Lockout/Tagout Requirements

The Lockout/Tagout standard requires employers to establish procedures for isolating machines or equipment from their source of energy and affixing appropriate locks or tags to energy-isolating devices to prevent any unexpected energization, startup, or release of stored energy that could injure workers. When tags are used on energy-isolating devices not capable of being locked out, provide additional means to assure a level of protection equivalent to that of locks. The standard also requires employee training and periodic inspections of the procedures to maintain or improve their effectiveness.

Energy Control Program

If you are covered by the LO/TO standard, you must establish a program to ensure that machines and equipment are isolated and inoperative before any employee performs servicing or maintenance when the unexpected energization, start up, or release of stored energy could occur and cause injury.

The purpose of the energy control program is to ensure that, whenever the possibility of unexpected machine or equipment startup or energization exists or when the unexpected release of stored energy could occur and cause injury during servicing and maintenance, the equipment is isolated from its energy source(s) and rendered inoperative prior to servicing or maintenance.

The LO/TO standard allows you the flexibility to develop programs and procedures that meet the needs of your particular workplace and the particular types of machines and equipment being maintained or serviced. Your energy control program must include:

§  Documented energy control procedures,

§  An employee training program, and

§  Periodic inspections of the use of the procedures.

Energy Control Procedures

Energy control procedures must be developed, documented, and used to control potentially hazardous energy whenever workers perform activities covered by the standard.

The written procedures have to identify the information that the authorized employees must know to control hazardous energy during servicing or maintenance. If this information is the same for various machines or equipment or if other means of logical grouping exists, then a single energy control procedure may be sufficient. If there are other conditions, such as multiple energy sources, different connecting means, or a particular sequence that must be followed to shut down the machine or equipment, then you must develop separate energy control procedures to protect employees.

The energy control procedures need to outline the scope, purpose, authorization, rules, and techniques that will be used to control hazardous energy sources as well as the means that will be used to enforce compliance. At a minimum, they should include the following elements:

§  A statement on how the procedures will be used;

§  The procedural steps needed to shut down, isolate, block, and secure machines or equipment;

§  The steps designating the safe placement, removal, and transfer of lockout/tagout devices and who has the responsibility for them;

§  The specific requirements for testing machines or equipment to determine and verify the effectiveness of locks, tags, and other energy control measures; and

§  The employer or an authorized employee must notify affected employees before lockout or tagout devices are applied and after they are removed from the machine or equipment.

The procedures must include the following steps:

1.  Preparing for shutdown,

2.  Shutting down the machine or equipment,

3.  Isolating the machine or equipment from the energy source(s),

4.  Applying the lockout or tagout device(s) to the energy-isolating device(s),

5.  Safely releasing all potentially hazardous stored or residual energy, and

6.  Verifying the isolation of the machine or equipment prior to the start of servicing or maintenance work.

In addition, before lockout or tagout devices are removed and energy is restored to the machines or equipment, steps need to be taken to reenergize equipment after servicing is completed, including ensuring that machines or equipment components are operationally intact; all employees are safely positioned or removed from equipment; and that lockout or tagout devices are removed from each energy-isolating device by the employee who applied the device.

Normal Production Operations - Lockout/Tagout

Machines and equipment present many hazardous situations during normal production operations — i.e., whenever machines and equipment are used to perform their usual production function. These production hazards are covered by other rules, such as the requirements for general machine guarding and guarding power transmission apparatus. In certain circumstances, such as the following examples, some servicing or maintenance hazards encountered during normal production operations may be covered by the lockout/tagout rule.

Servicing and/or Maintenance Operations

If a servicing activity — such as lubricating, cleaning, or unjamming the production equipment — takes place during production, the employee performing the servicing may be subjected to hazards that are not encountered as part of the production operation itself. Workers engaged in these operations are covered by lockout/tagout when any of the following conditions occur:

§  The employee must either remove or bypass machine guards or other safety devices, resulting in exposure to hazards at the point of operation;

§  The employee is required to place any part of his or her body in contact with the point of operation of the operational machine or piece of equipment; or

§  The employee is required to place any part of his or her body into a danger zone associated with a machine operating cycle.

In these situations, the equipment must be deenergized and locks or tags must be applied to the energy-isolation devices. In addition, when other servicing tasks occur, such as setting up equipment, and/or making significant adjustments to machines, employees performing the tasks are required to lock out or tag out if they can be injured by unexpected energization or startup of the equipment.

Some servicing operations must be performed with the power on. Making many types of fine adjustments, such as centering the belt on conveyors, is one example. Certain aspects of troubleshooting, such as identifying the source of the problem as well as checking to ensure that it has been corrected, is another. You must provide effective protection when employees perform such operations. Although, in these cases, a power-on condition is essential either to accomplish the partitular type of servicing or to verify that it was performed properly, lockout or tagout procedures are required when other service or maintenance occurs and power is not required.

Minor Servicing Tasks

Employees performing minor tool changes and adjustments and/or other minor servicing activities that are routine, repetitive, and integral to the use of the production equipment and that occur during normal production operations are not covered by the lockout/tagout standard, provided the work is performed using alternative measures that provide effective protection.

Servicing Motor Vehicles

In an interpretative letter dated July 23, 1992 OSHA clarified how the Lockout/Tagout standard would apply to motor vehicles.

"Specifically, you posed the following question: If a truck driver or other person were to crawl under a truck, with the engine running, to adjust a linkage or fix another problem, would this be considered a violation of the standard?

The answer is: Yes, this would constitute a hazard, as well as a violation. We would agree with the verbal opinion offered by Mr. Sauger that turning the engine off and removing the ignition key would deenergize and isolate the power source. The key would also have to be retained by the employee performing the maintenance operation in order to provide effective protection under the standard.

When servicing or maintenance activities are to take place, on any equipment, deenergization of that equipment will provide maximum safety to an employee. The removal of a vehicle key which can be kept in the sole control of the employee performing the maintenance or service can significantly reduce the risk of serious injury or even possibly a fatal injury."

Scope of the Standard - Lockout/Tagout

Workers performing service or maintenance on machinery and equipment are exposed to injuries from the unexpected energization, startup of the machinery or equipment, or release of stored energy in the equipment.

OSHA's Lockout/Tagout (Control of Hazardous Energy) standard, which went into effect in January 1990, helps safeguard employees from the unexpected startup of machines or equipment or release of hazardous energy while they are performing servicing or maintenance. It identifies the practices and procedures necessary to shut down and lock out or tag out machines and equipment, requires that employees receive training in their role in the lockout/tagout program, and mandates that periodic inspections be conducted to maintain or enhance the energy control program.

This rule requires that, in general, before service or maintenance is performed on machines or equipment, the machines or equipment must be turned off and disconnected from the energy source, and the energy-isolating device must be either locked or tagged out.

Lockout is a more reliable means of deenergizing equipment than tagout and it should always be the preferred method used by employees. Except for limited situations, the use of lockout devices will provide a more secure and more effective means of protecting employees from the unexpected release of hazardous energy or startup of machines and equipment.

Scope of the Standard

The Lockout/Tagout standard applies to general industry employment and covers the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment in which the unexpected startup or the release of stored energy could cause injury to employees. Hazardous energy releases may occur during the installation, set up, adjusting, modifying, maintenance, servicing, or repairing of machines, equipment, processes, or systems.

It applies to any source of mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, or other energy, but does not cover electrical hazards. Subpart S of 29 CFR Part 1910 covers electrical hazards, and 29 CFR Part 1910.333 contains specific lockout/tagout provisions for electrical hazards.

Activities and Operations Not Covered

Servicing and maintenance of equipment performed during normal production operations are not covered if:

§  The safeguarding provisions of OSHA's Machine Guarding and other applicable general industry standards are effective in preventing worker exposure to hazards created by the unexpected energization or startup of machines or equipment, or the release of energy.

§  Minor tool changes and adjustments, and other minor servicing activities that take place during normal production operations which are routine, repetitive, and integral to the use of that production equipment, as long as workers are effectively protected by alternative measures which provide effective machine safeguarding protection.

§  Construction, agriculture, and maritime workers.

§  Installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities for power generation, transmission, and distribution.

§  Exposure to electrical hazards from work on, near, or with conductors or equipment in electric utilization installations.

§  Oil and gas well drilling and servicing.

§  Work on cord and plug connected electrical equipment — if the equipment is unplugged from the energy source and the authorized employee has exclusive control of the plug.

§  Hot tap operations that involve transmission and distribution systems for gas, steam, water, or petroleum products on pressurized pipelines — if continuity of service is essential, shutdown of the system is impractical, documented procedures are followed, and employees are effectively protected by special equipment.