Components of a Compliant Lockout/Tagout Procedure In addition, companies can find greater efficiency and productivity through these procedures. It's also important that lockout/tagout happens before maintenance begins on any equipment, so it doesn't pose a danger to anyone working around it.īy using a lockout/tagout procedure, employees can help protect themselves from unexpected re-energization or release of stored energy. Tagout is isolating energy that cannot be physically locked with an information tag to convey who isolated the energy and to warn against reenergization.īoth steps are vital for controlling hazardous energy and can help prevent permanent injuries or death from electrocution or other dangerous sources of energy like compressed air or pressurized steam. Lockout can be defined as isolating energy sources with a lock providing physical protection, and with every lock accompanied by an information tag. Put simply, a lockout/tagout procedure is an instructional document designed to instruct authorized employees on how to lockout a specific machine. Lockout/tagout procedures are a way of helping prevent injuries, even fatal ones, related to hazardous energy. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at a core component: machine-specific lockout/tagout procedures. In fact, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the implementation of lockout/tagout standards helps prevent an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries every year in the US.Ī compliant lockout/tagout program includes implementing and practicing five OSHA mandated components: corporate policy, machine-specific procedures, training, locks and devices, and annual audits. 1 While many types of incidents result in worker injuries and fatalities, among the most frequently cited are lockout/tagout violations.Īs with most work-related incidents, lockout/tagout related accidents and deaths are avoidable. During safety training in Calgary, an authorized employee will verify that the machine or equipment have been isolated, de-energized, and properly tagged.Unfortunately, in 2019 there were 5,333 worker deaths in the U.S. The last step is to double check that the lockout/tagout procedures have been accurately carried out. This step ensures that all residual energy is eliminate, restrained, or made non-hazardous in some other way. Hazardous energy can still be stored within the machine even after its been disconnected from its energy source. Each approved employee should have a personal lock with the worker’s name, department, contact information, date and time of tagging, and reason for the lockout. Once the machine is isolated from its energy source, the authorized employee with apply the lockout/tagout devices.
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