SiteArticles for maintenance managers and engineers
Breakdowns, cover, the law and fault-finding, written by engineers for the people who keep factories and warehouses running.
- Contracting as an engineer
A limited company for engineers: the admin nobody mentions
Setting up a limited company takes an afternoon. Running one means filings, payroll and paperwork every year. What lands on your desk, and when.
5 October 2026 · 5 min read - Engineers and cover
Writing a maintenance engineer job advert that gets replies
Most engineer adverts read like every other one, so good engineers scroll past. What to put in yours so the right people pick up the phone.
5 October 2026 · 5 min read - Downtime and breakdowns
The part you need isn't on the shelf: what to do at 2am
The CMMS says one in stock. The bin is empty. The supplier opens at eight. How to make the 2am call between waiting, borrowing and fitting something close.
4 October 2026 · 5 min read - Legal duties on site
LEV testing: the 14-month rule for dust and fume extraction
Extraction needs a thorough test at least every 14 months, and some kit far more often. What the test covers, and what keeps it working in between.
4 October 2026 · 5 min read - Fault-finding guides
Safety relays and light curtains: fault-finding safely
The light curtain says blocked and nothing's there. How to find the fault in a safety circuit without leaving the machine less safe than you found it.
3 October 2026 · 6 min read - Engineers and cover
The ageing maintenance team: planning for the retirements coming
Your most experienced engineers will retire, and most of what they know isn't written down. How to plan for it while they're still here.
3 October 2026 · 5 min read - Downtime and breakdowns
Breakdown or bodge? How temporary fixes become permanent
Every site has a fix that was meant to last till the part came. Two years on, it's still there. How bodges stick, which ones break the law, and how to stop them.
2 October 2026 · 5 min read - Maintenance strategy
Vibration analysis: when it's worth it
Vibration analysis can warn you months before a bearing or gearbox goes. On the wrong machines it's money for a report nobody reads. How to tell the difference.
2 October 2026 · 5 min read - Engineers and cover
Apprentices: growing your own engineers
You can't hire the engineers you need, so grow them. What an apprentice costs, what funding there is, and how to make it work on a busy site.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read - Legal duties on site
Air receivers: what the pressure regulations mean for your compressor
The receiver is the biggest store of energy in most compressor houses, and the one nobody looks at. What PSSR asks of it, day to day and after a breakdown.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read - Fault-finding guides
Going online to a PLC to fault-find
Going online shows you exactly why the machine won't move. It also lets you break it in new ways. How to watch the logic without changing it.
30 September 2026 · 5 min read - Midlands industry
Coventry: from car plants to batteries
Coventry's factories are moving from engines to batteries. The machines change, the hazards change, and so does the engineer you need when a line stops.
30 September 2026 · 5 min read - Downtime and breakdowns
Production versus maintenance at 3am: keeping the row out of the fix
At 3am the shift manager wants the line back and the fitter wants it fixed properly. Agree who decides what in daylight, so the row never gets near the machine.
29 September 2026 · 5 min read - Maintenance strategy
Planning a shutdown: the 12-week countdown
Most shutdowns are lost before they start: the scope grows, the parts are late and the contractors are booked elsewhere. A week-by-week plan to stop that.
29 September 2026 · 5 min read - Contracting as an engineer
Setting up as a sole trader engineer
Setting up as a sole trader takes an evening. The mistakes come later, in the records and the first tax bill. What to do in what order.
28 September 2026 · 4 min read - Engineers and cover
Overtime as cover: when it works and when it breaks people
Overtime is the quickest cover you have. Used for a week, it works. Used for a vacancy, it wears out the people you can least afford to lose.
28 September 2026 · 5 min read - Tickets and qualifications
Is the 18th Edition worth it for a maintenance engineer?
The 18th Edition shows you know the wiring regs. It won't make you safe in a machine panel. When it's worth sitting, and what counts more for electrical work on machines.
27 September 2026 · 6 min read - Engineers and cover
Agency engineers and the 12-week rule: what changes on day 85
Holiday cover becomes sickness cover and your agency fitter hits three months on site. What they get on day one, how the 12-week clock counts, and what changes on day 85.
27 September 2026 · 7 min read - Fault-finding guides
The conveyor that won't track, and where to look first
A belt that keeps running off is telling you where the fault is. A fault-finding order for flat belt conveyors, without a hand inside the guard.
26 September 2026 · 6 min read - Legal duties on site
LOLER thorough examinations: who checks what, and how often
Most sites get the LOLER exam done on time. Where they get caught is what happens after the report lands. Intervals, who can examine, and what to do with the defects.
26 September 2026 · 6 min read
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