Lockout
Besides learning about PPE, learning about Lockout Tag Out will be one of the most important safety policies that you will learn in your career as an Instrumentation Apprentice. As each company has their own Lock out policy I am unable to completely cover everything regarding them however I will give a brief description about locking out and some tips that will set you up for success.
The module that this article references can be found here under section U6551.07.
What You Need To Know
You should never be working on or near live equipment. Some companies may allow you to work on or near live equipment if it is essential to complete the job and the have the right permit and safety precautions but this is only in special circumstances.
Working on equipment without properly isolating it can put you at risk to lose your limbs or even your life.
So how do we isolate the equipment properly?
Lockout Procedure
You will use a preform what is known as a lock out. A lockout procedure involves you or another qualified person isolating a piece of equipment. This is different for each kind of energy.
- Electrical – Shut off electrical disconnect and use personal lock to lock the disconnect in the off state.
- Pneumatic – Put the valve in the closed position. You would then put the lockout device on the valve handle and use your personal lock to ensure it cant be opened. You would then bleed of the stored energy left in the equipment.
- Hydraulic – Similar to pneumatic you’ll want to put the valve in the closed position and then lock it out so it is unable to move. You then bleed off the stored energy left in the equipment.
- Nuclear – For nuclear you will want to close the shutter on the nuclear device. You or a qualified individual will then take readings using a geiger counter and ensure there is no risk of radiation exposure. You will then place your lock on the shutter to ensure it cannot be opened.
Now that you have isolated the piece of equipment it is required to check for zero energy. Try to start the piece of equipment. Make sure that the piece of equipment is unable to function.
Tools
Here are some of the tools you may use while preforming a lockout.
Personal Lock:
The lock you are using to lock out the piece of equipment should be a personal lock. This lock should only have one key. This is to ensue that no one else will be able to open your lock.
Tag:
Your lockout tag goes with your lock when you lock something out. This tag has to have your name, the date, and the equipment being worked on.
Scissors:
The lockout scissors are used when you have multiple people that need to work on a piece of equipment. Each worker puts their lock on the scissor and it is unable to be taken off until the last person takes their lock off.
Lock Box:
Lock boxes are often used during big shutdowns. They are used when you have a lot of pieces of equipment that need to be worked on at once. One qualified person will go around and preform a lockout on each piece of equipment. The key to each of these locks will go in the lock box. You then can just place your lock on the lock box which saves you from having to lock out multiple times.
Tips
Make sure that when you are putting your lock on that you read the tag or nameplate on the piece of equipment or disconnect and that it is the same as the equipment that you are working on. This goes for the lock box too. Make sure the equipment you will be preforming work on is on the lock box sheet.
After locking out a piece of equipment it can be easy to forget to take your lock off. This is a terrible situation to find yourself in as you’ll have to stop what you’re doing no matter where you are and return to take off your lock.
What I like to do is after putting my lock on, I’ll attach my lock to my tool bag. That way whenever I see my tool bag I will remember I have a lock on.
I also try to carry two or three locks on me at all times as you never know when you’ll have to lockout a piece of equipment and you don’t want to be running around looking for locks when the plant goes down.
Something I do is that I like to take off my locks each time I go for break. I do this just incase they’ll want to start back up the piece of equipment so I won’t be holding them up. Be careful when doing this that you don’t forget to put your lock back on when you return.
Conclusion
I hope you were able to learn something new about lock out. At the end of the day make sure to follow your companies lockout tagout policy. Make sure that if you ever aren’t sure or confident while preforming a lockout to contact your supervisor or your journeyman for help.
