Lock-Out or Tag-Out

Type

Procedure

Category

Health and Safety

Department

Facilities Management and Planning

Phone

(541) 463-5000

Primary Contact

Jennifer Hayward

Contact Email

Narrative

Lane Community College places a high priority upon the safety and well-being of all employees.

All power equipment shall be completely isolated from all power during servicing and maintenance. This will be accomplished by affixing appropriate lock-out or tag-out devices to energy isolating devices. A lock-out device is any device, normally a padlock, which is used to actually lock an energy source, such as an electrical switch or compressed air valve, in the OFF position. A tag-out device is a warning tag that indicates that the energy control has been turned off for maintenance work and that it must not be turned on. A tag-out device is only used when it is not possible to use a lock-out device. Machines and equipment will also be disabled to further prevent unexpected energization, start-up or release of stored energy. This will be done for the purpose of preventing injury to any employees during servicing or maintenance of power equipment.

General

This procedure applies only to those situations where:

  1. An employee is servicing, repairing or maintaining a piece of equipment, and
  2. The employee could be injured because they must bypass guards, or place their body into an area, which exposes them to the unexpected energization or activation of the equipment.

Exceptions

This does not apply to:

  1. Normal production operations wherein machine guarding regulations are in effect to provide employee protection;
  2. Work on cord and plug-connected electrical equipment where plug is under the exclusive control of the employee doing the servicing; or
  3. Minor servicing activities when they are routine, repetitive and integral to the use of equipment for production, provided alternative effective protection measures are used.

Responsibilities

All managers are responsible for making their employees familiar with this procedure if their job may require them to work in an area where work is being performed under the lock-out/tag-out procedures.

NOTE: It is imperative that they understand that a piece of equipment that has been so isolated for servicing can only be re-energized by the maintenance employee(s) who applied the lock-out/tag-out device(s).

The director of Facilities Management and Planning is responsible for the development of the actual lock-out/tag-out procedures and the training of employees who may be involved in work covered under this procedure.

Managers who have equipment in their spaces which require service and which fall within the scope of this procedure are encouraged to get a copy of the Lock-Out/Tag-Out procedure from Facilities Management and Planning. This will allow them to familiarize their employees who may be in these areas with the details of this procedure.

Contractors

Any contractor engaged to work on college machines or equipment will be given a copy of this procedure, if relevant to their work. Further, the department administrator who is hiring the contractor will ensure that a mutually agreed upon procedure is established concerning the lock-out/tag-out devices that are used to protect Lane employees and the contractor's employees. The administrator will also ensure that any other college units that may be affected or exposed to the work being done are advised of the contractor's activities. This coordination will help to ensure that all of our employees know what kind of work is to be performed, where and when it is to be performed, and how they are being protected.

Examples 

  1. Working on the inside of a large building fan unit where the worker could be hit by a fan blade would be work that requires lock-out/tag-out protection.
  2. Repairing a drill press which can be unplugged from the electrical outlet would not require lock-out/tag-out protection.

For more specific information on lock-out/tag-out requirements, please see Oregon Administrative Rules 437-004-1275 "The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)".

Date Adopted

Saturday, May 1, 1999

Date Last Reviewed

Monday, August 31, 2015