The annual maintenance shutdown is an important part of the mill’s production process. It helps ensure the efficiency, safety and reliability of equipment and systems in the long run.
During the shutdown, the maintenance personnel can replace any worn parts and perform the required updates and preventive measures that will help avoid any sudden malfunctions at the mill.
Partners have special expertise
Normally, 240 professionals work at the bioproduct mill, but during the annual maintenance shutdown, the number of personnel multiplied. In addition to Metsä Fibre’s own employees, more than 2,000 partner representatives worked on the site during the maintenance shutdown carried out in 2023.
Some of the partners specialise in annual maintenance shutdowns, and their employees move from one mill to the next according to need. Thanks to their specialisation, they have accumulated a great deal of experience from different facilities and can apply the best practices as required in each situation.
Every maintenance shutdown worker completes a hazard identification form before starting work and must plan how to safely perform their job in advance.
Each task is being planned carefully
To work on the mill site, employees must complete Metsä Group’s general safety induction and Metsä Fibre’s annual maintenance shutdown induction, in force one calendar year at a time, as e-learning courses. Employees are also required to carry a valid occupational safety card and a photo ID.
Every maintenance shutdown worker completes a hazard identification form before starting work and must plan how to safely perform their job in advance. Maintenance work, such as excavation, lifting and hot work, also requires a written permit, granted by Metsä Fibre’s employees.
Aiming for zero accidents
Metsä Fibre’s own employees participate in the annual maintenance shutdown in various ways. The operators, who are normally in charge of the mill’s operation and process control, now handle safety procedures, as well as service and maintenance duties.
These include the lockout/tagout procedure to make a single machine or process safe and prevent its uncontrolled start-up.
A group of safety promoters from Metsä Fibre’s other mills have arrived to participate in the annual maintenance shutdown. They are professionals trained to provide guidance that will further improve safety at work.
The goal is to ensure that no accidents will happen during the maintenance shutdown.
Improved delivery reliability
Once everything is ready, the mill, now ready for operation, will be started up as planned, one department at a time.
Thanks to the maintenance shutdown tasks performed this year, customers will experience increasingly high quality and consistently reliable deliveries. The mill’s environmental performance will also improve.