Lockout/Tagout for the Wood Products Industry

The U.S. wood products industry is one of the country's most dangerous, and Pennsylvania's wood-based industry is no different. One of the ways that employees can be exposed to hazards is when servicing or maintaining machines; workers are at risk of severe injuries or death if hazardous energy is improperly controlled.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard for "the Control of Hazardous Energy" (Lockout/Tagout. Part 1910.147) provides an effective way to completely shut down energy to a machine before maintenance or repairs are performed on the worksite. Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is performed to shut down sources of energy such as electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical, and thermal.

Workers within the wood products industry should understand the procedure for properly locking out and tagging out machinery and equipment, and management should ensure that all employees follow those procedures. Ways to prevent injuries on the job site are through proper training such as refresher courses or lectures on following proper procedures for LOTO.

Lockout/Tagout Citations Associated With the Wood Products Industry

The number one most frequently cited standard found within the wood products industry is the LOTO standard.  Employers cited for LOTO fail to initiate proper energy-controlled procedures or lack adequate training and equipment for employees that service and maintain machinery or equipment. Table 1 shows five major sectors of the wood products industry with total LOTO citations and citation amounts for each over a five-year period.

¹Frequently Cited OSHA Standards. (2021). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Detailed below are examples of fatalities associated with failure to LOTO in three different wood industry sectors. These are provided to illustrate examples of how workers can be fatally injured if proper procedures are not followed.

3219: Other Wood Products Manufacturing

• Employee #1 was operating an excavator, loading wood debris into a chipper/grinder, while a coworker was monitoring the operations of the chipper/grinder. The plant stopped the conveyor process to allow both employees to remove the excess debris from the catwalks and other surfaces of the chipper/grinder. Employee #1 noticed a stick in a drop chute and climbed onto the conveyor belt to remove it. While at the chute, the conveyor belt was re-started by the plant. The employee rode the conveyor to the next chute and went into the chipper/grinder, where he was dismembered and killed.
• Employee was standing on a pallet approximately six feet above ground, trying to connect a fan to a hanging electrical cord. The employee grabbed onto a 480v electrical pendent and fell to the ground. The employee was electrocuted.
• Employee #1 was fixing a hydraulic leak. The employee loosened a hydraulic connection to begin the repair. The Bobcat skid-steer's arms dropped down on him, causing contusions and internal bleeding, killing him.

321113: Sawmills

• Employee #1 was trimming a pine board with a Cornell edger machine. He fed an approximate 1 in. thick by 10 in. wide by 14.6 ft long board into the machine to be cut down to 1 in. thick by 8 in. wide by 14.5 ft long. The board had completely passed through the edger rotating saw when it became jammed for an unknown reason. With the edger was still running, a coworker, the lumber grader, instructed him to open the saw to relieve the binding on the jammed board. At the same time, another coworker, the re-saw operator, attempted to free the board by pulling and rocking it from the outfeed side. Employee #1 used a second board from the infeed side to knock or push the jammed board loose. When the board still would not come loose, the resaw operator used the manual lever to raise the anti-kickback fingers for a moment to see if he could tell what was wrong. The jammed board suddenly became free and was propelled backward by the rotating saw. The board hit Employee #1 with high velocity, striking him in his torso and causing traumatic chest and abdominal injuries that killed him.
• A sawmill employee was using a ratchet to adjust a positioning pin that was malfunctioning on the Pre-Position Infeed Table at the Gang Saw. As the employee was reaching across the equipment to access the pin, his coat contacted an unguarded rotating sprocket, he became entangled in the equipment. The employee sustained fatal injuries, including broken ribs, broken sternum, collapsed lungs and loss of consciousness.

3212: Plywood and Engineered Wood

• Employee #1 checked a hydraulic pump used to operate a conveyor while he was under the conveyor's table. The conveyor was in the raised position when it lost hydraulic fluid, and the table came down. Employee #1's chest and abdomen were crushed between the conveyor and the conveyor frame. Employee #1 was killed.

What Is the Proper Procedure for Lockout/Tagout?

When servicing or maintaining any piece of machinery found within the wood product industry, proper LOTO procedures are necessary to perform the service and maintenance task. The correct steps for following OSHA 1910.147 according to "The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)" are:

• Notify all affected employees that service and maintenance are required on a machine or equipment, and the machine or equipment must be shut down and locked out to perform the servicing and maintenance.²
• The authorized employee shall refer to the company procedure to identify the type and magnitude of the energy that the machine or equipment utilizes, understand the energy's hazards, and know the methods to control the energy.
• If the machine or equipment is operating, shut it down by the normal stopping procedure (depress the stop button, open switch, close valve, etc.).
• De-activate the energy-isolating device(s) so that the machine or equipment is isolated from the energy source(s).
• Lock out the energy isolating device(s) with assigned individual lock(s).
• Stored or residual energy (such as that in capacitors, springs, elevated machine members, rotating flywheels, hydraulic systems, and air, gas, steam, or water pressure, etc.) must be dissipated or restrained by methods such as grounding, repositioning, blocking, bleeding down, etc.
• Ensure that the equipment is disconnected from the energy source(s) by first checking that no personnel are exposed, then verify the isolation of the equipment by operating the push button or other normal operating control(s) or by testing to make certain the equipment will not operate.
• The machine or equipment is now locked out.

After the equipment or machinery has been serviced, authorized employees should make sure that tools and materials used for service are removed and parts are back to functioning order for operation. All employees should be accounted for before the initial startup is engaged, and machinery or equipment should be verified to make sure the controls are in neutral. Authorized employees may remove their lockout devices and reenergize the equipment or machine. All affected and authorized employees should be notified that service and maintenance is complete and ready for normal operations to take place.

²The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout). (2021). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Lockout/Tagout Kits

Any business in the wood products industry that will be performing LOTO procedures will need an adequate LOTO kit that de-energizes all sources of energy found on any job site. Kits for LOTO are available from various locations online or through retail. Kits range in price from fifty to over five hundred dollars, depending solely on what equipment is included within the kit. Items included in every LOTO kit are padlocks, hasps, lockouts associated with various sources of energy, and tags (as shown in Figure 1). LOTO kits should be placed in a central location on the job site where every employee can easily locate the kit when the LOTO procedure must be performed.  Individual employees should also have their own locks for use when working on equipment or machinery that must be locked out.

Summary

Since the establishment of LOTO in 1990, citations for LOTO have been consistently high within the wood products industry. With OHSA's strict enforcement of LOTO, sectors within the wood product industry have been cited and fined for not following proper procedures when it comes to LOTO. The proper procedure for LOTO will eliminate all energy sources, eliminating the possibility of employees becoming injured and preventing deaths within the industry. If employees must enter a confined space or danger zone on a piece of equipment or machinery, notify all affected employees that work is to be performed and that power will be disconnected during that period. Notifying affected employees eliminates the chances of miscommunication which could lead to injury or death. Employees should specify the area of service on the equipment or machine and work on that area before moving to the next service area. This eliminates the chances of employees being struck or pinned by moving parts on the machine.

Businesses must provide proper LOTO kits that lock out the sources of energy found on the job site. Employees involved in the LOTO process should understand how the procedure works and the proper equipment needed to completely de-energize a piece of equipment or machinery. Businesses must make an attempt to eliminate the chances of injury through proper training of LOTO for all workers involved in service and maintenance within this industry.

This document should not be considered a comprehensive discussion of OSHA’s Control of Hazardous Energy standard, nor should it be considered as legal advice. Readers seeking more information should refer to OSHA's 1910.147 documentation.

For more information on Lockout/Tagout for agricultural environments, refer to the Penn State Extension article, Lockout/Tagout to Reduce Ag Injuries and Fatalities.

Sources for More Information

• Frequently Cited OSHA Standards (2021). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) (2021). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• Lockout/Tagout Fact Sheet (2002). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• General Duty Standard (2022). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.