OSHA Reviewing Its Lock Out-Tag Out Policies Due to New Technology
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is opening up its regulations on the heavy industrial use of electricity by considering its Lock Out – Tag Out policies. Recent technological advancements that employ computer-based controls of hazardous energy (e.g., mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, chemical, and radiation) conflict with OSHA’s existing lock-out/tag-out standard. The use of these computer-based controls has become more prevalent as equipment manufacturers modernize their designs. Additionally, there are national consensus standards and international standards harmonization that govern the design and use of computer-based controls: this approach of controlling hazardous energy is more accepted in other nations, which raises issues of needing to harmonize U.S. standards with those of other countries. The full regulations can be reviewed here: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201804&RIN=1218-AD00