About LOTO

Lockout Tagout practices and procedures isolate equipment and machinery from their energy sources. This offers safety and confidence that the machine cannot be re-energised. By locking out equipment from its power source, or restricting the ability to operate valves, a worker can carry out any maintenance, servicing or cleaning work in safety. 

The Four Main Steps

Lockout Tagout, and often Lockout Tagout Tryout, consists of four major steps:

• Firstly, the piece of equipment or machinery is switched off and locked in an off position with a lockout device fit for the purpose.
• Secondly, this device is then locked with a padlock and the key is retained by the individual undertaking the maintenance work.
• Thirdly, the device is tagged with a visible and clear warning. This lockout tag explains that the machinery is locked out and should not be used.
• Finally, prior to any maintenance work being undertaken the device should be tried out to ensure that it is fully isolated from its energy source.

Only after these four steps are completed is it deemed safe for workers to enter previously dangerous areas of the equipment or machinery.

It’s also essential to ensure that all people affected by the isolation are informed and aware it is taking place. This can include heads of department, machine operators and cleaners.

A Lockout Tagout Strategy

A Lockout Tagout Strategy, or a Safe Isolation Program, is essential in the process of identifying and mitigating risks when working with or on equipment. Not only does it reduce the likelihood of workplace incidents and accidents for workers, but it also alleviates the risk to the employer in terms of liability and works to meet Health and Safety Executive guidelines.

Getting safe procedures and practices in place can be a daunting task for businesses, fortunately at Total Lockout our wealth of experience and expertise in this industry can help you every step of the way.

At Total Lockout we are experts in the field of Lockout Tagout. Our team consists of industry-leading professionals with decades of knowledge of expertise in this field, helping employers globally improve their safety performance and reduce workplace accidents and incidents.

In addition to our extensive experience, we keep ourselves up to date with the latest industry advice, guidance and regulations in our key markets. This enables us to be sure that we can offer the best guidance to our customers and the most robust LOTO solutions.

Extensive Solutions and Knowledge

We believe that when it comes to keeping workers safe, there is no cutting corners or settling for second best. Our team are able to advise on any and all lockout tagout requirements and with our expansive selection of LOTO products and options, we can be certain to provide you with a solution that not only meets, but exceeds, your expectations.

Bespoke Lockout Tagout Solutions

If an off the shelf product doesn’t exist, or if we aren’t 100% certain that conventional methods will work for your situation, then our bespoke design and product invention capabilities will remedy that.

Over our many years in the industry, we have designed and fabricated original products for locking out unique, unusual devices or in situations where standard products won’t do the job adequately.

Bespoke LOTO

Lockout Tagout Training

In addition to tailored solutions and bespoke product creation, we utilise our expertise to share our knowledge with others. We have leveraged our experience to devise training courses to protect workers and workplaces. Our LOTO training courses deliver our knowledge and expertise to those who need it most.

LOTO Training

Regardless of your LOTO needs or requirements, Total Lockout has the expertise to ensure your needs are met to an exceptionally high, safety focused standard.

Lockout Tagout is not just a process and protocol that we advocate, it is absolutely essential to have a safe isolation programme in place. Regulations in the UK, Europe, United States, Canada and the rest of the world require that adequate steps are taken to safeguard against unexpected start-up.

UK Regulatory Requirements

In the UK, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998) state that you must ensure there is a “suitable means of isolating work equipment from all power sources”.

In addition, the Electricity at Work Regulations (1989) highlight that “safe systems of work incorporating safety isolation procedures are important for work on equipment which is to be made dead before work starts”, this regulation also defines isolation as requiring “taking effective steps to ensure that it is dead and cannot become inadvertently re-energised or charged.”

While these two regulations do not explicitly state a LOTO procedure is a requirement, it is clear that this is the most effective, and safest, method to meet their requirements and rules. In the UK, even with no rules that directly state a LOTO procedure must be in place, there have been many successful prosecutions due to poor or non-existent LOTO practices.

Overseas Guidelines

Across the world, similar guidelines exist requiring the same level of care for workers. In Europe the EU Guidelines 89/655 specify the minimum requirements required by an employer. In the United States, OSHA Regulation CFR 1910.147 covers the control of hazardous energy and in Canada CSA Z460 Control of Hazardous Energy – Lockout and Other Methods is the prevailing standard. No matter where you are based in the world it is likely that your local regulatory body has requirements in place necessitating a safe isolation programme, and Lockout Tagout is the best way to achieve this.

Ensuring Safety

Cutting corners or simply marking an isolating switch with the message “Do Not Operate” is categorically insufficient to adequately safeguard workers against potential injury and death. A well-planned isolation procedure will consider a wide range of factors in order to ensure that a safe method is in place.

At Total Lockout we are best placed to do this for you. With our extensive experience we can carry out LOTO Audits at your workplace and offer our recommendations and advice to protect not only the workers but the employer from expensive fines and/or prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive.

LOTO Audit

We are mindful that safety measures can vary greatly from customers’ needs to another and ideal Lockout Tagout methods may be difficult to identify. As part of our audit, an expert member of the Total Lockout team will visit your site and inspect all of the machinery and equipment that needs a solution for safe isolation. We will talk to both those in charge of Health & Safety as well as users of the equipment to understand the processes currently in place and requirements.