710
KDS
Astec Mobile Screens Safety 3 KDS 710
Lockout/Tagout
What is the OSHA standard for control of hazardous energy sources?
The OSHA standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout), Title 29 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) Part 1910.147, addresses the practices and procedures necessary to disable ma-
chinery or equipment, thereby preventing the release of hazardous energy while employees perform
servicing and maintenance activities. The standard outlines measures for controlling hazardous ener-
gies—electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, and other energy sources.
In addition, 29 CFR 1910.333 sets forth requirements to protect employees working on electric cir-
cuits and equipment. This section requires workers to use safe work practices, including lockout and
tagging procedures. These provisions apply when employees are exposed to electrical hazards while
working on, near, or with conductors or systems that use electric energy.
Why is controlling hazardous energy sources important?
Employees servicing or maintaining machines or equipment may be exposed to serious physical
harm or death if hazardous energy is not properly controlled. Craft workers, machine operators, and
laborers are among the 3 million workers who service equipment and face the greatest risk. Compli-
ance with the lockout/tagout standard prevents an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each
year. Workers injured on the job from exposure to hazardous energy lose an average of 24 workdays
for recuperation.
How can you protect workers?
The lockout/tagout standard establishes the employer’s responsibility to protect employees from haz-
ardous energy sources on machines and equipment during service and maintenance. The standard
gives each employer the exibility to develop an energy control program suited to the needs of the
particular workplace and the types of machines and equipment being maintained or serviced. This is
generally done by afxing the appropriate lockout or tagout devices to energy-isolating devices and
by de-energizing machines and equipment. The standard outlines the steps required to do this.
What do employees need to know?
Employees need to be trained to ensure that they know, understand, and follow the applicable pro-
visions of the hazardous energy control procedures. The training must cover at least three areas:
aspects of the employer’s energy control program; elements of the energy control procedure relevant
to the employee’s duties or assignment; and the various requirements of the OSHA standards related
to lockout/tagout.
What must employers do to protect employees?
The standards establish requirements that employers must follow when employees are exposed to
hazardous energy while servicing and maintaining equipment and machinery. Some of the most criti-
cal requirements from these standards are outlined below:
Develop, implement, and enforce an energy control program.
Use lockout devices for equipment that can be locked out. Tagout devices may be used in lieu of
lockout devices only if the tagout program provides employee protection equivalent to that pro-
vided through a lockout program.
Ensure that new or overhauled equipment is capable of being locked out.
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