Working on equipment and machinery can potentially expose those conducting servicing or maintenance activities to a variety of energy hazards that can lead to serious injuries if not controlled. To protect those employees, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has developed a comprehensive standard, 29 CFR 1910.147, which requires employers to develop and implement a program outlining procedures for controlling hazardous energy sources prior to servicing or maintenance activities taking place.
Role of the Lockout/Tagout Program at UNH
To protect those Authorized Employees, the University of New Hampshire has developed and implemented a Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) Program. The LOTO program establishes specific requirements for the recognition, control, isolation and verification of energy sources prior to the start of servicing or maintenance activities on equipment or machinery. These procedures must be followed whenever an Authorized Employee is required to work on any equipment or machinery that could potentially release hazardous energy, including, but not limited to electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical, chemical and/or thermal energy.
Whether you are conducting servicing or maintenance activities, or just someone that could encounter LOTO operations taking place, under no circumstance should you remove or bypass, or attempt to remove or bypass an applied lock or tag.
Support from OEHS
The Office of Environmental Health and Safety is available to assist with LOTO services to include:
- Review and assessment of equipment or machinery for energy sources and development of equipment specific procedures;
- Training for Authorized or Affected Employees;
- Inspections and audits of LOTO procedures;
- Assistance with departmental implementation of the UNH LOTO program; and
- Review and selection of LOTO control devices.
Additional Resources
View Occupational Safety Knowledge Base
The Knowledge Base contains forms, instruction and training material, minutes, policies, tools and other resources to support your research efforts by topic area.
Contact Information
Brian Cournoyer, Occupational Health and Safety Manager
Phone: (603) 862-4761
Email: brian.cournoyer@unh.edu
Matthew Smith, Occupational Health and Safety Coordinator
Phone: (603) 862-4266
Email: matthew.smith@unh.edu