Group lockout: Fewer lockout devices required
For complicated energy-control systems, group lockout can reduce the number
of lockout devices that employees must use.
Here is an example: Ten employees do maintenance on a machine that has five energy sources that need to be isolated.
- Traditional lockout requires 50 locks.
(Each employee places a lock on each energy-isolating device.)
- Group lockout requires 15 locks. (A designated person in the group places a lock on each
of the five energy-isolating devices. Each authorized employee places his or her own lock on the group lockbox containing the five keys.)
Example of a group lockout procedure – the group lockbox variation.
- Step 1 A designated, authorized employee in the group secures each energy-isolating device with a personal lock.
- Step 2 The same designated, authorized employee places the key that
fits each lock in a group lockbox with a multilock hasp.
- Step 3 The other authorized employees in the group secure the lockbox – they attach their personal locks to the box – before beginning their service work.
- Step 4 After each employee finishes service work on the equipment,
that employee removes his or her personal lock from the lockbox.
- Step 5 After all the employees have finished their service work and removed their personal locks from the lockbox, the designated, authorized employee who placed the key in the box removes it.
- Step 6 The designated, authorized employee uses the key to remove the lock from each energy-isolating device.