Process Safety Management: Energy Isolation

Process safety management is as much about how work gets done as it is about the system. For example, one of the most important process safety management procedures is Energy Isolation.Energy isolation in process safety management is the process of isolating a piece of equipment from energy hazards for the purpose of maintenance, repair, testing and/or modification. In order to isolate a piece of equipment a lockout and tagout (LOTO) procedure is followed. A LOTO is a mandatory procedure that is always performed prior to commencing any work on a system or piece of equipment. LOTO procedures prevent equipment from becoming activated or energized while personnel are working on the equipment. This system protects personnel from exposure to moving parts or other energy sources.

Types of energy isolations are:

Electrical	breaker on an electrical panel
Mechanical	counterweight on a conveyor
Pneumatic	any pipe or equipment that has stored pressurized air such as instrument air lines
Steam	any pipe or equipment that has stored steam
Radiation	nuclear sources such as instrumentation
Hydraulic	any system or piece of equipment that has stored pressurized fluid
Chemical	Toxic chemicals used in a process

In order for an organization to be compliant with legislated and industry regulated requirements for energy isolation, the organization must:

have a corporate policy in place for performing LOTOs.
have an adequate supply of locks and tags.
have a competency development and assurance program in place for training personnel to perform lockout & tagout.
have procedures in place for performing energy isolation on each piece of equipment.
perform regular inspections of employees ability to correctly perform LOTOs.

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