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710 Energy Control Program (Lockout/Tagout)
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Procedures

Whenever your employees perform servicing and/or maintenance on machines or equipment, they can be exposed to the unexpected energization, startup, or release of hazardous energy.

Best practice: Place LOTO Procedures at the machinery.

Hazardous energy sources include electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, or other forms of harmful energy.

Servicing or Maintenance

Servicing or maintenance refers to constructing, installing, setting up, adjusting, inspecting, modifying, maintaining and/or servicing machines or equipment, including lubrication, cleaning or unjamming of machines or equipment, and making adjustments or tool changes, where workers could be exposed to the unexpected energization or startup of the equipment or release of hazardous energy.

Passive monitoring during normal production operations is not considered servicing or maintenance.

What is "Unexpected?"

The term "unexpected" also covers situations in which the servicing and/or maintenance is performed during ongoing normal production operations if the worker is required to:

  • remove or bypass machine guards or other safety devices; or
  • place any part of his or her body into a point of operation or into an area on a machine or piece of equipment where work is performed, or into the danger zone associated with the machine's operation.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

1-6. Which is a potential source of hazardous energy that should be locked or tagged out before beginning maintenance or service?