Lockout tagout is an extremely complicated part of occupational safety and health. Establishing
appropriate policies and procedures can be a nightmare for a safety team, but even more difficult
can be maintaining those policies and procedures. This is because every time a machine is
updated or moved, personnel changes, or the facility is moved or rearranged, the procedures need
to be updated. This can lead to a lot of work, a lot of paperwork, and a lot of opportunities for an
error, which can put a company out of compliance.
All of lockout tagout is governed by OSHA Standard 1910.147. This is an onerous standard
which can be difficult to understand and even more difficult to turn into a viable safety plan for a
company. As such, many companies hire third party firms to create and monitor their lockout
tagout procedures. The costs are well worth it to protect employee safety and prevent needless
fines from OSHA during an inspection. But the costs can be quite high and the company must
give control of lockout tagout over to a third party.
The risks of maintaining lockout tagout controls in-house, however, can be staggering for
companies which do it. And the costs will often outweigh hiring a third party, as many
companies instead hire consultants on a regular basis to help ensure everything is on track. Or,
they hire a fulltime member of the safety team well versed in lockout tagout, which is, again, a
large expense.
But now, there is an option where you get the oversight and assurances of a leading lockout
tagout third party auditing firm without giving up control of your procedures or the excessive
costs. It is our Factory Solutions Software, which is a web-based application designed to allow
you to input and track your lockout procedures while we monitor it for compliance. It is fully
customizable, fully scalable, and can be accessed anywhere there is an internet connection.
If you have any questions about updating lockout tagout procedures our about our Factory
Solutions Software, please contact us. If you have anything to add about updating lockout tagout
policies and procedures, please leave a comment.
Leave A Comment