Lockout/Tagout Machine-Specific Procedures

Identify equipment and gather information: Spend some time determining which pieces of equipment need procedures. Consider which employees should be involved in developing the program and which will be responsible for following the procedures for each piece of equipment. Then compile information about each individual machine, including:

• The energy sources and magnitude that may be connected to each machine

• How to shut down the machine and release or restrain stored energy

• How to isolate the energy sources

• How to verify a successful lockout

• How to restart the equipment

Step 1: Prepare for Shutdown

• The authorized employee must refer to the company procedure to identify the type and magnitude of the energy that the machine or equipment utilizes, understand the hazards of the energy and know the methods to control the energy.

Step 2: Notify Affected Employees

• Notify all affected employees that servicing or maintenance is required on a machine or equipment, and that the machine or equipment must be shut down and locked/tagged out to do so.

Step 3: Shut Down Equipment

• Power down the machine or equipment in a safe and orderly manner, in accordance with the equipment-specific procedure or operating manual (depress the stop button, flip switch, close valve, etc.)

Step 4: Isolate Energy Sources

• Make sure all sources of energy have been isolated. Turn off power, close valves, block moving parts, disengage and block lines, etc.

Step 5. Apply LOTO Devices

• Lock out the energy-isolating devices (switches, levers, etc.) with assigned individual locks (padlocks, safety hasps, etc.). Each device should feature a tag that displays the name of the employee who applied the device and why.

Step 6: Release All Secondary Energy Sources

• Even after the energy source has been disconnected and the machine or equipment has been locked out, there could be sources of residual energy, such as trapped heat in a thermal system or hydraulic pressure, that need to be safely relieved, disconnected or restrained.

Step 7: Verify Isolation

• Now that all primary and secondary sources of energy have been disconnected, it’s time to double-check.

• Once confident that all hazardous energy has been isolated and verifying that nobody is in a position where they could be hurt, employees can perform a safe check to ensure that the machine or equipment cannot be started without removing the LOTO device.

Step 8: Restart Equipment

• When the maintenance work is complete and all tools, parts and debris have been removed from the area, the machine can be brought back into operation.

• Be sure to replace any safety features and machine guards, close all access panels, remove all locks and tags, and inform all affected employees the work is complete and the machinery is about to be re-energized.