hazardous energy

Tips for contractors applying LOTO procedures at their client’s facility

November 8, 2021

Utilities, equipment, machines, and HVAC systems often have sources of hazardous energy that require isolation during demolition and construction activities to keep contractor employees safe.

2020 Top Standards: OSHA most frequently violated standards

The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) 1910.147

January 1, 2020

Lockout/Tagout was the fourth most-frequently cited agency standard in FY 2019. The standard outlines measures for controlling hazardous energies — electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, and other energy sources.

Draft a LOTO policy, install equipment, train workers

Controlling hazardous energy

Tim O’Connor

November 2, 2019

Each year when OSHA reports its most frequently violated standards, the control of hazardous energy, also known as lockout tagout (1910.147) consistently appears high on the list of greatest offenders.

Ala. worker dies in a "preventable tragedy"

February 22, 2018

The death of a 45-year-old woman who was pulled into a plastics recycling machine has resulted in citations and penalties for an Alabama company. Emergency responders who arrived at ABC Polymer Industries LLC shortly after 6:41 p.m. on April 16, 2017 found that Eva Saenz of Alabaster, Alabama had sustained fatal injuries after being pulled into an industrial machine.

Lack of machine guarding leads to injury at pallet maker

February 2, 2018

After an employee was injured while conducting maintenance on equipment, OSHA inspectors found machine safety violations at Supplyside USA, a New Lenox, Illinois-based pallet manufacturer. The company faces $91,832 in proposed penalties for two repeated, six serious, and three other-than-serious violations.

Five workers killed in molten slag release

January 10, 2018

OSHA has cited Tampa Electric Co. and Gaffin Industrial Services Inc. after five employees were fatally injured, and one other suffered serious burns. In June 2017, OSHA investigated the Big Bend River Station electrical power plant in Apollo Beach following the fatalities. Inspectors determined that the employees were burned when a blockage inside a coal-fired furnace broke free and spewed molten slag into the work area.

Okla. manufacturer wracks up 30 OSHA violations

January 17, 2017

A complaint of unsafe working conditions led OSHA inspectors to discover the safety and health of employees at a well-known Oklahoma truck bed fabricator being placed at risk amid nearly two dozen safety and health violations.

Fall from a ladder has fatal results

January 4, 2017

While changing an overhead ballast in a light fixture, an employee of New Jersey Medical Center received an electrical shock that caused him to fall from a ladder. He was hospitalized and died several weeks later from the injuries he sustained in the fall.

Ill. worker dies after being pulled into scrap metal baller

November 3, 2016

A federal investigation prompted by the death of a 50-year-old worker at the Plainfield steel processing facility has resulted in a half-dozen safety and health violations.

Utility district cited in arc flash explosion at hydroelectric dam

L&I cited the utility district for five serious violations and for each assessed the maximum penalty of $7,000

June 16, 2016

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) fined Grant County Public Utility District #2 $35,000 for five serious safety violations after investigating an explosion at its Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River in Beverly, Wash. Six workers were hospitalized with serious electrical burns after the explosion.