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RoboticsTelling the affected employees before the lockout
The robot cell needs servicing and you are the authorized employee who will lock it out. Before the locks go on, you tell the affected employees: the people who operate the robot or work in the area where the servicing happens. They hear it again when the locks come off. It is the notification the federal lockout/tagout rule requires.
Free to startScenarios
- An operator runs the robot cell that you are about to service.
- Other employees work in the area around the cell.
- Someone sees the locked-out robot and wants to start it.
The steps
- Identify the affected employees: those who operate or use the robot, and those who work in the area where the servicing is done.
- Before the locks or tags are applied, tell them that the robot needs servicing or maintenance.
- Tell them that the robot must be shut down and locked out to do the work.
- Remind them that no one may try to start, energize or use a robot that is locked or tagged out.
- When the work is done and the locks or tags are removed, tell them again before the robot is started.
Safety rules that stop the station
- The notification is given by the employer or by the authorized employee, before the controls are applied and after they are removed.
- Employees whose work is or may be in the area are told about the prohibition on trying to restart or re-energize a machine that is locked or tagged out.
To pass
- The affected employees were told before the lockout and after the locks or tags came off.
- Each affected employee has been instructed in the purpose and use of the energy control procedure.
- The sample procedure in the rule's appendix has a line for the names or job titles of the affected employees and how to notify them.
Official source
Federal · OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(9)
29 CFR 1910.147, The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout)
GovInfo publishes 29 CFR 1910.147 free: paragraph (c)(9) requires telling the affected employees before the locks go on and after they come off.
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