![]() ![]() Locks should not be removed until the maintenance workers and the authorizing employee are satisfied that the equipment is ready to be operated safely. ![]() Once the locks and tags are place, try to operate the equipment to ensure that no lock-outs have been missed.The leaving shift should make sure the arriving shift understands the maintenance process and the hazards When maintenance activity extends beyond the current shift, replace the personal locks of the leaving shift with the personal locks of the arriving shift.This includes electrical capacitance, pressure, residual fluids and hazardous atmospheres, and pent up mechanical and potential energy. Make sure that any stored energy has been released.Make sure each person working on a piece of equipment applies his personal lock to the lockout device, as shown in Figure 1.Identify all sources of hazardous energy potentially impacting a piece of equipment and lock out all sources.Assign authorized employees to ensure that LOTO procedures are faithfully and thoroughly followed.Train affected employees in proper LOTO procedures, and retrain regularly.Have a corporate-wide LOTO policy that is mandatory at all sites.Readers are urged to become familiar with the more detailed references cited. However, we do not intend to cover this topic comprehensively. Summarized here are the bare essentials of a good LOTO program. A brief overview of LOTO procedures and tools are provided, as are references to more detailed resources. The purpose of this article is to share this information with you, to help you lead the implementation or improvement of LOTO in yourĬompany. So we asked CCPS member companies to give us examples of accidents caused by LOTO failures, and to provide testimonials about the importance of LOTO. Could CCPS help him make the case for LOTO? At CCPS, we firmly believe that it is better to learn from the mistakes of others rather than to learn by painful, personal experience. LOTO is just extra, unnecessary work.” The company process safety manager knew that with the plant director’s attitude, the plant could be on the road to disaster. That’s why no one would ever activate a switch or valve during a maintenance activity. A prime example is the Bhopal catastrophe, one of the worst incidents ever to have occurred, which was caused in part by the failure of LOTO. Recently, a company process safety manager called CCPS asking for help in persuading a newly acquired facility within his company to implement a LOTO program. The manager was frustrated because, as the plant director stated, “We understand completely that maintenance workers are endangered if power or material flow were allowed to equipment they are servicing. When a piece of equipment is being worked on, all sources of hazardous energy must be securely and positively locked out until the equipment is operational. Untold numbers of major process safety incidents and individual injuries have been caused by failure of LOTO. Chemical flow can cause uncontrolled reaction and injury. Steam can cause burns or initiate hazardous reactions. Electrical energy can cause electrocution and burns, provide ignition to flammable atmospheres, and activate mechanical equipment. Lock-out and tag-out (LOTO) is a critical part of a strong all-around safety program. In LOTO, maintenance employees work with production employees to positively prevent all forms of hazardous energy from causing harm. Hazardous energy comes in many forms. ![]()
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