Page 45 - Occupational Health & Safety, November/December 2019

Southern Company worked with The Master Lock Company to evaluate its safety needs, and the recommendation was made to implement lockout devices and safety padlocks to increase the ef- ficiency and safety of maintenance tasks.
The following are solutions and procedures put in place to ad- dress Southern Company’s safety challenges:
Access to lockout equipment. To implement LOTO across its generating facilities, Southern Company evaluated all areas where tagout was previously applied and determined the types and quan- tities of physical lockout products needed across facilities. More than 170,000 safety products were ordered as a result, including safety padlocks, group lock boxes and other lockout devices, mak- ing it easier for employees to access lockout equipment and per- form lockout procedures.
Increasing safety efficiency. In a time-intensive industry like utilities, it is important for Southern Company to maintain ef- ficiency when conducting LOTO procedures. With more than 170,000 safety devices being implemented across 95 of its facilities, this meant finding safety solutions that accomplished the following: kept lockout devices organized and readily available, were identi- fiable by work department or maintenance task and ensured any new padlocks ordered would not create a key duplication situation within the facility, thus maintaining the ‘one person, one lock, one key’ principle.
To maintain efficiency across Southern Company’s facilities, the following solutions were recommended:
1. Organizing safety padlocks with newly-developed group lock boxes. Understanding the need to keep its thousands of safety padlocks organized and readily available for employees, Southern Company implemented group lock boxes across its facilities. The lock boxes have a stackable, portable design that makes it easy to store and easy to transport to facility locations where lockout is needed. The lock boxes feature a clear, impact-resistant window that allows participating employees to visually see that the keys to the equipment locks are secured inside the box.
2. Easy identification with color-coded & laser-engraved safety padlocks. Color-coded safety padlocks were recommended to des- ignate padlocks specifically to an assigned maintenance person or group. Using six different padlock colors, the safety padlocks pro- vided Southern Company with visual recognition to the function and purpose of each padlock. For example, red safety padlocks were chosen specifically for locking out energy sources while blue padlocks were assigned to individual employees who, at times, par- ticipate in lockout activities across multiple facilities.
Additionally, padlocks were laser engraved to designate which departments and facilities within Southern Company own the locks. Each lock was also engraved with the key number to the lock. This helped Southern Company to keep the locks organized and help facilitate the replacement of locks, if needed.
3. Managing safety padlocks via key charting. Padlock keys were charted to mitigate any unwanted key duplication. Keys for equip- ment locks and locks assigned to departments or specific facilities were charted at the individual facility level. Because employees worked across facilities, employee locks were charted at the corpo- rate level. This enabled employees to participate in lockout activi- ties at different facilities without introducing key duplication.
Employee training. As part of the LOTO implementation, Southern Company conducted training for employees across 95
of its facilities. The three-day training ensured employees involved in relevant utility maintenance tasks was trained on LOTO proce- dures and able to perform maintenance tasks using lockout devices.
The Benefits of Implementing A Lockout Program
While there are several noticeable, short-term benefits of imple- menting an effective lockout program, such as improving overall worker safety and maintaining operational efficiencies, there are also many long-term advantages associated with implementing lockout. Although there may be concerns about the investment necessary to implement lockout, OSHA fines, worker compensa- tion claims, insurance expenses resulting from incidents, and the resulting negative public relations can quickly become more ex- pensive than the initial implementation costs.
Above all, the most important benefit of an effective lockout program is safe and satisfied employees. By putting safety first, companies can attract more qualified and more motivated employ- ees who come in ready to get their work done, without worry of potential injury.
Bill Belongea, Professional Services Program Manager at The Mas- ter Lock Company, has 20 years of experience in the safety industry.
REFERENCES
1. According to an article published by Safety+Health Magazine; September 2019 2.According to an article published by Safety+Health Magazine; November 2018
www.ohsonline.com
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