Lockout/Tagout Compliance Checklist

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration -- OSHA -- has established a standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy, a lockout and tag-out policy in the Code of Federal Regulations. This standard regulates the procedures required to stop machinery from operating and releasing hazardous energy while employees perform maintenance or repair on equipment and electrical circuits. A compliance checklist ensures that service personnel follow strict protocol on safe work practices, since their job exposes them to the greatest risk.

Understanding Lockout and Tag-out

• Lockout means locking an energy-isolating device in a safe mode to prevent both the device and the equipment from operating until the device is unlocked. Examples of mechanical energy-isolating devices are a manually operated electrical circuit breaker, a disconnect switch, a line valve, a block and similar devices that physically prevent energy from being transmitted or released.

  Tag-out refers to attaching a visible warning device to an energy-isolating device to indicate a halt in operations until the device is removed.

  Established procedures must be followed in the lockout and tag-out requirements.

Safety Measures and Training Program

• The lockout and tag-out standard holds employers accountable for protecting their maintenance staff from all possible danger on the job. Safety measures cover electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic (compressed gases), chemical, thermal and other energy sources.

  Staff training should comprise the employer's energy-control program, OSHA's lockout and tag-out requirements, and the procedures relevant to the employees' tasks and responsibilities.

Scope of Compliance Checklist

• The compliance checklist needs to integrate the OSHA standard's most critical requirements. Proper documentation and enumeration of significant aspects of the energy-control plan, equipment, machinery, personnel and processes are essential. A space for comments is useful for vital points that may not be on the checklist. Noting the unexpected issues that arise is valuable for future reference and revision of the energy-control program.

Recommended Checklist Sections and Items

• One section of the checklist should be about the company's energy-control program. Specific items to be verified are the methods for compliance, steps for energy shutdown and isolation, steps for placement and removal of lockout and tag-out devices, testing and inspection of procedures and devices, and notification of employees and contractors involved, as necessary. A second section could ensure an updated inventory of equipment, machinery and lockout and tag-out devices. A test of new or overhauled equipment's capability to be locked out ought to be included as well. This section also has to check for a current list of all authorized and affected personnel. It must also confirm if written energy-control procedures for each piece of equipment are in place and in use. A review of the training requirements as they relate to management, service staff, and all other employees in the workplace, respectively, will be another handy section.