Engineering maintenance technicians work in a range of industries that use plant, equipment and systems. This includes energy, leisure entertainment, manufacturing, processing, and utilities companies. The working environments vary across the industries.
This is a core and options apprenticeship. An apprentice must be trained and assessed against the core and one option. The options are:
- electrical engineering maintenance technician
- control and instrumentation engineering maintenance technician
- mechanical engineering maintenance technician
Electrical engineering maintenance technicians’ work focuses on electrical aspects of plant, equipment and systems. For example, motors, single-phase and three-phase, power supplies, and low voltage or high-voltage electrical distribution.
Control and instrumentation engineering maintenance technicians’ work focuses on the control and instrumentation aspects of plant, equipment and systems. For example, programmable logic controllers, flow meters, heat exchangers and safety controls.
Mechanical engineering maintenance technicians’ work focuses on mechanical aspects of plant, equipment and systems. For example, actuators, fans, pumps, valves, gearboxes, and pipework.
Engineering maintenance technicians maintain plant, equipment and systems to optimise operation. They conduct planned and preventative maintenance to prevent issues occurring and reactive maintenance when problems occur. For example, responding to breakdowns. They must prepare for and accept jobs, complete work safely to required standards, close the job, and complete work records. They also contribute to continuous improvement activities. They may complete work as part of a team or alone, depending on the task.
Daily, they interact with other maintenance technicians, engineers, and support operatives. They also have contact with other internal and external stakeholders. This may include operations, managers, quality, research and development, and admin staff. They may also have contact with auditors, regulators, and customers undertaking site visits. They typically report to an experienced maintenance engineer.
They must maintain the safe and reliable operation of plant, equipment and systems. Work must comply with any industry specific regulations. Safety is a key priority. They must comply with health, safety, and environmental regulations and procedures, and sustainability practices. They must complete tasks in line with their company’s procedures and timescales. They must also take account of wider business considerations such as cost and service level agreements.
