Safety Instructions for Cleaning Industrial Equipment

Cleaning industrial equipment prolongs its useful life, but can present safety hazards to operators who are performing the maintenance. By following a step-by-step procedure, those hazards can be avoided. Familiarity with equipment safety precautions and strict adherence to energy-isolating procedures are also important factors in completing cleaning and maintenance tasks on industrial equipment.

Things You'll Need

• Equipment maintenance manual
• Cleaning tools and supplies
• Lock-out tag-out equipment
• Lock-out tag-out procedures

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Instructions

• 1

  Read and become familiar with all warnings in the equipment manual. Some safety hazards are not apparent to the untrained eye, so protect yourself by learning standard procedures and warnings for any equipment you are responsible for maintaining.

• 2

  Gather the appropriate tools and materials to complete the job. Using the wrong tool or wrong substance can lead to injury, or in extreme instances, death.

• 3

  Identify all power sources for the equipment. This is the first step in what is known as "lock-out" of the industrial equipment. If there is a standard lock-out procedure for the type of equipment, it should indicate any power sources the equipment uses. If there is no standard or written procedure, review the equipment manual. Power sources such as electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal and chemical energy must be considered.

• 4

  Inform all workers in the area of the industrial equipment and all potential operators of the equipment that the equipment will be shut down for maintenace and all power sources isolated and locked out of service. Inform all workers of any related machinery that may be affected by the shut down, how long the shut down is scheduled to last, and at what time the equipment is scheduled to become operational again. Instruct workers not to attempt to remove any power-isolating devices or operate the controls of any shut down machinery.

• 5

  Isolate all power sources. This may include switching off machinery controls, moving electrical switches and breakers to the off position, releasing any stored energy in the machinery, closing or blanking valves, lowering suspended machine components or supporting them in place, or disconnecting power cords and hoses.

• 6

  Test equipment controls to ensure that they are in a zero energy state and cannot operate the machine or equipment, which could result in the unexpected release of energy.

• 7

  Place lock-out devices on all switches, valves or controls that may be used to reconnect power to the device. Place tag-out maintenance notices on any controls that cannot be locked out warning workers not to attempt to operate the machinery.

• 8

  Perform the cleaning operation according to guidelines in the equipment manual or any other relevant documentation.

• 9

  Replace all machine guards that were removed in the cleaning process. Make sure the machine or equipment is fully and properly assembled.

• 10

  Inform all workers and potential operators of the equipment that cleaning and maintenance has been completed. Remove lock-out and tag-out devices and reenergize the equipment.