To continue with my series of LOTO articles this month, I want to discuss how 1910.147 plays into our efforts to enter a Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS). Way too many PRCS entry permits have the basic check-the-box statement “All energy sources isolated – YES/NO”. What the heck is that suppose to meet? Do our “machine specific LOTO procedures” have the statement “All energy sources isolated – YES/NO” or do machine-specific procedures contain the energy types, their magnitudes, their means/methods used to isolate each source and the means to verify each source is at a zero-energy state (ZES)? So why in the heck would we think our energy isolation plan for entry into a PRCS can be something less? So what should our energy isolation plan look like for our entry into a PRCS…
Documenting the “isolation” of a Permit-Required Confined Space
