OSHA Lockout - Workplace Safety, Lockout/Tagout Procedures and Products

Approximately 3 million workers service equipment and face the greatest risk of injury if lockout/tagout is not properly implemented. Compliance with the lockout/tagout standard (29 CFR 1910.147) prevents an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each year. Workers injured on the job from exposure to hazardous energy lose an average of 24 workdays for recuperation.		In a study conducted by the United Auto Workers (UAW), 20% of the fatalities (83 of 414) that occurred among their members between 1973 and 1995 were attributed to inadequate hazardous energy control procedures specifically, lockout/tagout procedures.
What is Lockout-Tagout? (LOTO) is a safety procedure which is used in industry to ensure that dangerous machines and power supplies are properly shut off and not started up or turned on again prior to the completion of maintenance or servicing work. Also known as “lock and tag“, it requires that hazardous power sources be “isolated and rendered inoperative” before any repair procedure is started. “Lock and tag” works in conjunction with a lock usually locking the device or the power source with the hasp, and placing it in such a position that no hazardous power sources can be turned on. The only way the device can be powered or started is after the lock and tag is removed by the maintenance person that is holding the corresponding key for that particular lock. No other personnel has access to a key for that lock. The procedure also requires that a tag be affixed to the locked device indicating who is working on the that particular piece of equipment and that it should not be turned on under any circumstance.