Scenario: A piece of equipment has twelve (12) energy sources, which must be isolated to get the piece of equipment down to a zero energy state (ZES). I have a task that will expose me to ONLY 1 of these 12 energy sources – can I just lockout the one (1) source or must I lockout all twelve (12) each time I perform this task?
This scenario is one that happens just about every hour in most facilities and yet many LOTO programs and training programs have never addressed it.
Yes, the easy way for the safety team to dodge the question is to claim all 12 sources must be isolated regardless of exposure and unfortunately, that has been the answer for decades and we then learn that because of this hardline position that now nothing is being locked out.
Early in the life-cycle of a LOTO program I ALWAYS take the hardline approach, but as a facility matures and comes to fully understand energy isolation/control I will begin to loosen the grasp and allow logical arguments to be made. This argument is always one of the first big hurdles to cross. This morning, I attempted to explain how a machine with multiple power sources could be worked on safely when only those sources with exposure to the worker being locked out and the other sources NOT under my exclusive control…