Ninety percent of mechanical maintenance casualties result from the omission of the lockout tagout procedure
Recently,
the latest production safety accident statistical bulletin released by
the National Emergency Management Department has attracted widespread
attention from the industry. The data shows that more than 90%
of mechanical maintenance casualties in the manufacturing industry are
caused by the omission of lockout tagout (LOTO) procedures in
the past year. This striking figure has once again sounded the alarm for
the implementation of safety regulations in industrial production,
pointing out that the neglect of LOTO operations has become the "number
one killer" in equipment maintenance links.
Lockout
tagout, as a mandatory safety measure for isolating equipment energy
sources during maintenance, requires operators to cut off the power,
gas, hydraulic and other energy supplies of the equipment first, then
lock the energy isolation device, and hang a clear warning tag to
prevent the equipment from being accidentally started by irrelevant
personnel. However, in actual operation, this "life-saving procedure" is
often ignored due to factors such as tight construction periods, fluke
mentality of employees, and inadequate supervision of enterprises.
A
case analyzed in the bulletin is typical. In a auto parts processing
factory in South China, a maintenance worker was assigned to overhaul a
stamping machine. In order to save time, he did not lock the power
switch or hang a warning tag, and directly climbed into the machine for
operation. Halfway through the maintenance, a new employee in the
workshop, who was not familiar with the on-site situation, mistook the
equipment as being idle and pressed the start button. The sudden
operation of the stamping machine caused the maintenance worker to be
squeezed by the mechanical structure, resulting in a fatal injury. The
investigation found that the factory had LOTO management rules on paper,
but there was no on-site supervision and inspection, and employees had
not received systematic LOTO operation training.
Similar
accidents are common in various industries. In a coal mine in North
China, a maintenance team failed to implement the LOTO procedure when
repairing the conveyor belt system. A driver mistakenly started the
equipment, causing two maintenance workers to be rolled into the machine
and seriously injured. In a chemical plant in East China, the failure
to lock the pipeline valve during maintenance led to the leakage of
toxic and harmful gases, resulting in a group poisoning accident.
"The
90% casualty rate is a bloody lesson summed up from numerous
accidents," said a safety supervision expert who participated in the
compilation of the bulletin. He pointed out that many enterprises and
employees still regard LOTO as a "cumbersome red tape", believing that
"short maintenance time will not lead to accidents" or "familiar
equipment does not need to be locked". This wrong concept has directly
led to the frequent occurrence of safety accidents. In fact, the
accidental start of equipment has nothing to do with the length of
maintenance time, and even a moment of negligence may lead to
irreparable consequences.
In
response to this prominent problem, the emergency management department
has clearly put forward rectification requirements in the bulletin. All
enterprises in high-risk industries such as machinery manufacturing,
coal, chemical industry must immediately carry out a comprehensive
self-examination of the implementation of LOTO procedures, formulate
detailed operation guidelines according to the characteristics of
different equipment, and equip maintenance personnel with special locks
and tags that are not interchangeable. At the same time, enterprises are
required to strengthen the safety training of employees, incorporate
LOTO operation into the assessment of post skills, and establish a
strict supervision and accountability mechanism. For enterprises that
fail to implement the LOTO system in place, they will be ordered to
suspend production for rectification, and those with serious
circumstances will be punished in accordance with relevant laws and
regulations.
In
addition, the emergency management department has also launched a
special rectification campaign for LOTO procedures nationwide,
organizing law enforcement personnel to conduct spot checks on key
enterprises. The inspection focuses on whether the enterprise has
formulated targeted LOTO operation standards, whether employees have
mastered the standard operation process, and whether there are phenomena
such as "fake locking" and "empty tagging".
Safety
is no trivial matter, and responsibility is heavier than Mount Tai. The
90% casualty rate data is a warning that cannot be ignored. It reminds
all industrial production entities that LOTO is not a formality, but a
solid line of defense to protect the lives of employees. Only by putting
the implementation of LOTO procedures in the first place, eliminating
fluke mentality, and tightening the "safety string" at all times, can we
effectively reduce the occurrence of mechanical maintenance accidents
and safeguard the safety of employees' lives and property.
Address: Tangxia Industrial Park, North Baixiang Town, Yueqing, Zhejiang, China
Name: Miya
Tel: 0086-577-62968730
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