As at March 2016, 22 workers have been killed while at work. While this may seem like a high number, based on previous year’s statistics we can expect another 170 will be killed before Christmas. It’s a sobering thought.
Death at work is not acceptable and everyone has a part to play in ensuring their workplace is safe.
The failure to manage risks arising from plant and equipment is still a significant cause of serious injury and fatalities in Australia. The recent introduction of WHS laws is aimed at reducing the numbers of injuries and deaths and the WHS’ supporting Codes of Practice around Managing Electrical Risks, Confined Spaces and Managing Risks of Plant all refer to use of padlocks as best practice during de-energising and isolation procedures.
The safety padlock is the most used item in any isolation system and there are more safety products and coloured padlocks in the market than ever before. You get what you pay for, and with safety padlocks the differences are often on the inside so can be difficult or impossible to see.
Don’t compromise the most important piece of hardware in the whole isolation process. Ensure you’ve got the right safety padlock for your job and the right system behind it ensuring integrity.
Safety Padlock General Characteristics
Used properly in conjunction with a well-planned lockout process, the safety padlock helps ensure that employees will not inadvertently energise a piece of equipment while someone else is working on it.
Ensure your safety padlock looks different than those used in the facility for locking toolboxes, gates, etc. Safety padlocks will usually have a “Danger” label incorporated on them, be available in a range of colours and have the ability to identify padlock ownership.
One employee, one key.
All employees should carry a unique key and no one else’s key should be able to open another employee’s safety padlock(s). You should choose a padlock that supplies only one key per padlock and offers enough unique key numbers to serve all your current employees, with room for future growth.
Safety padlocks should not be re-keyable. Some padlocks allow for extra keys to be cut at local locksmiths, and some padlocks are also able to be opened and re-keyed. You should choose a non-re-keyable padlock with a reserved key cylinder to ensure the system’s integrity is maintained.
There are a lot of elements that need to be considered when reviewing or establishing a Permit to work system that incorporates padlocks.
Key Charting
Recommended for large end users or end users with a concern about key code duplications. Key Charting, or a Registered padlock system, ensure that key profiles are entered and processed via a global register which helps ensure padlocks ordered for a particular facility are unique and there are no duplicates.
Keying Options
When ordering group sets of padlocks, there are several keying options available to the user:
Keyed To Differ (KD)
Each lock is opened by its own unique key that does not open any other lock in the set.
Keyed Alike (KA)
This option provides the “same key” convenience and eliminates the need for multiple keys where numerous padlocks are used. Keyed Alike is ideal for situations where employees have more than one safety padlock.
Master Keyed (MK)
In a Master Keyed System, a master key opens all the locks in the system although each lock has its own unique key. This permits overriding master key systems along departmental or other functional lines, to allow supervisory access.
Master Keying a system does reduce the number of available key changes, but it is important to choose the option that best meets your current and future needs.
Safety Padlock Construction
Within the industry, there are numerous manufacturers and padlock materials that are available, dependent on the application and industry within which the padlocks are to be used.
Each type offers unique characteristics that may make one better for your lockout environment or application. The range varies from Zenex™ engineered plastic, nylon, aluminium, brass or steel.
Durability
While providing a strong and durable padlock is important, the most important consideration in safety lockout is that the keying system used provides a large number of key choices and is not susceptible to key interchange. Key interchange is when another person’s key can accidentally open your lock. The use and application of a Registered key system is the best means of minimising key interchange.
Safety Padlock Identification
Most industrial safety padlocks include labels where the employee’s name and other information can be detailed for identification. Additionally, dependent on the manufacturer, padlocks can generally be engraved, labelled and identified on one, two, three or four sides of the padlock.
This is particularly useful to identify locks within sets, plant/facility key numbers or to add logos.
Hartac Signs and Safety Solutions offers a complete range of Lockout/Tagout products to ensure the effective isolation and de-energization of any plant or equipment.
For more information on padlocks or any other permit to work products, contact the team at Hartac on:
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