Interactions between maintenance and production and safety. Bibliographical study 3. Nature, modes and phases of interaction between operators

For a long time, maintenance operations have been identified as "critical" situations where safety is concerned. This critical aspect results not only from the nature of these activities but also from their organizational context and from interactions between maintenance and production operators. Consequently, and given that few studies have been devoted to maintenance, we have conducted some research into the interactions between maintenance and production and their consequences for reliability and safety.
Within this framework, a bibliographical analysis was made. It was aimed primarily at acquiring knowledge about maintenance activities and identifying, on this basis, some characteristics of these activities contributing to their criticality. Secondly, we considered functional and organizational relationships of maintenance and production and their effects on the safety of maintenance activities. Finally, we investigated the interactions between the operators concerned and their potential consequences.
This paper, related to the last of these objectives, deals with the interactions between maintenance and production operators and the different elements facilitating or hindering their cooperation. Firstly, the cognitive tools of these operators (their representations, instruments and jargon) are examined and characterized. The maintenance phases, during which they may interact and the modes by which their interactions can take place, are then approached. Lastly, we envisage the consequences of these different elements for the nature of their interactions, their cooperation and their potential incidence on safety.