Safety encompasses more than one or two things and attending a Toolbox talk now and then. Safety is both an individual, personal responsibility and an employer responsibility. Lockout/tagout products help ensure safety by preventing accidents.
United Tool and Fastener carries an assortment of lockout/tagout products to help keep a jobsite or workplace safe, including Abus lockout/tagout products.
Lockout/tagout is a safety procedure that comprises turning off an energy supply to machinery during maintenance work or repair. It ensures that equipment is properly shut off and cannot be started again prior to the completion of the work. It is part of a program to help ensure workers remain safe.
Lockout/tagout protects workers from potential risks from live machines or electricity and includes:
• Safety while performing maintenance, cleaning, or repairs
• Injury prevention
• Damage prevention
• Error prevention
• Clearly communicates risk in the workplace
In addition, OSHA requires all padlocks and devices meet the following requirements for safety lockout/tagout:
- They must be durable and manufactured with materials that withstand usage.
- Devices must be standardized. They cannot be removed unless considerable force is applied.
- They must be substantial and clearly differentiated from other devices by color, shape or size.
- Devices must be easily identifiable and indicate the authorized employee that applied or used the device.
There are established protocols that employers must follow when workers use or are around potentially dangerous tools or machinery and include:
- Developing and creating a lockout/tagout program specific to the tools or machinery used.
- Implementing and using lockout devices for equipment that can be locked out and tagout devices to identify who is utilizing or maintaining a tool.
- Training and teaching employees the lockout/tagout procedures and be certain authorized employees can accurately perform the lockout/tagout procedures.
- Monitoring that the procedures are being implemented.
To learn more about the Abus lockout/tagout products UT&F carries, please contact a local UT&F showroom in Houston at 713-692-2323; in San Antonio at 210-495-8665; or College Station at 979-731-8665.