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RoboticsVerifying the robot will not start
The robot is isolated, your locks are on and the stored energy is released. Before you start the work, you prove it: first you check that nobody is exposed, then you try the normal start controls or test the robot to make sure it will not operate, and you put the controls back to off. Only then is the robot locked out. It is the last step of the federal lockout/tagout sequence.
Free to startScenarios
- You are about to start servicing the locked-out robot.
- Energy could build up again during the servicing.
The steps
- Before trying anything, check that no one is exposed to the robot.
- Verify the isolation by operating the push button or other normal operating controls, or by testing, to make sure the robot will not operate.
- Return the operating controls to neutral or off after verifying the isolation.
- Start the work only once isolation and de-energization have been verified: the robot is now locked out.
- If the stored energy could build up to a hazardous level again, keep verifying until the work is done or that can no longer happen.
Safety rules that stop the station
- The authorized employee verifies the isolation and de-energization before starting work on a locked-out robot.
- The controls tried during the check go back to neutral or off, so they do not start the robot when the locks come off.
To pass
- Nobody was exposed when the controls were tried.
- The robot did not operate when its normal controls were tried or it was tested.
- The written procedure includes specific requirements for testing the machine to verify that the locks, tags and other energy controls work.
Official source
Federal · OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.147(d)(6)
29 CFR 1910.147, The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout)
GovInfo publishes 29 CFR 1910.147 free: paragraph (d)(6) requires verifying isolation before work, and its appendix shows how to check it.
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