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8 Stages of Lock Out Tag Out
» » SAFELY ISOLATING EQUIPMENT
when conducting maintenance, cleaning
or repairs is vital to ensuring a safe
working environment for your employees
and external contractors. A commonly
used method to ensure you are safety
compliant is the Lock Out Tag Out
procedure.
As part of Lock Out Tag Out, machinery
is ‘locked’ in the first instance to prevent
accidental re-energisation, this lock
is then ‘tagged’. The tag will include
information such as who applied the
lock and the date and time it was put in
place. A final stage of Lock Out Tag Out,
prior to any work being completed on the
machinery or equipment is to ‘try out’.
This ensures that the equipment has been
safely shut down, with no residual stored
energy which could cause injury.
THE LOCK OUT TAG OUT PROCEDURE
Lock Out Tag Out has clearly defined
steps, which when adhered to, ensures the
safe control of hazardous energy in the
workplace. Below are the 8 stages of Lock
Out Tag Out:
1. PREPARATION
Prior to any equipment being shut
down and work beginning, the hazards
and energy created by the equipment
need fully assessing and a plan in place of
the methods of control. At this point other
workers in the area must also be informed
a Lock Out procedure is beginning, which
will help prevent anyone attempting to
restart the equipment.
2. EQUIPMENT SHUT DOWN
Using the correct controls for your
equipment, shut it down completely. If
there are existing shut down procedures
in place, make sure to adhere to these to
ensure the safety of workers.
3. ISOLATE EQUIPMENT
Isolation points for your equipment
should already be identified and labelled
before installing isolation devices which
will block the energy source from your
equipment. At this stage you should ensure
that both primary and secondary sources
and power supplies have been isolated.
4. LOCK OUT DEVICES
Isolation devices will now be both
locked and tagged in compliance with
your workplace safety procedures. The
lock out devices such as padlocks and
tags used for this procedure must not be
used for anything else in the workplace,
and be stored safely in a lock out station.
If padlocks cannot be applied directly
to the energy control, use a lock out
device which is the correct fitting for your
equipment.
After safely applying lock out devices to
your equipment you will need to tag these
accordingly. The tags should be filled out
by and with the details of the person who
applied to lock. This must then be securely
fastened to the device. The tag provides
an identifier for who is conducting the
lock out procedure and prevents anyone
attempting to remove the lock.
5. ISOLATE ENERGY
Fully inspect the system to ensure that
moving parts have ceased movement and
block any spring driven parts or anything
which could fall. Loss of pressure can
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | JAN/FEB 2019
cause hydraulic or pneumatic systems to
move so it is important that parts which
move in the system are safely blocked.
This movement can occur after the
equipment has been shut down due to
stored energy.
Piping systems should also be drained
to prevent hazardous materials flowing,
and any trapped pressure relieved.
6. ISOLATION VERIFICATION
Make sure that areas are kept clear
of workers and verify that devices have
been correctly applied to lock out the
equipment. You should then attempt to
restart the equipment to test your isolation
procedure – this is the ‘try out’ phase.
Once this testing has been completed
make sure to shut off all controls.
7. PERFORM WORK
Carry out the required work at this point
in a safe and considered manner. Make sure
that anyone working on the equipment is
fully aware of the lock out devices and don’t
attempt to remove these.
8. REACTIVATION
Once you have completed the work
required, lock out devices and blocks
can be removed, and the equipment
safely restarted. The equipment should
be energised in accordance with your
company’s procedure.
Employing this method will ensure the
safety of workers and prevent accidents
and injury occurring. Employees
should be trained to both undertake
and recognise the Lock Out Tag Out
Procedure. These methods should also
be transferred to any outside contractors
hired to perform repair, maintenance or
cleaning of equipment.