What to do and how to do it
Establish system
Establish a system to identify, communicate and implement corrective actions when avoidable energy waste occurs.
Analyse causes
Analyse the causes of the avoidable energy waste detected and try to ensure that problems do not recur. Focus on correcting and preventing problems.
Respond ‘on the fly’ or apply system
Some occurrences of avoidable energy waste may be dealt with ‘on the fly’, i.e. by the energy coordinator or operator taking immediate action to rectify the situation using their “common sense”.
However, other occurrences of energy waste may require a more formal approach to identify:
- what has gone wrong;
- how the fault can be rectified;
- who will carry out the work;
- when it will be done;
- actions to take to prevent it from happening again (you may need to look below the surface to determine the root cause of a problem)
Review effectiveness
Review the effectiveness of the corrective actions implemented and communicate the outcomes to the interested parties.
Tip: most often, identifying energy waste and good energy saving ideas come from the people on the ‘shop floor’. Try to encourage this, by getting employees involved in looking out for energy waste, e.g. through suggestion schemes, incentive programmes or waste detection programmes.
Possible problems and how to deal with them
Inaction
If problems reported are not acted upon, then people will eventually stop reporting them. If you want to establish a corrective and preventative action programme, then make sure that your organisation has the necessary resources in place to act upon the problems reported, e.g. fitters, maintenance personnel etc.
Recurrence
Corrective actions are not tracked and their effectiveness is not assessed. For significant problems, if you do not follow up your corrective actions, then they may recur.
Root causes
The corrective actions do not address the root causes of the problem. If the problem is significant, then make sure your corrective action is based on good information and analysis of the root causes of the problem, i.e. to prevent the problem from recurring.
Training
People should be made aware of what they can do to save energy. In many cases, staff are willing to save but are not aware of all they can do and there may be a lack of understanding of procedures etc. This may require training (see Step 15 Train people in energy efficient practices).
How long does it take to complete this step?
Depending on the level of formality of a system of corrective and preventive action, it may take several days to establish procedures and systems to address this. If training is required then this may also take several days to prepare and further time to deliver.
How do I know when I have completed this step?
You have completed this Step when:
a procedure is in place to identify, register and manage the avoidable energy waste.
a process is established for assigning responsibilities and tracking the implementation of corrective actions.
everybody is aware that they should look out for and report avoidable energy waste, and if competent, try to correct it.
What do I do next?
With a clearer picture of your energy use you should conduct regular reviews of your Energy MAP Programme Plan and track its progress.
With your energy information under control you should conduct annual management reviews of your Energy MAP to continually refine and improve it.
