Lock Boxes - A Great Idea for Group Lockout

For group lockout situations involving a large number of workers and equipment, lock boxes can offer a number of advantages over hasps.

• Lock boxes require fewer locks
• Less weight on delicate energy isolating devices like circuit breakers
• Easier to monitor the status of lockout activity

HOW LOCK BOXES WORK:

• Supervisor uses a single job lock on each energy control point to lock out equipment
• Keys for job locks are put in a lock box
• Each worker applies his own lock to the lock box. As long as any one worker’s lock remains on the lock box, the keys to the job locks cannot be accessed, and the energy isolating devices cannot be operated. Each employee retains exclusive control, as required by OSHA.

HOW GROUP LOCK BOXES CAN SAVE YOU LOTS OF MONEY:

• Example: Assume 5 workers need to lock out 10 energy control points
• Using hasps, 50 locks are required (all 5 workers must apply individual locks to each control point)
• Using a lock box, only 15 locks are required (10 job locks applied to the control points and 5 employee locks applied to the lock box). That’s 70% fewer locks!
• Less weight hanging from the energy point – 1 lock instead of 5!
• Finally, checking the locks on the lock box allows you track who is still working. With hasps, you need to walk around to each energy control point to see whose lock is still in place.