What are the best ways to measure the effectiveness of lockout/tagout procedures?

1 Audit your LOTO program

One of the best ways to measure the effectiveness of your LOTO procedures is to conduct regular audits of your LOTO program. Audits can help you identify gaps, weaknesses, or inconsistencies in your LOTO policies, practices, and training. You can use checklists, interviews, observations, or inspections to evaluate your LOTO program and compare it with the OSHA requirements and best practices. You can also use audits to verify that your LOTO procedures are up to date, accurate, and specific for each machine or equipment.

2 Track your LOTO incidents

Another way to measure the effectiveness of your LOTO procedures is to track and analyze your LOTO incidents. LOTO incidents are any events that involve the failure or violation of LOTO procedures, such as unauthorized removal of locks or tags, missing or damaged locks or tags, or unexpected start-up or energization of machines or equipment. You can use incident reports, logs, or databases to record and monitor your LOTO incidents and their causes, consequences, and corrective actions. You can also use incident data to calculate your LOTO incident rate, frequency, or severity and compare them with your goals or benchmarks.

3 Survey your LOTO workers

A third way to measure the effectiveness of your LOTO procedures is to survey your LOTO workers. LOTO workers are any employees who are authorized or affected by LOTO procedures, such as maintenance or repair workers, operators, or supervisors. You can use surveys, questionnaires, or feedback forms to collect and assess their opinions, attitudes, and behaviors regarding LOTO procedures. You can also use surveys to measure their knowledge, skills, and confidence in performing LOTO procedures and to identify their training needs or suggestions for improvement.

4 Test your LOTO devices

A fourth way to measure the effectiveness of your LOTO procedures is to test your LOTO devices. LOTO devices are any tools or instruments that are used to lock out or tag out machines or equipment, such as padlocks, hasps, tags, labels, or keys. You can use tests, inspections, or demonstrations to verify that your LOTO devices are functional, reliable, and compatible with your machines or equipment. You can also use tests to ensure that your LOTO devices are properly stored, maintained, and controlled and that they are not duplicated, modified, or bypassed.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?