Have you been waiting to update that lockout/tagout training video? Now just might be the time.
Lockout/tagout continues to stand at number 5 of OSHA’s top 10 most violated safety standards and is still responsible for far too many grisly deaths each year; particularly in the manufacturing sector.
OSHA’s standard regarding lockout/tagout states that:
“This standard covers the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment in which the unexpected energization or start-up of the machines or equipment, or release of stored energy, could harm employees. This standard establishes minimum performance requirements for the control of such hazardous energy.” (29 CFR 1910.147).
It is absolutely imperative that supervisors, managers, company owners, etc. have implemented a specific lockout/tagout program for their operation. This is an unbelievably preventable tragedy that happens far too often due to cutting corners, costs, or negligence. In regards to a lockout/tagout program, OSHA states:
“The employer shall establish a program consisting of energy control procedures, employee training, and periodic inspections to ensure that before any employee performs any servicing or maintenance on a machine or equipment where the unexpected energizing, startup or release of stored energy could occur and cause injury, the machine or equipment shall be isolated from the energy source and rendered inoperative.”(1910.147(c)(1))