Auditing is important for everything occupational safety and health related. It ensures policies

and procedures change as needed based upon changes to the appropriate regulations and

guidelines set forth by the governing regulatory body. In addition, it ensures that any required

changes are made based upon the changes at the facility or within the structure of the company.

But with that being said, some areas of occupational safety and health need to be audited more

frequently than others. Additionally, some are better served with the assistance of third party

occupational safety and health auditing firms and some can simply be managed in house.

One of the areas of occupational safety and health which needs to be audited more frequently,

and which is best served with the assistance of third party auditing firms, is lockout tagout. This

is because lockout tagout policies and procedures are difficult to properly create and need

constant attention as they are impacted by changes to personnel, machinery, location, and layout.

Additionally, they are governed by OSHA Standard 1910.147, which is notoriously complicated

and convoluted.

In response to this, many companies hire third party lockout tagout auditing firms to manage

their lockout tagout policies and procedures. And while this ensures compliance in the brief time

following an audit, there are often large gaps where there is the potential for an unaccounted for

change. In addition, this unfortunately takes ownership of the lockout tagout policies and

procedures out of the hands of management and puts it in the hands of a third party, which can be

both expensive and uncomfortable for management.

Fortunately, there is now another option which gives you the peace of mind of a leading third

party lockout tagout auditing firm and the control of in house auditing. It is our Factory Solutions

Software, a fully scalable, fully customizable online program which allows you to create, track,

and update your lockout tagout policies and procedures from anywhere there is an internet

connection. This way policies and procedures can be updated in real time, but there is never a

fear they are inappropriately changed.

If you have any question about auditing lockout tagout policies and procedures or about our

Factory Solutions Software, please contact us. If you have anything else to add about the

importance of routinely auditing lockout tagout policies and procedures, please leave a comment.