The Disconnect and Lockout procedure described here may be modified to suit the particular needs of a company, but COMPLIANCE WITH THE MINIMUM SAFETY PROCEDURES OUTLINED HEREIN IS MANDATORY FOR THE SAFE USE OF YOUR EQUIPMENT.

It is the responsibility of every employee to follow the Disconnect and Lockout procedure. ERS recommends that the employer appoint a company safety representative to instruct all personnel, including new employees, on the importance and use of the Disconnect and Lockout procedure.

!  DANGER !

NO PERSONNEL SHALL ATTEMPT TO OPERATE ANY SWITCH OR OTHER ENERGY ISOLATING DEVICE WHICH BEARS A LOCK!

Personnel authorized to perform a Disconnect and Lockout must be assigned individual, heavy duty, locking devices.  These personnel must be certain which switches or other energy isolating devices apply to the equipment being locked out.  Any questions on this matter should be addressed to their supervisors.

Perform the following steps to Disconnect and Lockout a piece of equipment:

• Notify all applicable personnel that a lockout is being initiated and provide the reason for the lockout.
• If the equipment is running, use the normal stopping procedure to shut off the equipment.
• Disconnect or isolate all applicable energy sources from the equipment.
• Install the assigned locking device(s) to the energy isolating devices. Refer to Figure 1 for an example of this procedure.

Figure 1.  Disconnect and Lockout Procedures 

NOTE

More than one person may be working on the machine. 

Verify that no personnel is exposed to the equipment being locked out.  Perform the normal start-up procedure for the equipment being locked out and ensure that the equipment does not start.

The equipment is now properly locked out.

To restore the equipment to operating condition, perform the following steps:

After the job for which the equipment was locked out is completed, check the equipment area and verify that no personnel is exposed.

After the area is clear, remove the assigned locking device(s) from the energy isolating devices.

The energy-isolating devices may now be operated to restore power to the equipment.

NOTE

For further information regarding Disconnect and Lockout procedures, refer to American National Standards Institute publication Z244.1-1982.