

And again, inform employees about what the locks are for. You could also use padlocks to keep "off limit" equipment from being used, but make sure the locks you use can’t be mistaken as lockout locks. This method gives employees an instruction, and to be most effective you should inform your workers that this is how you’re going to identify equipment that isn’t supposed to be used. Tagout devices, where used, shall be affixed. This isn’t the same as following a tagout procedure – the tag is on the controls and not the energy isolating devices, and the tag doesn’t include a tagout warning statement. Lockout devices, where used, shall be affixed in a manner that will hold the energy in a safe or off position. In contrast to affected employees, authorized employees are responsible for implementing the lockout/tagout procedures in the company’s safety plan.

You could attach a tag such as "Do not use without authorization" or something similar onto the machine’s controls to show that you don’t want employees to operate that machine. Dismantle it so that it isn’t hooked up to any energy anymore and it’s completely unable to be operated. To keep out-of-service machinery from being used, you might consider physically disconnecting it from its energy supplies. The lockout/tagout standard says that you can’t use lockout/tagout equipment for any other purpose, so if you aren’t actually doing repairs or servicing work on this equipment, you shouldn’t use lock out/tag out equipment on it.
#Lock out tag out series#
The lockout/tagout standard doesn’t apply when you "decommission" equipment or put machines "out of service." The main concern is probably that someone would try to start a machine that you don’t want to run anymore, for whatever reasons. What does Lockout Tagout (LOTO), mean Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is a series of procedures to ensure equipment is turned off, inoperable, and de-energized where applicable.
