Lockout Tagout

On August 23, 2023, an employee was troubleshooting an unscrambler machine malfunction. The employee walked around to the bottom of the support frame of the machine, near two parallel drive chains. A coworker restarted the machine, and the employee was pulled into the machine by the drive chains. The employee was killed. Source: https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1693870.015… Membership...

In this Letter of Interpretation (LOI), OSHA answers several common questions related to the practice of Group Lockout, such as: Does OSHA require all authorized employees who place their locks on the group lockbox to verify that the energy source was deenergized before performing servicing and maintenance work? How could a change of condition(s) (e.g.,…...

One thing that many find confusing regarding the control of hazardous energy is the actual hazard they are trying to render to a Zero Energy State (ZES).  This is a simple concept, but many get it wrong in their programs and machine-specific procedures.  Let’s take compressed air as an example.  Many compressed air systems in…...

Lockout is a life-critical program/process/procedure(s). Our efforts to VERIFY that the program/process/procedures meet our needs is a CRITICAL path in the LOTO process.  OSHA recognized this when it promulgated its Control of Hazardous Energy standard (1910.147).  Specifically, 1910.147(c)(6) “Periodic Inspections” requires the employer to verify the program/procedures and that the employees can properly apply them…...

NOTE:  I totally disagree with this ALJ decision; however, I give him much credit as I listened to the witnesses and followed the evidence he had presented.  This amputation injury was a LOTO violation in my eyes, and I would have argued this case differently.  But here are the facts presented to the Judge: what…...

In the year 2023, we still get the old questioning of the intent of LOTO.  It never fails; in our LOTO training, we will get operators repeating the application of LOTO to their jobs, word for word, as I have stated it, and then comes the $60,000 question… Does my boss know about this? Another…...

I promise you; these are written in the blood of many who have perished – THEY ARE LOTO FACTS, and they are not wrong.  If employers could grasp these simple facts, many limbs and lives could be saved yearly. The standard is called “The Control of Hazardous Energy”.  It is NOT Lockout AND Tagout; it…...

On January 20, 2017, Employee #1, 45, was tasked with removing a “Victaulic Blind Flange” on the inlet section of a 400-ton chiller held in place with a split collar. The machine had been idle for over four (4) months as it was winterized, with all electrical connections removed and locked out. The employee began…...