What makes a lockout procedure machine-specific

Policy versus procedure

The lockout program says who is authorized, what devices the plant uses, how training works and how the annual inspection is done. It applies to the whole plant. The procedure is for one machine: its energy sources, where each is isolated, how its stored energy is released and how you prove it is at zero. 1910.147(c)(4) asks for procedures that "clearly and specifically outline" those steps, which is why a single generic page rarely holds up for a machine with more than one source.

What each procedure needs

• A statement of its intended use: which machine, and for what servicing.
• The steps to shut down, isolate, block and secure the machine.
• The steps to place, remove and transfer locks and tags, and who is responsible for them.
• How to test the machine to verify that the lockout worked.

In practice that means one energy table per machine (every source, its magnitude, its isolation point and device), and the steps written in order for those sources. Many plants post it at the machine as a placard with photos of the isolation points, and keep the full written procedure in a binder.

When a machine does not need one

The note to (c)(4)(i) lets an employer skip the written procedure for a machine only if all eight conditions hold, among them: no stored or residual energy after shutdown, a single energy source that is easy to identify and isolate, isolation that fully de-energizes it, a single lockout device that achieves lockout, the device under the exclusive control of the person working, servicing that does not create hazards for others, and no accident from unexpected activation during servicing. A machine with two sources, or any stored energy, does not qualify.

How to write one for each machine

1. Walk the machine with the person who maintains it. List every source: the main disconnect, a separate control or heater feed, air, hydraulics, a raised part, springs, flywheels, heat, steam, chemicals, water.
2. Find each isolation point and confirm it can take a lock. An E-stop or selector switch is not one; see energy-isolating devices.
3. Decide how each kind of stored energy is released, and how each source is verified at zero.
4. Write the steps in order and post them at the machine. Photograph each isolation point.
5. Have an authorized employee walk through it once, and fix what does not match the machine.