Lockout tagout is a very unique area of occupational safety and health. It is unique in its
difficulty; few other areas of occupational safety and health are governed by such demanding and
ambiguous standards as Standard 1910.147. It is unique because it is a last line defense for
employees; without lockout tagout policies and procedures in place, employees would not have a
last reminder and override to protect them. And finally, it is unique in its treatment by OSHA; it
is one of the most cited offenses every year by OSHA during inspections and has one of the
highest average fines per citation.
So it is a difficult to understand area of occupational safety and health, governed by an
ambiguous standard, which is extremely important for workplace safety, and which carries huge
fines when something is not right. For these reasons, many companies hire third party lockout
tagout auditing firms to assist in the creation and maintenance of lockout tagout policies and
procedures. Unfortunately, that usually also involves large costs and handing over control of this
important task to an external company.
Some other companies will handle the procedures in-house, but in so doing run the risk of
handing these responsibilities to an already thinned and overworked safety team. Further, given
the intricacies of lockout tagout, there is no guarantee that anyone on the team will be qualified
to properly manage and handle these procedures.
Fortunately, there is another option now available which blends the best of these options without
the downsides. Our Factory Solutions Software is a web-based software which is accessible
anywhere the internet is, is fully scalable, is fully customizable, can be updated anytime the
facility is updated, and is monitored by a leading third party lockout tagout auditing firm. You
maintain control of your procedures but get the peace of mind of a third party monitoring and
reviewing your procedures.
If you have any questions about lockout tagout procedures or about our Factory Solutions
Software, please contact us. If you have anything to add about lockout tagout policies and
procedures, please leave a comment.
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