Recently I came across a situation at a facility that is NOT all that uncommon and we need to spread the word. It involves using an electrical disconnect on an electrical panel door. As you will see in the STAGED video (NO one was at risk in the video) that I turned the disconnect off, placed my LO lock on the disconnect. Doing so, an authorized employee would expect to have EXCLUSIVE CONTROL of that ENERGY ISOLATION DEVICE. As you will see in the STAGED video, that if a qualified electrical worker was to open the cabinet door, the disconnect is made INEFFECTIVE and that qualified electrical worker could energize the electrical to the machine that I just locked out. There are a couple of other concerns and solutions discussed. First, move the electrical energy isolation device OFF of the door and place it on the side of the panel. Doing this will allow the disconnect to remain effective as an energy isolation device. Moving the disconnect off the door will also prevent the disconnect switch from being damaged. We checked several other cabinets to find the switch was actually destroyed and was NOT an effective energy isolation device. It had been destroyed by personnel closing the door and not aligning the switch with the rod and then forcing the door closed. See Video #2 below.
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