Ludovic Tremblay
Picture this, you’re in your living room about to install a new ceiling fan, but you want to make sure the power is off first. So you have someone stand in the room with the light on while you run to the basement or garage where the breaker box is. Now you systematically try each breaker that has the potential to be the right one yelling after each one, “how about now?” until they yell back, “The light just turned off!”
Sounds familiar? Well, that’s quite often how large facilities verify that the power is off too. Someone will be standing next to the equipment with radio while someone in a different room will try to start it.
The problem with this method is that it only covers one of the two reasons why you should perform start-up tests or zero energy verifications as part of your lockout strategy.
- Pulling
Once a Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) management system has been rolled out, it is a good practice to track and monitor some key performance indicators in order to provide insights into the performance of the LOTO system. This article will elaborate on these indicators, expected trends and desired outcomes a leader should keep an eye on to ensure proactive actions and better program implementation.
- Monitor work execution and procedure compliance
The first step is clearly to track how many procedures have been created, how many procedures are used regularly, and how many jobs are executed per day, per month, per year. The number of LOTO procedures used should be close to the number of job requests.
If the number of LOTO procedures used is below the expectation, it can be an indication that something is wrong. It can be a demonstration that employees and contractors are not using LOTO …
Figuring out a system to organize your lockout tagout procedures isn’t difficult but it takes a little planning before you get started. There are some basic decisions to make before you even start writing.
The most important one is, will you be using a document/spreadsheet-based system where you have each procedure documented separately, or are you going to use a dedicated software database system. There are pros and cons associated with each, but I’ll have to go over those in another article.
That’s the easy part. Now you must decide whether to write a procedure for each separate piece of equipment that might need repair or replacement, or do you simply make procedures for entire systems. You’ll have to see if you can isolate one item, or you need to shut down the entire production line when doing maintenance.
Let’s say that locking out the single motor takes several steps to make sure that it’s properly isolated from everything around it. But this motor is within the production …
Too often, hundreds of thousands of dollars in time and money go up in smoke because the lockout system is not functional. Such a system has ramifications in many processes in addition to being an administrative mitigation measure that prevents High Potential events (HiPos) and Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs).
It is very important to properly plan out your lockout / tagout project before taking any actions. This is especially true in larger facilities as the procedures can take months to write out completely. In order to provide a structure for the success of its projects, CONFORMiT has been honing its OSHA compliant hazardous energy isolation management methodology for the past 35 years.
The methodology is roughly divided into three main sections:
1. The Planning
2. The Structure
3. The Implementation
CONFORMiT experts have developed an infaillible LOTO methodology mapping and we are delighted to share this “secret sauce” with …
Calculating ROI for EHS Software – Can it Be as Low as 6 Months?
With any software purchase you make for your company there is a number of aspects to consider. Along with efficiency, accuracy, speed and reporting capabilities, you want to know how long it will take to get your investment back.
Calculating the ROI for Environmental Health and Safety software starts with getting an inventory of your current costs. You need to look at all of the procedures you currently do, how long each one currently takes, and at what cost.
For one of our customers, these are the procedures they use along with their yearly frequency, duration and average hourly costs:
With the help of our software, they were able to realize the following savings in time (as a %) and money over a year’s time:
The graph above gives you a visual representation of …
As elaborated in the book “Manage Health & Security; Get the Best… Prevent the Worst” by Marc-Andre Ferron, the basis for proper health & safety solutions management is to identify the risks within your company and make sure you are compliant with all the applicable rules and regulations. Lockout, beyond being a requirement in several EHS standards worldwide, is a key element to both the Health and Safety of workers and operational efficiency. The underlying reason that lockout is often identified as the first control method to be instated during the risk identification period is simple and can be illustrated by the hierarchy of preventive measures:
- Eliminate the hazard;
- Substitute other materials, processes, or equipment;
- Implement engineering controls;
- Define systems that increase awareness of potential hazards;
- Put in place administrative controls, e.g., training and procedures, instructions, and scheduling; and
- PPE, including measures to ensure its appropriate selection, use, and maintenance.