In the latest Top Ten List published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), one safety regulation is designed to protect workers during the control of energy throughout servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment. This ranks as the sixth (6th) most common safety violation in the country.
Lockout and tagout (“LOTO”) safety systems are designed to protect the workplace whenever there is a need to maintain, repair, or service machinery or equipment that is powered by a hazardous power source in some way (e.g., chemical; electrical; hydraulic; thermal; etc.). They are commonplace on our local jobsites.
Industries from our automotive manufacturing facilities, steel mills, commercial trucking, railroads, docks, warehousing, factories, and more all need proper lockout and tagout safety protections for workers. Sadly, the latest OSHA findings confirm industrial workers are in danger because of inadequate or improper safety systems during machine or equipment replacement, testing, maintenance, or repair.
LOTO safety systems need to be in proper operation on all sorts of industrial worksites every day here in Illinois and Indiana. The failure of employers to respect and comply with the safety standard found in 29 C.F.R. 1910.147 is all too often the cause of severe and deadly bodily injuries in preventable work accidents.
For more on LOTO, read Lockout Tagout Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Employer Liability.
Most Frequent OSHA LOTO Safety Dangers
The LOTO safety standard contains a number of protections for workers; however, four specific provisions within 29 C.F.R. 1910.147 were discovered to have been violated most often:
- General procedures (147(c)(2))
- Energy control program (147(c)(1))
- Periodic inspections (147(c)(6))
- Training (147(c)(7)).
From the perspective of safety agencies and advocates of work accident victims and their loved ones, it is particularly infuriating that providing training and making routine inspections are being disregarded by employers when extreme dangers to workers are involved.
Specific Industries: Additional LOTO Safety Protections
This Top-Ten Violation LOTO safety provision applies to overall industrial processes. There are others. Since some of our industrial worksites create even greater hazards for their workers, additional federal safety regulations have been enacted for these worksites:
- Marine Terminals (1917 Subpart C);
- Longshoring (1918 Subpart G);
- General Construction- Electrical (1926 Subpart K);
- Concrete and Masonry Construction (1926 Subpart Q);
- Electric Power Transmission and Distribution (1926 Subpart V);
- Electrical (1910 Subpart S),
- Special Industries (1910 Subpart R), and
- Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (269).
Lockout and Tagout are Different Components of the Safety System
LOTO safety systems are composed of two things: (1) lockouts and (2) tagouts. While used together, they technically involve two different things.
Lockouts happen when it is possible to turn off the energy source to the piece of machinery or equipment that needs to be serviced, replaced, or repaired. Lockouts use padlocks, circuit breakers, and the like to disengage the power source. Here, the lockout may be used alongside a tagout.
Tagouts protect workers when it is impossible to turn off that energy source. Tagouts happen when there cannot be a lockout. In a tagout, a device is attached to the machinery or equipment that warns against hazardous repair, maintenance, or replacement. Here, tags, labels, signs, and more are used with large “Danger” warnings using bright colors and large fonts.
Things are much more dangerous for workers tasked with a tagout or when employees must continue working nearby to a tagout repair or servicing of live machinery or equipment.
Importance of Inspections and Training
Training and routine inspections are crucial when a lockout is possible, or when only a tagout can be implemented on the site. Those involved in the work on the machine or equipment need training and instruction on how to perform their tasks safety. Those working nearby on the site also need to be trained on the hazards involved during the LOTO process.
When only a tagout is possible, then training is paramount for everyone in the workplace. Workers involved in the machine or equipment working while the energy continues to be live are facing a high risk of injury. Anyone nearby also faces a great risk of bodily harm during the process.
For more, read Zachetti, Brian. “The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout),” published by the Ohio Department of Workers Compensation 2012.
LOTO Safety Regulations Designed to Protect Against Extreme Dangers
Workers can be killed or catastrophically hurt in an on-the-job accident involving a LOTO safety failure. OSHA injury reports confirm when hazardous energy is not controlled and there is a LOTO accident, workers can suffer:
- Amputations;
- Burns (electrical; chemical; thermal);
- Crushing injuries;
- Electrocution;
- Lacerations; and
- Other bodily injuries.
For more, read: Traumatic Amputations in Industrial Accidents; Amputation Injuries from On-the-Job Work Accidents in Indiana or Illinois; Chemical Accidents: Burns, Inhalation, or Neurological Work Injuries on the Job in Indiana or Illinois; and Electricity Injuries: Fatal Electrocution Accidents.
Justice for Workers Hurt or Killed in LOTO Accidents in Illinois and Indiana
Employers must be investigated for their failure to comply with legal standards and breaching their duty of care and safety in following established LOTO protocols, especially those involving training and routine inspections. Work accident victims and their loved ones have a right to investigate to see if any of the following were not done by those responsible for safety and care:
- Disconnecting the equipment or machinery from its energy source, if possible;
- Inspecting to make sure the energy source has been fully disconnected;
- Locking the machinery or equipment to block the energy source;
- Tagging the machinery or equipment warning of the dangers of a release of hazardous energy during the servicing, repair, or replacement;
- Notifying everyone with access to the LOTO area of the servicing, repair, or replacement;
- Making sure those tasked with the job have proper hazard training as well as up-to-date training on the task itself;
- Making sure those working nearby or with access to the work area have proper safety training regarding LOTO risks;
- Providing Personal Protective Equipment as needed; and
- Having emergency procedures in place in the event of a LOTO accident or injury.
It is known that LOTO safety standards are established in federal guidelines, yet they are the sixth most common safety violation in this country. When accidents happen, employees and their loved ones may have legal claims under the state workers’ compensation laws of Indiana and Illinois law. In some instances, third party personal injury claims may be filed should the facts reveal liability on the part of the landowner; or the manufacturer, designer, or installer of the machinery or equipment involved in the incident.
For more on workers’ compensation, third party, and wrongful death claims, read:
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims
- Premises Liability and Workplace Accidents: Third Party Injury Claims
- Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for On-the-Job Accidents
- Heavy Machinery Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Industrial Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Serious Injury or Death on the Job.
Workers on industrial worksites here in Indiana and Illinois will face severe hazards anytime there is the need to repair, maintain, replace, install, or service equipment and machinery necessary for industrial performance. LOTO safety systems must be respected to keep them safe; unfortunately, OSHA confirms that employers are frequently failing to meet their LOTO safety duties. Please be careful out there!
