Lock out tag out programs

You want to keep your employees safe, remain compliant and boost productivity. Our team of experienced engineers and specialists can help you create a simple, successful LOTO program customized to your needs. LOTO programs include policies and procedures that help safeguard employees from unexpected energy release electrical, mechanical and others while starting or servicing machines and equipment.

Our safety services experts can help you comply with all applicable legal requirements and build a successful LOTO program. We help you create easy-to-read graphical procedures that provide clear guidance for employees, so you stay safe, and in compliance.

Also, dangerous conditions on production floors can and do result in injury or death. Is your company adequately prepared to both keep employees safe and avoid unexpected fines? LOTO procedures provide documented steps or directions for lockout or tagout. Enlisting our team to help with the annual LOTO auditing process can yield an excellent return on investment. Letting us drive the auditing process can benefit your operations by reducing downtime and the need to pull staff from the plant floor.

The agency also requires a sample audit of authorized employees to confirm that they fully understand their LOTO responsibilities. Program auditing helps to ensure that safety deficiencies are identified and rectified. Tagout devices may be used instead of lockout devices only if the tagout program provides employee protection equivalent to that provided through a lockout program.

Ensure that new or overhauled equipment is capable of being locked out. Develop, implement, and enforce an effective tagout program if machines or equipment are not capable of being locked out. Whenever new equipment is added or reconfigured in the plant, assess potential hazards and potential personnel exposure. All plant system components and energy isolation points need to be documented.

As things change, this documentation must be diligently updated. Once LOTO procedures and equipment are in place, documentation is mandatory.

Procedures for isolating and locking out hazardous energy must be readily available and highly visible to anyone coming into contact with the equipment or system. Easy-to-access documentation makes the process less complicated for everyone.

Posted procedures must be up-to-date, readable, and protected from the environment by lamination or some other protective method. Employees must be instructed to leave the information with the equipment at all times. If electronic notification of procedures is used, then everyone involved must have access to a computer. You can quickly put together a work order template that walks your tech through the LOTO procedure for any specific asset, and they can access it from their phone at all times.

The success of your business is dependent on the trust and confidence you earn from your employees, customers, and shareholders. We know that companies gain credibility by adhering to their commitments, displaying honesty and integrity, and reaching company goals solely through honorable conduct; a commitment to safety showcases this.

All parties involved in working with equipment or systems with hazardous energy sources must be required to participate. Hold a briefing at each shift to familiarize everyone with the procedures and LOTO expectations. Stay up-to-date with the latest technology and best practices.

At least once per year. Santa is watching you. Here are the top six reasons OSHA will make an inspection. You typically see this when OSHA gets tipped off that your worksite is unsafe and severe harm could happen to your team. We see this on worksites where it is reasonably likely that a severe accident could occur immediately. After someone has been injured, or any workers comp claim has been filed, OSHA will often visit your site to investigate the working conditions and regulations being upheld or not.

Source: Conversion Technology. Your employees have the legal right to file a workplace safety violation complaint with OSHA. OSHA takes these complaints very seriously. OSHA will maintain strict confidentiality of anyone who files a complaint , and they will also inform them of any action it takes regarding the protests. A referral for an OSHA inspection can come about from many different situations, not just current or former employees.

Planned inspections usually focus on workplaces that have reported significantly higher injury rates compared to their peers. For example, many employers over-report by including first-aid cases in their records. A follow-up inspection checks if a previously cited employer has corrected violations received in an earlier inspection.

Suppose an employer fails to correct a cited violation. An FTA exists when a violation previously cited has never been brought into compliance and is observed in a later inspection.

While most businesses that use heavy machinery and dangerous equipment have established LOTO checklists, it does not apply in every case. As a general principle, the LOTO standard does not apply to normal production activities unless the employee is required to remove or bypass a machine guard like a control panel or place any part of their body in an area where unexpected startup of the machine or equipment may cause injury.

Well, no…but, yes. You need a different LOTO procedure for every additional piece of equipment. However, if the manufacturer does not supply it, then one will need to be developed. Limble makes this process super easy. The exact details of a lockout tagout procedure can vary depending on the type of machinery in question, but the process should follow this overarching set of steps.

These should be extremely thorough, leaving no room for interpretation. No detail is too small to include in a suitable LOTO procedure. All affected employees need to be notified that a lockout is being performed and told the reasons why. The authorized worker performing this task should review the LOTO procedure for the equipment that is about to get serviced and ensure that the lockout is being performed on the right piece of machinery.

Before performing the shutdown, review all the steps to make sure you and your team are clear on your next steps. Lockout procedures should be easy to create, edit, and access. Whenever your techs need to perform maintenance on a piece of equipment, they can easily change the status on the machine so everyone can see that it is non-operational the app updates live, too! You can set up a Work Order template with your LOTO checklist instructions, complete with manuals and images, so you know that your techs are following the same procedure every single time.

Going beyond compliance, we recommend creating best practice procedures that include machine-specific photos identifying energy isolation points. These should be posted at the end of use to provide employees with clear, visually intuitive instructions. If the equipment is operating, a standard stopping procedure for that piece of equipment should be followed. If needed, detailed steps should be outlined in the proper sequence that show how to shut down the machine.

Employers must establish the procedures for removing the energy source from machines and putting the appropriate devices on them to prevent unexpected startup or re-energization tags, padlocks, safety stoppers. When the asset is powered down, the next step is to disconnect it from its energy source s. The authorized person performing this action needs to locate all primary energy sources it can be electricity, steam, water, gas, compressed air… and know how to disconnect them.

After the equipment has been isolated from its energy sources, it is time to install lockout devices on switches and controls and mark them with appropriate lockout tags. With so many products on the market designed to help keep your employees safe, selecting the most suitable solution for your application is the key to lockout effectiveness.

If you have complex locks, consider including visual instructions. LOTO tag and lock. Control of hazardous energy is addressed in specific OSHA standards for general industry, maritime, and construction. More ». Overview Highlights. Machine Guarding. OSHA eTool.