The Danger of Not Following Equipment Safety Procedures
The OSHA lockout/tagout (loto) standard in wide use today is important to protecting workers from stored hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, and physical energy that has the potential to automatically startup or release when performing maintenance on machinery and building systems. Still, many workers are killed or severely injured every year in situations where following lockout procedures were not followed and would have prevented the accident. Your adoption of lockout/tagout procedures can and should be reinforced with safety signs that remind people to follow them, placed near the point of possible interaction with hazards and marking safety centers where equipment may be stored in the workplace.
OSHA’s LOTO Standard
Since January 3, 1990, OSHA has been very clear on the scope of compliance for their loto standard, The Control of Hazardous Energy Source Standard (29 CFR 1910.147). The standard applies to all areas where:
- An associated danger zone exists during a machine operating cycle.
- The employee is required to place any body part into an area of the machinery or equipment where work is being performed upon the material being processed.
- The employee is required to remove or bypass a guard or other safety device during service and maintenance.
While the machinery your workplace is utilizing is the source of needing loto procedures, it is still your duty as an employer to provide proper warnings and training for the equipment used in your facility.
How have safety signs evolved over the past 100 years? See our timeline of safety sign best practices.
Reinforcing Safety at the Right Time and Place
You’re helping to better reduce risk and protect workers when you purchase Clarion Safety lockout signs and equipment safety labels, reinforcing those lockout procedures to be followed as part of your hazard avoidance best practices. Employees may be trained in lockout/tagout, but training can be forgotten in the moment when a jam needs to be cleared or unplanned maintenance needs to be performed. This is where using our signs and labels serves to permanently reinforce the critical need to follow lockout procedures – helping to remind people right at the point where they could interact with potential hazards. Our products use attention-getting, standards-compliant symbols so your safety messages are better able to be noticed and comprehended – all so accidents are avoided and lives are saved from tragedy.
