A male food production worker, 54, who a pizza dough manufacturing facility employed, sustained fatal injuries due to deep neck lacerations made by a steel blade on a dough machine. On the day of the incident, the victim and a co-worker were assigned to clean two dough machines, an “elevator” and a “divider”. The “elevator”…...
Whenever I do LOTO training I always mention some of the more “interesting” methods used to control hazardous energy and in each class I always get accused of fudging the truth, as “no one can be that stupid”. Well here is a 2013 LOTO citation from OSHA that is proof positive that we still have…...
A 51-year-old sanitation worker at a frozen-food packaging facility died after he collapsed while cleaning one of the conveyor lines. He was assigned to clean the North Pea Line. He opened the access doors on both sides of the cleaning pan blower housing in preparation for the cleaning. The equipment was not shut down nor…...
A 57-year-old supervisor was killed while trying to determine why hydraulic oil was leaking from a cotton press machine. The press consists of a hydraulic pusher, tramper and bailer. The pusher and tramper sit on an elevated platform accessed by stairs; the bailers and operator console are located on the lower level. The cotton is…...
Over the last several years the SAFTENG team has been seeing some interesting concepts when it comes to Lockout/Tagout applications and methods. I want to air these out and get some dialogue started so that everyone can understand the errors of these myths…… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership...
OSHA has cited a bottling business with 12 alleged safety violations following the death of a 21-year-old temporary worker on his first day on the job. He was crushed to death by a palletizer machine at the Jacksonville facility in August 2012. The company uses a temporary staffing service to provide laborers for certain jobs…....
This week OSHA issued citations to a steel mill involving Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) and the one citation that caught my eye revolved around a “group lockbox” situation. The citation reads “On and before 6/18/2012, the employer did not ensure that authorized employees used a personal lockout device to lock the group lockout box. Each authorized employee had…...
Last year, we came across a very interesting LOTO practice that we completely disagreed with, but we were the only ones in the room who were not in agreement, so I think we may need to be “calibrated” in our LOTO expectations! I am not saying I will ever agree with this practice at a…...
Recently, I spent some time with a new (and unlisted) client who experienced a severe LOTO accident, resulting in a severe injury to an employee. I was asked to review their programs and practices related to the control of hazardous energy (e.g., LOTO). Everything looked good until we got to the “periodic inspection” requirement. As…...
Some of you may recognize these suggestions, but for those unfamiliar with them, I will wait and surprise you at the end of this article to find out where these “suggestions” came from! Nonetheless, any workplace utilizing Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) should consider implementing these into their existing program. For those in the General Industry, many facilities…...
So this week my good friend “Jim” and I were talking about an “accepted practice” that has grown into an “industry practice” and how OSHA has definitely drawn the line on the “cord and plug” LOTO practice such that it does NOT include valves. This “practice” involves the concept of defining “exclusive control of an energy isolating…...
OSHA has cited a manufacturing plant for four safety violations, including a repeat violation for failing to protect workers by locking out the energy sources of presses at its facility, following an inspection that began in October 2011. The company manufactures automotive parts using hot and cold forging methods. Proposed fines total $51,000…. Membership Required You...
