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Failure to control hazardous energy during servicing or maintenance activities accounts for nearly 10 percent of the serious accidents in many industries, according to OSHA. Proper lockout/tagout (LOTO) practices and procedures safeguard workers from the release of hazardous energy.
The principles and requirements for lockout/tagout apply to most employers whose workers perform maintenance on equipment where the uncontrolled release of hazardous energy, such as kinetic, pneumatic, chemical, electrical, or thermal, is possible, or are exposed to such hazards from the maintenance.
The standard establishes requirements that employers must follow when employees are exposed to hazardous energy while servicing and maintaining equipment and machinery. Some of the most critical requirements from the standard are outlined below: