Energy Isolation Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Program

Overview

The UC Berkeley Lockout/Tagout Energy Isolation (LOTO) Program requires campus, field station personnel, and contractors to implement safe procedures when working on UCB equipment or utility systems with one or more energy sources. Because of the potential for injury from energy sources that operate equipment/utility systems, this program guides safe installation, set-up, adjustment, and maintenance work on equipment by isolating energy sources prior to commencing work. The program is required by Cal/OSHA safety regulations.

University of California (UC) Risk & Safety Solutions (RSS) has developed the Procedures application for documenting equipment-specific LOTO procedures required by Cal/OSHA. The app enables campus and system-wide sharing of LOTO procedures.

This LOTO Program is applied to ALL forms of potentially hazardous energy and is applied to every individual piece of equipment that has potentially hazardous energy.

The types of energy needing to be isolated may be part of a particular machine or utility system, including but not limited to:

Building mechanical systems
- HVAC components
- Water Pumps
- Electrical Supply
Larger experimental equipment that is hard-wired or plumbed to building utility systems
- Scanning Electron Microscope
- an air compressor
- a printing press
Shop equipment
- CNC equipment
- wood-working equipment
- powered cranes and other lift equipment
Equipment that can be unplugged but may have stored energy
- Springs
- Weight
- Capacitors

This program is applied prior to working on all types of equipment powered by one or more energy sources, whenever an equipment guard is removed, a safety interlock is bypassed, or whenever a person must place any part of their body into potentially-operating equipment.