Tag, You’re It: The Components of Lockout/Tagout

It’s no secret how critical lockout/tagout (LOTO) is to a robust safety program. According to OSHA, compliance with the standard “prevents an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each year.”

LOTO is officially known as hazardous energy control. According to Jimi Michalscheck from Occupational Health & Safety, it is “a term used to describe the process that will protect employees when they are in harm’s way of equipment movement when they are servicing it and unexpected startup could cause injury or death.”

Policies

In a January webinar entitled “Under Lock & Key: The Most Important Piece to Your Lockout Program,” Brady Client Services shared the four pillars of an Effective Lockout Program — “Regulatory Basics, OSHA’s Top 10 Citations List, Breaking Down Barriers and Tailoring to Your Employees.”

The first two pillars deal primarily with policies. It’s vital to talk through the rules and structure which are the bedrock foundation of a solid safety program. However, policies are rendered almost useless if people are not incorporated into the picture.

People

In the words of the EHS Works article which covered the webinar, “Understanding regulations isn’t enough – success and compliance in the workplace is based on a key component – employees.” Active encouragement to enforce policies, as well as a focus on behavioral-based safety, is vital to the success of an excellent safety program.

G2 is proud to assist our clients in building safety programs which integrate high standards and benchmarks, while being mindful of the everyday needs of employees on the job. Check out more of what we have to offer in the realm of behavioral-based safety services.