Are universal valve lockouts any good?
Tim Hughes
Husband, Father, Grandfather, Engineer, Innovator, Safety Practitioner, Entrepreneur, Guitar Strummer, Motorcyclist, ex-Trials Rider, Founder of Total Lockout (Safety) Ltd, Total Lockout (Safety) LLC and EINTAC Ltd
This weird looking device is actually a valve lockout. It's rarely the first choice as a means to lockout valves but this type of device arguably offers the greatest integrity.
Why is that?
Readers who have seen my previous short videos on valve lockouts know that achieving a snug fit of the locking device on a valve, especially lever operated valves is a difficult thing to do. This is because the shape of the top of the valve varies greatly from one manufacturer to another. Often the locking devices rattles around on the lever, barely offering any locking function. At most it's a visual indicator that the valve is 'locked'.
The device in the images clamps onto the valve lever. This immediately creates a positive, fixed interface between the locking device and valve lever.
The adjustable blocking arm can be rotated until it butts up against a fixed object; in the illustration it’s the pipe on which the valve is fitted.
The clamp knob on the top rotates to hold everything firmly in place, and a safety padlock engages with the clamp knob to prevent unauthorized removal.
The range of movement in the lever clamp and the blocking arm mean that it really is universal. It will fit a wide range of valve sizes from ?” upwards, and regardless of the cross section of the valve lever, you can still get positive engagement.
It’s not pretty, nor ergonomic, but it is a positive, fixed lockout device which won’t fall off. It will prevent inadvertent or accidental operation of the valve. And where lockout / tagout / tryout procedures are concerned, that’s all that’s expected.
For more information about finding the right locking device for your valve, contact Total Lockout today.
CMO working w/ High-risk industries to GET CONTROL OF WORK: streamline operations while reducing workers' exposure to SIFs.
1 年It's true! Ideally, it is impossible to remove lockout hardware. For example, the ideal solution would be to use self-purging valves (familiar for compressed air) that are "lockable" (i.e., you can add a padlock without any accessories, which is standard with an electrical disconnect switch). The other option is to use the most suitable valve lockout type for every valve (in size and shape) and to document this information on the Energy Control Procedure, guiding the user to perform its task. Finally, yes, it's not ideal, but we can use "universal" lockout accessories. Most of the time, somebody can remove them using some force or even more easily if the person installing them hasn't made the necessary adjustments. In the end, any good lockout program should foresee - and communicate to workers through training - that removing a lockout accessory without authorization can be a violation.?