(This the fourth in a series of safety and health bulletins on specific issues developed/adapted
for the GCIU by Dan Huziak of Toronto 100M.)
Sixteen year old student Ivan Golyashov worked part-time to help
supplement his family's income. He was described by co-workers as hard working, but in the end
as one of them commented, "He was just a school boy." Golyashov was crushed to death when a
co-worker mistakenly switched on the dough-making machine he was cleaning. The investigation
has since been handed over to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, but one of the police investigators
on the scene reportedly concluded, "If anything it was a lack of training."
What makes Ivan's death all the more tragic is that just seven months before 18-year-old David
Ellis was killed in a similar accident. He too worked part-time in a small bakery. Ellis, who was on
his second day on the job, became entangled in a commercial dough mixer.
Unfortunately Ivan and David's deaths are not isolated incidents. Promising to "step up"
enforcement of safety violations involving machine guards and lockout, Ontario's Labour Minister
Chris Stockwell reported in an April 2000 press release, "Fatalities due to guarding and lockout
violations totaled eight in 1999, including three young workers – up 100 percent from the
four recorded in 1997. Critical injuries, including a number of amputations, rose to 95 from 76
during the same period." The Minister's announcement came on the heels of recently launched
initiatives by worker health and safety representatives and their organizations to renew awareness
of hazards and preventive measures associated with lockout.
The term lockout refers to methods, devices and procedures for preventing the sudden and
uncontrolled release of energy from a system, machine or piece of equipment. Workers can be
injured when machinery starts up while performing repairs, or when power is restored after a
power outage. Today, computer-operated equipment means that some systems can start and stop
in even more unpredictable ways.
Since energy is what a lockout system attempts to eliminate or control, it is important to identify
all primary and secondary sources of energy in the workplace:
Main energy sources, such as electricity, pneumatics or hydraulics, provide power to a
system.
Stored or secondary energy stays in the system. Stored energy includes electricity in
batteries and capacitors, volatile chemicals in a piping system, or pistons that move back and forth
after the equipment is turned off.
Electricity: Generated electricity, which can be stored in batteries or capacitors,
transmits energy used to operate machinery and equipment. When a worker comes into contact
with electrical energy it can cause shock and even death. Static electricity is a type of potential
energy produced by friction between different materials. When it is not controlled through proper
grounding, static electricity can be a fire or explosion hazard.
Hydraulic and Pneumatic Pressure: These types of energy are most often used to
transmit energy from a source, like a pump or compressor, to activate parts of equipment or
machinery. Hydraulic energy comes from pressurized liquids, while pneumatic energy comes from
pressurized air. Both types of pressure can cause injury if they escape accidentally from their
containment system.
Mechanical Energy: This type of energy produces movement used to activate
equipment. Mechanical energy is often stored in the equipment allowing active parts like flywheels
or blades to continue moving. Without proper lockout procedures workers could become caught
in, pinched or crushed by these moving parts.
Thermal and Chemical Energy: These are pressurized fluids pumped along pipes or
hoses to activate equipment, most often for heating, treating and other purposes. The fluids
themselves may be heated or cooled, corrosive, flammable or toxic. Because of this, exposed
workers could experience serious burns or other injuries if this energy is released.
Specific lockout requirements can be found in the sector regulations under the Ontario
Occupational Health and Safety Act, in OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1910.147, and in other
provincial or state legislation.
It's important to consider all paths of energy from each piece of equipment or machinery and all
their components when assessing energy hazards. Effective control of energy hazards means
ending up with a zero energy state. This means that all forms of energy in a machine or system
have been isolated or controlled and no worker is exposed to any active or moving part. When
equipment or machinery is in operation, this is achieved through a variety of guards and
engineering controls. These controls however are often disabled or removed during installation,
service, maintenance or repair operations. It is during these operations especially that lockout
methods, devices and procedures must be used.
Lockout Methods:
Isolation ensures the main energy supply of equipment is physically cut off. Most effectively this
means disconnecting the main energy source and making it impossible for equipment to be
accidentally re-energized. Other controls must also be used to neutralize all stored energy that
remains in the system. Some neutralization methods include using a chock or wedge to prevent
unexpected movements of parked vehicles; waiting for hot equipment to cool or rotating parts to
stop; and bleeding-off valves or lines of residual liquid or pressurized materials (never vent toxic,
flammable, or explosive substances directly into the atmosphere).
Lockout Devices:
Depending on the type of equipment and the energy it contains, there are a variety of lockout
devices that can be used. Personal locks are commonly assigned to an individual worker for his or
her use only – the essential principle being one worker, one lock, one key. Other devices
include multiple lock adapters, master padlocks, chains, slings and cables, insulated fuse pullers,
blanks or caps, blocks and pins, along with the use of tags, stickers and record logs.
Lockout Procedures:
The best lockout devices alone will not prevent serious injury. For a lockout system to be
effective a detailed written policy with a set of specific lockout procedures should be
communicated in writing and reinforced through specific training. The policy should also clearly
identify when lockout procedures should be used, who is qualified and who has the authority to
perform lockouts.
It is especially important to be vigilant about lockout procedures when situations arise that are out
of the ordinary. Examples include: when shift work or a changeover requires lockout knowledge
to be transmitted from one person to another; when there are new or inexperienced workers;
when there are contractors or visitors on site to perform work on systems or equipment; or in
cases when an employee has inadvertently failed to remove a lock at the end of the day. Some
workplaces employ the use of safe work permits. These are used to verify that lockout has been
applied and the system is safe to work on. These additional precautions are routinely used for
locking out systems involving high voltage, confined spaces, robots and systems that contain
hazardous chemicals.
Like any set of safe work procedures, lockout procedures must be adapted to fit the needs of each
workplace, system and piece of equipment that poses a hazard. The joint health and safety
committee can play an important role in inspecting the workplace for energy hazards and
developing an appropriate lockout program.
Here are some key questions to keep in mind when designing your lockout program:
Similarly each and every lockout procedure must be designed to foresee the hazards specific to
each system or piece of equipment.
An effective lockout procedure will involve these minimum steps:
Lockout
What is lockout?
What are the elements of a good lockout
program?
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