A sample lockout/tagout policy for your workplace

Contents
A sample lockout/tagout policy for your workplace..................................................................................................1 Purpose...........................................................................................................................................................................2 Scope...............................................................................................................................................................................2 Employer and employee responsibilities.....................................................................................................................2 Lockout and tagout devices..........................................................................................................................................2 E posure survey............................................................................................................................................................! Energy control procedures...........................................................................................................................................! Specific energy"control procedures.............................................................................................................................# Special lockout/tagout situations.................................................................................................................................# Energized testing.......................................................................................................................................................4 Contract service and maintenance............................................................................................................................4 Group lockout...........................................................................................................................................................4 Shift changes and long-term shutdowns...................................................................................................................5 Alternative met$ods......................................................................................................................................................% &raining.........................................................................................................................................................................% 'nspections of written energy"control procedures.....................................................................................................( )efinitions......................................................................................................................................................................*

Purpose
This establishes +name of your company, policy for protecting employees who must do service or maintenance on machines or equipment and who could be injured by an unexpected start-up or release of hazardous energy. Service or maintenance includes erecting, installing, constructing, repairing, adjusting, inspecting, unjamming, setting up, trouble-shooting, testing, cleaning, and dismantling machines, equipment or processes. This policy will ensure that machinery or equipment is stopped, isolated from all hazardous energy sources, and properly loc ed or tagged out.

Scope
This policy applies to all +name of your company, employees who may be exposed to hazardous energy during service or maintenance wor . !ncontrolled energy includes potential, inetic, flammable, chemical, electrical, and thermal sources.

Employer and employee responsibilities

+-ame of your company, is responsible for implementing and enforcing this policy. "ll employees must comply with this policy. Supervisors must enforce the use of loc out and tagout devices when employees do service or maintenance wor and may be exposed to hazardous energy. #mployees who do service and maintenance wor must follow the loc out$tagout procedures described in this policy. #mployees who wor in areas where loc out$tagout procedures are used must understand the purpose of the procedures and are prohibited from attempting to restart machines or equipment that are loc ed or tagged out.

Lockout and tagout devices

%oc out and tagout devices must meet the following criteria to ensure that they are effective and not removed inadvertently& %oc out devices must wor under the environmental conditions in which they are used. Tagout device warnings must remain legible even when they are used in wet, damp, or corrosive conditions. %oc out and tagout devices must be designated by color, shape, or size. Tagout devices must have a standardized print and warning format.

%oc out devices and tagout devices must be strong enough that they can't be removed inadvertently. Tagout devices must be attached with a single-use, self-loc ing material such as a nylon cable tie. "ny employee who sees a loc out or tagout device must be able to recognize who attached it and its purpose. #ach loc must have a unique ey or combination.

#nergy-isolating devices are the primary means for protecting +name of your company, employees who service equipment and must be designed to accept a loc out device. #nergy isolating devices must clearly identify function. Electrical energy sources. %oc out or tagout of electrical energy sources must occur at the circuit disconnect switch. #lectrical control circuitry does not effectively isolate hazardous energy. See also, Alternative met$ods.

Exposure survey
+Employee.s name or /ob title, will conduct a hazardous-energy survey to determine affected machines and equipment, types and magnitude of energy, and necessary service and maintenance tas s. #ach tas will be evaluated to determine if it must be accomplished with loc out or tagout procedures.

Energy control procedures

"uthorized employees who loc out or tagout equipment or do service and maintenance must follow specific written energy-control procedures. The procedures must include the following information& The intended use of the procedure Steps for shutting down, isolating, bloc ing, and securing equipment Steps for placing, removing, and transferring loc out devices #quipment-testing requirements to verify the effectiveness of the energy-control procedures

(hen re-energizing equipment is necessary ) when power is needed to test or position the equipment, for example ) temporary removal of loc out or tagout devices is allowed. This applies only for the time required to perform the tas and the procedure must be documented. Employees must do t$e following before t$ey begin service or maintenance work0 *. +nform all affected employees of equipment shutdown. ,. Shut down equipment. -. +solate or bloc hazardous energy. .. /emove any potential 0stored1 energy. 2. %oc out or tagout the energy sources.
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6. 7erify the equipment is isolated from hazardous energy and de-energized. Employees must do t$e following t$ey remove lockout or tagout devices and re"energi1e e2uipment0 *. /emove tools and replace machine or equipment components. ,. +nform cowor ers about energy-control device removal. -. #nsure all wor ers are clear of the wor area. .. 7erify machine or equipment power controls are off or in a neutral position. 2. /emove the loc out or tagout device. 6. /e-energize equipment.

Specific energy-control procedures

This company has developed specific energy-isolation procedures for all machines and equipment that have energy-isolating devices. -ote to employers: See E ample of a specific energ! control procedure and "orm for documenting a specific energ!-control procedure on this 89 for help on documenting specific energy-control procedures.

Special lockout/tagout situations

Energi1ed testing (hen an energy-isolating device is loc ed or tagged and it is necessary to test or position equipment, do the following& *. /emove unnecessary tools and materials. ,. #nsure that all other employees are out of the area. -. /emove loc s or tags from energy isolating devices. .. :roceed with test. 2. 9eenergize equipment and loc out or tagout energy-isolating devices. 6. ;perate equipment controls to verify that the equipment is de-energized. 3ontract service and maintenance +-ame of your company, and contractors must be aware of their respective loc out$tagout procedures before the contractor does onsite wor . +-ame of your company, employees must understand and comply with the contractor's energy-control procedures. 4roup lockout (hen authorized employees must service equipment that has several energy sources and several energy-isolating devices, the employees must follow group loc out procedures. The following machines and equipment require group loc out& +identify t$e mac$ines and e2uipment,

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S$ift c$anges and long"term s$utdowns #mployees must follow +name of your company, specific written procedures when it is necessary to continue loc out$tagout when wor shifts change and during long-term shutdowns. +-ame of person5 or /ob title, is responsible for monitoring loc out and tagout devices that control the energy to equipment during long-term shutdowns

Alternative met ods

(hen loc out or tagout is not used for tas s that are routine, repetitive, and integral to the production process, or prohibits the completion of those tas s, then an alternative method must be used to control hazardous energy. Selection of an alternative control method must be based on a ris assessment of the machine, equipment, or process. The ris assessment must consider existing safeguards provided with the machine, equipment or process that may need to be removed or modified to perform a given tas . <or example, when control circuits are used as part of the safeguarding system, the system must be designed to ensure protection as effective as a mechanical disconnect switch or master shutoff valve. " control-reliable dual channel hardwired circuit of industrially-rated components that satisfies the design features as specified in "=S+ >**.*5, with a safety relay or safety :%8 to ensure integrity and performance of the safeguarding system, must be used. !nder all circumstances, the individual must have exclusive personal control over the means to maintain the state of the control circuit in a protective mode.

!raining
#mployees who may be exposed to hazardous energy will receive training before assignment to ensure that they understand +name of your company, energy-control policy and have s ills to apply, use, and remove energy controls. The training will include the requirements of *5*4.*.? and the following& "ffected employees will be trained in the purpose and use of energy-control procedures. #n affected emplo!ee uses e$uipment that is %eing serviced under lockout or tagout procedures or works in an area where e$uipment is %eing serviced. "uthorized employees will be trained to recognize hazardous energy sources, the type and magnitude of energy in the wor place, the methods and means necessary for isolating and controlling energy, and the means to verify that the energy is controlled. #n authorized emplo!ee locks out or tags out e$uipment to do service work. #n affected emplo!ee %ecomes an authorized emplo!ee when that emplo!ee&s duties include service or maintenance work on e$uipment. #mployees whose jobs are in areas where energy-control procedures are used will be trained about the procedures and the prohibition against starting machines that are loc ed or tagged out. #mployees will be retrained annually to ensure they understand energy-control policy and procedures.

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"uthorized and affected employees will be retrained whenever their job assignments change, energy-control procedures change, equipment or wor processes present new hazards, or when they don't follow energy-control procedures.

8urrent training records will be maintained for each authorized and affected employee including the employee's name and the training date

"nspections of written energy-control procedures

+-ame of your company, will perform and document annual inspections of energy-control procedures to ensure that employees understand and use them effectively. 9ocumentation will include the following& The equipment on which the procedure is used. The date of the inspection. The employees included in the inspection. The inspector.

+f an inspector finds that employees are not following an energy-control procedure or that the procedure is not protecting them, employees must be retrained and the procedure's deficiencies corrected. The inspector must understand the procedure and must be someone other than those following the procedure at the time of the inspection. #ach procedure's accuracy, completeness, and effectiveness must be verified. +f the inspection covers a procedure for equipment with an energy-isolating device that can be locked out, the inspector must review the procedure with the employees who use it to service the equipment. The inspector can review the procedure with the employees individually or in a group. +f the inspection covers a procedure for equipment with an energy-isolating device that can only be tagged out, the inspector must review the procedure with the authorized employees who service the equipment and with affected employees who may wor in the area when the equipment is serviced. The inspector can review the procedure with the employees individually or in a group.

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#efinitions
Affected employee " person who uses equipment that is being serviced under loc out or tagout procedures, or who wor s in an area where equipment is being serviced. Aut$ori1ed employee " person who loc s out or tags out equipment to do service or maintenance wor . "n affected employee becomes an authorized employee when that employee's duties include service or maintenance wor on equipment. 3apable of being locked out "n energy-isolating device that is designed with a hasp or other means of attachment to which, or through which a loc can be affixed, or if it has a loc ing mechanism built into it. ;ther energy-isolating devices will also be considered to be capable of being loc ed out, if loc out can be achieved without the need to dismantle, rebuild, or replace the energy-isolating device or permanently alter its energy-control capability. )isconnect " switch that disconnects an electrical circuit or load 0motor, transformer, or panel1 from the conductors that supply power to it. "n open circuit does not allow electrical current to flow. !nder a loc out procedure, a disconnect must be capable of being loc ed in the open position. Energi1ed 8onnected to an energy source or containing potential energy. Energy source "ny source of energy. #xamples& electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, and thermal. Energy"isolating device " mechanical device that physically prevents transmission or release of energy. 6a1ardous energy "ny of the types of energy existing at a level or quantity that could be harmful to wor ers or cause injury through inadvertent release or start-up of equipment. Lockout device " device that loc s an energy-isolating device in the safe position. Lockout :lacing a loc out device on an energy-isolating device, under an established procedure, to ensure the energy-isolating device and the equipment it controls can't be operated until the loc out device is removed. 0"n energy-isolating device is capable of being loc ed out if it has a hasp that accepts a loc or if it has a loc ing mechanism built into it.1 Procedure " series of steps ta en to isolate energy and shut down equipment. Servicing or maintenance (or place activities such as constructing, installing, setting up, adjusting, inspecting, modifying, and maintaining machines or equipment. "lso includes lubricating, cleaning, unjamming, and ma ing adjustments or tool changes if a wor er may be exposed to the unexpected startup of the equipment during such activities. &agout device " prominent warning sign, such as a tag, that can be securely fastened to an energy-isolating device to indicate that the energy-isolating device and the equipment it controls can't be operated until the tagout device is removed.

&agout :lacing a tagout device on an energy-isolating device, under an established procedure, to indicate that the energy-isolating device and the equipment it controls can't be operated until the tagout device is removed.

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