is analogous to the
Juran (1988) Quality Management trilogy of
Planning, Control and Improvement and is
represented in Figure 2 as a maintenance
management system.
A maintenance system that subscribes to a
philosophy that encompasses thorough
planning, control and improvement activities
would be well on the way to satisfying the
maintenance requirements of management
systems certification. Consequently a
maintenance system as depicted by Figure 2
operating within a certified management
system is an integrated and holistic system.
However, to ensure that these maintenance
activities and events are auditable as
required by a third party assessment
authority it is essential that an appropriate
documentation and recording system be in
place. Furthermore the maintenance
documentation and recording system should
aim to satisfy the requirements of the

Table II
Maintenance engineering documents: a correlation to assessment standards and maintenance activity
M aintenanc e O H SAS 180 01: 1 999 ISO 9000 : 199 6 IS O 140 01: 1 996
engine erin g (draft H ealth & series (Q uality (E nviron m ental
M aintenanc e engine ering do cum e ntation m an agem en t a ctivity Safety spe cifica tion) m anage m ent) m anag em ent)
M aintenanc e policy and o bjectives P S S S
Im provem ent/ projec t plans P S M S
P lann ed m aintena nce sch edule (s ) P S S S
M aintenanc e organis ationa l structure P, C S S S
M aintenanc e dept. responsibilities P, C S S S
M aintenanc e crew s ca pability/skills assessm e nts P, I S S S
M aintenanc e perform an ce audit P, C , I S M S
5S Aud it reports (house keepin g a udit) P, C , I S M S
Safety aud its/ris k assessm en ts P, C , I S S
Training rec ords for m aintenan ce C S S S
Training plans for m aintena nce P S S S
P lant/ m ac hine/ tool histo ry C, I S S S
P lant/ m ac hine spe cifica tions CS S S
M aintenanc e requis ition she ets C S S S
M achine cap ability assessm e nt C, I W S S
Asset/to ol/ sp ares register(s) C S S S
Stores /spares requ isition s C, I S S S
R egulatory/ com plian ce tests an d inspec tions P, C , I S S S
En ergy usage/c ost re cords C, I S
P lant justificatio ns P, C , I M S S
Service co ntracts and req uirem en ts P, C S S S
P urch ase orders/req uisitions P, C S S S
Service/ su b-contra ctor assessm ents P, C S S S
Em ergency/ac ciden t/in cide nt p roced ures P S S
C ontrol of substan ces hazardous to health (C O SH H ) C S S
M aintenanc e operating proced ures/job cards P, C , I S M M
Internal m em oran dum (s) P, C M M M
N otes: M aintena nce ac tivity: P = planning; C = control; I = im provem e nt. C orrelatio n: S = stro ng; M = m edium ; W = w eak

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Chris Bamber, John Sharp and
Mick Hides
The role of the maintenance
organisation in an integrated
management system
Managerial Auditing Journal
17/1/2 [2002] 20±25
[ 24 ]
quality, environmental or health and safety
assessment requirements.
Maintenance documentation, data and
records may be in the form of a Computerised
Maintenance Management System (CMMS)
or take the form of lists, logs, tables or charts.
Nevertheless, whatever the format of
documentation it is essential that these are
auditable and consequently fulfil the
requirements of the appropriate clauses of
the assessment standards. Furthermore,
from an auditor’s perspective the
maintenance organisation documents, data
and records must clearly illustrate a
commitment and support toward the quality,
environmental or health and safety policies,
objectives, targets or standard operating
procedures of the organisation.
Maintenance organisation and
engineering documentation
It has been suggested in the above
paragraphs that a maintenance organisation
can support management systems
certification by following the practice of
maintenance planning, control and
improvement. However, such a system for
auditing purposes must be supported with
appropriate auditable documents and
records. Some of the essential documents
that are typically generated and controlled by
maintenance engineers and the correlation to
the quality, environmental and health and
safety assessment standards could include
those given in Table II. The general
relationship between these various types of
maintenance documents, data and records
with the assessment standards are shown in
Table II. Additionally Table II shows a
correlation of the type of maintenance
document to the maintenance management
activities of planning, control and
improvement.
Conclusions
The emphasis which organisational
stakeholders place on systems certification
as a means of demonstrating levels of
commitment to quality, environmental or
health and safety management means a new
direction for the modern maintenance
organisation. This new emphasis directs the
maintenance function to take an approach to
maintenance management that is more
integrated and holistic than previously
taken. This integrated and holistic approach
communicates a higher value-adding role for
the modern maintenance engineer that is
ultimately stakeholder led. This paper has
therefore indicated that the maintenance
activities of a manufacturing organisation
are vital for successful certification, and
hence conversely indicates that a poor
maintenance system will inhibit the chances
of successful management systems
certification.
The maintenance organisation has been
discussed as an enabler of management
systems certification within a manufacturing
organisation. A good maintenance
management system that aims to satisfy the
maintenance requirements of certifiable
management systems includes the
maintenance activities of planning, control
and improvement. Management systems
certification and in particular the audit
requirement would demand that the
maintenance engineer keeps adequate and
relevant records. These records take the form
of both documentation and data and must
demonstrate to external assessment
authorities that the maintenance activities
are adequately supporting the policies, goals
and targets of the organisation, which
provide the maintenance strategy.
Furthermore the records must demonstrate
the documented evidence that shows
operational maintenance activities are
contributing to control and improvement of
the organisation’s quality, environmental
and/or health and safety performance.
References and further reading
Bamber, C.J. (1998), ``Factors affecting successful
implementation of total productive
maintenance’’, MSc Dissertation, The
University of Salford, Salford.
Bamber, C.J., Sharp, J.M. and Hides, M.T. (1999),
International Standards Affecting
Maintenance Engineers: World Trends in
Maintenance, University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
Bamber, C.J., Sharp, J.M. and Hides, M.T. (2000),
``Developing management systems towards
integrated manufacturing: a case study
perspective’’, Integrated Manufacturing
Systems, Vol. 11 No. 7, pp. 454-61.
Blau, P.M., Falbe, C.M., McKinnley, W. and
Tracey, P.K. (1997), ``Technology and
organisation in manufacturing’’,
Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 21
No. 1, pp. 20-40.
BS EN ISO 9002: 1994 (1994), Quality Management
Systems, (UK version of ISO 9002). British
Standards Institute, London.
BS EN ISO 9001: 2000 (2000), Quality Management
Systems ± Requirements, British Standards
Institute, London.
Chris Bamber, John Sharp and
Mick Hides
The role of the maintenance
organisation in an integrated
management system
Managerial Auditing Journal
17/1/2 [2002] 20±25
BS 8800: 1996 (1996), Occupational Health and
Safety Management Systems, British
Standards Institute, London.
DTI (1988), Effective Maintenance ± A Route to
Increased Profitability, Managing Into the 90’s
Series, HMSO, London.
Health and Safety Executive (1993), Successful
Health & Safety Management: HS (G) 65,
HMSO, London.
IEM (1996), ``ISO 14001: looking beyond
bureaucracy’’, Institute of Environmental
Management Journal, Vol. 4 No. 2.
ISO 14001: 1996 (1996), Environmental
Management Systems ± Specification with
Guidance for Use, ISO, Geneva.
Juran, J.M. (1988), Quality Control Handbook,
4th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
NQA (1997), ``Helping you meet environmental
legislation’’, Quality World, September, p. 1.
OHSAS 18001: 1999 (1999), Occupational Health
and Safety Assessment Standard, British
Standards Institute, London.
Rothery, B. (1995), ISO 14000 and ISO 9000, Gower
Publishing Ltd, Aldershot.
Sharp, J.M. and Kutuocuoglu, K.Y. (1997),
``Striving for quality in maintenance within
manufacturing organisations’’, IFRIM 1997
Meeting Proceedings, The Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Willmott, P. (1997), TPM: Total Productive
Maintenance: The Western Way, Butterworth-
Heinemann, Oxford.
Zuckerman, A. (1997), ``Uncertain future for
management system standards’’, Quality
Progress, March, pp. 21-3.
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