Enhancing Safety and Productivity: The Essential Role of Lockout Tagout

Maintenance of a machine is done to increase productivity and efficiency, but a careless servicing process leads to deterioration and accidents. While servicing a machine, workers face the danger of exposure to hazardous energy. This hazardous energy can be present in any form and cause the machine to start moving again. Workers can fall off moving belts, get crushed under automated machines and even get electrocuted by faulty panels. All these incidents happen when a machine either retains stored energy or is unintentionally started by an unaware employee. Operating belts, sharp cutters, grinding/mixing machines, toxic material carrying pipelines and other such machines pose a serious threat to workers. Craft workers, electricians, machine operators and labourers are a few among many workers who are prone to accidents. Machinery-related fatalities form a significant part of accidents and result from failure to control hazardous energy.

The evolution of energy has been a steady progression from simple to more powerful and dangerous sources. Hazard associated with all forms of energy and force includes unexpected movement, direct contact with an unshielded energy source, and being caught in a mechanism driven by a form of energy or source. Safety measures like Lockout Tagout are more crucial today than ever before.

Just informing the facility personnel or assuming the machine will remain inoperative is not enough to ensure safety. Workplace accidents are a critical issue that needs to be addressed by every health and safety official regardless of the company's size. Specific steps must be taken to guarantee safe working conditions for all workers. It is the duty and responsibility of employers and employees to protect their own lives and those around them. Lockout Tagout not only helps you avoid OSHA violations but also protects workers' lives. According to OSHA, LOTO saves workers from approximately 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries yearly.

OSHA or Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforced Lockout Tagout for control of hazardous energy guidelines in 1990. The Lockout Tagout procedure is a safety policy that protects workers from unexpected machine start-up. Lockout/Tagout is the practice of shutting down and disconnecting power from machinery or equipment and placing locks and warning tags on energy-isolating devices to prevent the machine or equipment activation during maintenance or servicing by bringing it to a zero-energy state. It renders the machine inoperative and harmless. This safety procedure ensures that hazardous energy is controlled and any worker present in the area can't be harmed.

Control of hazardous energy can be achieved through Lockout Tagout devices. The employee puts the Lockout Tagout devices on the machine's energy control points, isolating and securing its movement. The authorised employee adds a padlock and a tag to the lockout device so no other person can accidentally energise the machine. These devices should be durable, substantial, standardised, and identifiable. Although there are thousands of available LOTO products in the market, you can identify the best ones for your facility or take advice from an expert. Every control point must be locked and tagged for a successful safety program using effective devices. In addition, a maintenance worker needs to know how to use energy-isolating products effectively.

The worker servicing the machine should have in-depth knowledge about the Lockout Tagout process. Whether it is a third-party servicing team or the company's employees, they need suitable training in the application of Lockout Tagout. They should know, understand and follow documented Lockout Tagout procedures. OSHA mandates that every authorised employee possess the necessary skills and knowledge about the LOTO process. Affected employees or other employees should be aware of the ongoing maintenance process and receive basic training. Safety administrations like OSHA have imposed such directives to create an effective safety program with workers’ participation.

OSHA addresses standards for the protection of employees during maintenance from unexpected start-up of machines. Companies must develop, implement and enforce machine-specific procedures to control hazardous energy. It outlines specific actions, training and devices to create your safety policy. It gives guidelines for general industry as well as particular industries for an efficient LOTO program. Workers need not use Lockout Tagout during regular servicing operations, which are essential for the machine's normal functioning and don’t put workers in harm's way.

The Lockout Tagout Standard requires employers in certain industries to establish an energy control program for locking out equipment, employee training, and periodic inspections. Different industries call for different protective measures. Workers who service industrial machinery and equipment face unique hazards due to their close contact with equipment. They frequently work in dangerous zones beyond machine guards that protect workers during normal production operations. Consequently, special procedures are necessary to protect workers during maintenance and servicing.

OSHA estimates that failure to adequately control hazardous energy accounts for 7% of all occupational fatalities and nearly 10% of severe accidents in many industries. There is a prevailing presumption that if an employer develops a Lockout Tagout program meeting the requirements of the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147 standard, compliance will be achieved and energy release incidents will be more or less eliminated. It is important to remember that attaining legal compliance represents only the minimum safety criteria and employers need to go beyond minimalism. With an effective Lockout Tagout program in place, injuries and losses arising from failure to control hazardous energy are entirely preventable.

# Case Study 1 - In an automotive manufacturing industry, greasing operations are performed by an automatic machine enclosed in a cage. A worker wanted to unjam the greaser’s stuck arm; he entered the cage without de-energizing the machine and locking it out. When he tried to unjam the arm, the machine short-circuited and started unexpectedly. The operator’s arm was caught in the machine and was injected with grease. Such a situation could have been avoided by draining and isolating the energy sources of the machine.

# Case Study 2 - A scrap metal shredder took a worker’s life due to a lack of LOTO devices. The employee tried to unjam a metal piece stuck in the shredder. As soon as he unclogged the shredder, it started working and took the employee down.

All these incidents occurred due to improper implementation of LOTO devices. LOTO implementation has been saving numerous lives by -

· Lockout Tagout Safety devices prevent accidental clicking of switches. It prevents another employee from unknowingly operating the machine.

· They warn and inform employees about the ongoing service. New employees or shift changes can create confusion without proper warnings.

· It holds the employee accountable for his own safety and that of others around him. Having a mandatory LOTO procedure saves workers from accidents.

· It creates awareness among employees and makes them attentive towards incidents occurring in the workplace.

Year after year, Lockout Tagout violations continue to be amongstthe top ranks of OSHA’s top ten violation list of most frequently citedstandards and serious violations. Despite the alarming number ofmachine-related accidents and OSHA’s enforcement efforts, Lockout Tagout isstill viewed by many as burdensome and production slowing-task. But companies which have employed effective Lockout Tagout programs have seen a boost in employee morale, and productivity resulting in souring profits.