Your Lock is Your Life

Even with a group lockout/tagout system, each employee in the group must still have personal control over the sources of hazardous energy. To do this, each employee must apply a personal lockout/tagout device to the group lockout device, group lockbox, or comparable mechanism. The lock should be applied when the employee begins work and removed when they finish. This ensures that no one person can remove all the locks and reenergize the machine while another person is still working.

DO NOT USE A SINGULAR LOCK FOR THE GROUP. There should be as many locks involved as there are lives at risk. Using a personal lock means you are taking responsibility for protecting your own life instead of relying on a supervisor (or anyone else) to protect you.

In the rare situation in which the authorized employee who applied the lockout or tagout device is unable to remove it, that device may be removed under the direction of the employer, provided that specific procedures and training for such removal have been developed, documented, and incorporated into the employer's energy control program.

The employer must:

• Verify that the authorized employee who applied the device is not at the facility.
• Make all reasonable efforts to contact the authorized employee to inform him/her that his/her lockout or tagout device has been removed.
• Ensure that the authorized employees knows that the lockout device has been removed before he/she resumes work at the facility.

When the shift changes during equipment service/maintenance, it is very important that the lockout/tagout protection is transferred correctly so that no one is harmed. Oncoming employees must attach their locks to the lockout device before the outgoing employees remove theirs. Both employees must be present as the locks/tags are switched. Incoming shift members must verify for themselves that the equipment is still isolated and deenergized before beginning work.

This short video illustrates why every worker should use their own lock:
‍Napo in shocking situations - episode 008 - Lock out (by Napo)