# Cutting other folks locks



## Aegis (Mar 18, 2011)

I thinking you're right but some money making greedy hack would think otherwise. Say you did and the guy is dead now, worth it?


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## millelec (Nov 20, 2010)

gotta honor LOTO. that's a bad, slippery slope once you start violating it by cutting locks...and if I was the person who got my lock cut w/out his company clearing it, I wouldn't feel safe...and you would have it in the back of your mind too.


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## Bbsound (Dec 16, 2011)

You did right, it's all on them to handle their locks. I would not cut anything.


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## Celtic (Nov 19, 2007)

LOTO is the last line of respectability we have.

You did the right thing.


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## John (Jan 22, 2007)

No fuccking way would I cut someone's lock. Way to much trouble just talking about it, not less doing it. :no:


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## Industrialsparky (Jul 10, 2012)

I'll agree there's no way I'd cut a mans lock we locked out and tagged out a panel one time I took mine of but two other guys didn't needless to say they were driving back there over a hour drive at about 3am to take there locks off so the equipment could run haha!


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

Fireable offense my parts.


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## greenman (Apr 20, 2012)

We use a HOR. holder of record ,Holds perments.
The HOR has the main lock on device, key in lock box,
workers lock on to the box they sign on, and off permit, they half to let the HOR know when they lock and off, He has to be there.
But still guy leave thir lock on, but they get in big crap.
The could have 100's of device locked out at once on a permit.


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## denny3992 (Jul 12, 2010)

Im in favor of clear phone number of key holder and pic on loto tag!


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Contractor B sounds like a bunch of fly-by-night jokers.

What ever happened with this?

-John


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

Big John said:


> Contractor B sounds like a bunch of fly-by-night jokers.
> 
> What ever happened with this?
> 
> -John


Contractor B pulled they locks off like three days after that. I try to run then off every chance I get. They be powers way mo higher than me that let's contractor b run amok. Big money monkey bidness.


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## ilikepez (Mar 24, 2011)

Sounds like it. Doesn't anybody ask you why it took three extra days?


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## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

You used your head instead of your balls.. way to go... :thumbsup:


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## MattMc (May 30, 2011)

I always have company name or department depending on where I am working, my name, and cell phone number. I don't use tags I just label it with my label maker. Unless there is a specific job taking place that is a must know situation, then I add a tag and an explanation of what's being done with an expected completion time or date. I would have waited too, if I can't find the person who's lock it was. Should never cut a lock especially without consent of the owner. If possible the owner should come back and take the lock off, unless there is a really good reason to take it off.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

For what it is worth OSHA does allow cutting a LOTO off, there are rules to it but it is allowed.


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## glen1971 (Oct 10, 2012)

A guy I was working with went home on days off and left his lock on.. The next day they wanted to start up the equipment, and found it locked.. Had to get ahold of the lock owner, which they did. He gave his consent. Then his foreman, our GF, our saftety rep, the general contractor's foreman for that area, their safety man, the company's safety man and representatives had to walk the complete production line that this lock was on to make sure there were no other hazzards. They had to review every other lock that was in place on that line, and understand why they were on. Then, after a couple more meetings, they could decided it was safe to cut his lock.
Morale of the story, if you have a personal lock on and go 1,000 km away for days off, make sure your locks are off, or remove yours and have a company one installed, with a detailed list as to why the lock needs to stay on..


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## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

BBQ said:


> For what it is worth OSHA does allow cutting a LOTO off, there are rules to it but it is allowed.


1910.333 (b)(2)(v)(C) Each lock and tag shall be removed by the employee who applied it or under his or her direct supervision. However, if this employee is absent from the workplace, then the lock or tag may be removed by a qualified person designated to perform this task provided that:

(b)(2)(v)(C)(1) The employer ensures that the employee who applied the lock or tag is not available at the workplace, and

(b)(2)(v)(C)(2) The employer ensures that the employee is aware that the lock or tag has been removed before he or she resumes work at that workplace.

(b)(2)(v)(D)There shall be a visual determination that all employees are clear of the circuits and equipment.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

Zog said:


> 1910.333 (b)(2)(v)(C) Each lock and tag shall be removed by the employee who applied it or under his or her direct supervision. However, if this employee is absent from the workplace, then the lock or tag may be removed by a qualified person designated to perform this task provided that:
> 
> (b)(2)(v)(C)(1) The employer ensures that the employee who applied the lock or tag is not available at the workplace, and
> 
> ...


Haha. That's what our rule says in a nutshell. It would have taken a couple of days for us to have complied with this. It was easier to wait for the moron to come remove his locks.


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## TimChaput69 (Nov 14, 2011)

We use a transition lock system for this exact reason. End of day you remove all your red locks and install yellow lock with tag description of why equipment is down, and next shift installs their own red lock. Since we went that way we haven't had any issues and policy has been in place for a few years now.


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## eutecticalloy (Dec 12, 2010)

At my plant we have a small crew. We occasionally would have to lock out a piece of equipment not because its unsafe to run but because its not clean, missing a fuse or something like that. We use a yellow lock out that everyone in maintenance has a key for. We have a separate tag for this which clearly identifies what it was tagged out for.


We also use it to transition a job. For instance, last week a 10hp rotary vane vacuum pump went out on a piece if equipment. We obtained a rental while ours was being rebuilt. While I worked on it I used my personal LOTO and the yellow lock on a clasp. When I left I removed my LOTO, left the yellow lock and the next guy added his LOTO.

We had this policy written because guys would leave there locks on if our QA dept. was afraid that equipment would contaminate product and wanted to test it for contamination. The real solution was to have QA lock out the equipment themselves but our QA dept is a joke.


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

eutecticalloy said:


> At my plant we have a small crew. We occasionally would have to lock out a piece of equipment not because its unsafe to run but because its not clean, missing a fuse or something like that. We use a yellow lock out that everyone in maintenance has a key for. We have a separate tag for this which clearly identifies what it was tagged out for.
> 
> 
> We also use it to transition a job. For instance, last week a 10hp rotary vane vacuum pump went out on a piece if equipment. We obtained a rental while ours was being rebuilt. While I worked on it I used my personal LOTO and the yellow lock on a clasp. When I left I removed my LOTO, left the yellow lock and the next guy added his LOTO.
> ...


You still at the same job ?


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## jza (Oct 31, 2009)

Legal or not, I wouldn't cut off someones lock either, that's the custodians job!


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## eutecticalloy (Dec 12, 2010)

dronai said:


> You still at the same job ?


Yeah, I was promoted to maintenance lead. Lately I have had a lot of time to really get into rslogix 5000. I'm learning a lot. What about you? Same gig? How's.it going?


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## uconduit (Jun 6, 2012)

If they're not supposed to be cut, why are they made out of aluminum? It's kind of like safety people are sending mixed messages. I should get one of these and paint it red.










I bet they'd tell me how impressed they were with it before showing me the door...


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## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

TimChaput69 said:


> We use a transition lock system for this exact reason. End of day you remove all your red locks and install yellow lock with tag description of why equipment is down, and next shift installs their own red lock. Since we went that way we haven't had any issues and policy has been in place for a few years now.


we use a similar procedure plus we have to sign on and sign off


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## JoeKP (Nov 16, 2009)

Only reason I carry bold cutters is for the very few times we have actually lost a key... Parking lot drains. And I'm usually the first called by friends when they lock their keys inside. That's quick money. But if loto by another company I won't even wiggle the lock


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## rrolleston (Mar 6, 2012)

I have a lock and tag with my contact info and picture and I also put a sticker on it or something noting where I am and what I am doing. Someone cutting my lock while I am there may not like the result.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

rrolleston said:


> I have a lock and tag with my contact info and picture and I also put a sticker on it or something noting where I am and what I am doing. Someone cutting my lock while I am there may not like the result.


Cutting your lock off is allowed regardless of how you feel about it.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

BBQ said:


> Cutting your lock off is allowed regardless of how you feel about it.


 Not while he's present on site, it isn't.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

Big John said:


> Not while he's present on site, it isn't.


True that.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

We cut a mechanics lock once. He was in Florida and the locked out machine was in Alabama. We verified thru his supervisor and him as to his whereabouts and then our supervisor cut the lock.


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## Marcus (Mar 30, 2010)

Removing someone else's lock is one of the biggest no-no's in our industry. I recently did an induction at a power station, where the guy explained the company LOTO procedure. He then proceeded to explain that if you forget to remove your lock at the end of a shift (the hydro-electric power stations are usually 3-4 hours drive from our office) it would be easier for you to kill yourself in a car crash on your way home & have the keys recovered from your body than to get somebody else to remove the lock on your behalf.


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## JourneymanInTraining (Mar 12, 2013)

I am but a mere apprentice, but I have learned that if there is only one rule you never break, it needs to be LOTO.

My first week on the job, my boss gave me a set of 6 locks, each with a photo ID tag with my cell phone number on it. At the end of every day, me and my supervising journeyman get in the van, and there's a tag in the middle of the steering wheel. "Did you take your locks off?" Goes a long way toward forgetting to unlock something. And those tags make it very easy for the guy who needs my lock out of the way to get in touch with me, the key-holder(not my boss, who may or may not be able to reach me).

I read this, and immediately thought "under no circumstances would I ever cut a lock off of a piece of equipment." I asked my journeyman and my boss. They said the same thing. Both hold masters tickets, and both have 25+ years in the trade. To me, when they say something like that, it counts as law. I don't see anything in the future changing my mind.

To me, it's courtesy. I will lock out this piece of equipment, and others will have the professional courtesy to recognize that that is a LIFE-SAVING PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT SHOULD NOT BE F*CKED WITH. At the end of my job, be it a minute or a year later, I will remove my lock. In doing so, I am declaring that this piece of equipment is, from an electrical standpoint, safe to operate. I will be courteous and professional, and not leave my lock on a minute longer than it needs to be there. And I will expect you to be courteous and professional, and not remove it for me.

If we all ran around cutting locks off of this, that, and the other thing, regardless of the circumstances, it won't be long before someone gets hurt, killed, sued, etc. I REFUSE to be the reason that someone can't go home at the end of the day because they're in the hospital, or on their way to be toe-tagged, and I will NOT be the reason that my employer gets into a legal dispute.

My journeyman summed it up the best: "If someone who isn't me ever pulls my lock, and I find out who it was, we'll be doing some creative dentistry with my Kleins."

For what little it's worth, I too give a pat on the back to the OP for thinking, and not pulling the lock.


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## Dhfisher (May 6, 2011)

At most plants that have a LOTO program, they will have a somewhat lengthy procedure to go through, to remove forgotten locks usually involving plant security and Maint. Supervision, the cutting off of safety locks randomly is a dischargable offence, as rightly it should be.


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## Celtic (Nov 19, 2007)

Dhfisher said:


> ... usually involving plant security ...


Seriously...security?


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## sparky970 (Mar 19, 2008)

I screwed up today and left a lock on. I had to drive an hour and 15 min back to the job site to pull my lock. I'm still kicking myself.


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## 360max (Jun 10, 2011)

I would not cut anything.


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## JmanAllen (Aug 3, 2011)

I seen a guy get fired because he cut someone's lock even tho he was told by that contractor to cut it. Company policy Never cut someone else's lock


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## drumnut08 (Sep 23, 2012)

nolabama said:


> So I can't wrap my mind around this so I figured I would share.
> 
> Myself and two separate contractors have been working on cleaning up our little 9 mile MV cable. We cleaning the dead breaks that went under water. Me and contractor A put our locks on the switch for this. POCO is hot, 7200 vac hot. Contractor B had to be told to put locks on this switch. Contractor B finishes before we do and leaves. Leaves they locks on also. I can't physically get to the locations that contractor B was working on. So I called a representative of contractor B to remove they locks. He says he can't get in touch with the man that has the key but he is sure he is in the clear cut the mans lock and hot the cable up.
> 
> ...


You're right and no way would I cut someone else's locks . Not worth it ! They'll find the guy . I put my name and number on mine . This would have helped you out .


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

*You better punch out 
You better just fly 
Better not pout 
I'm telling you why 
Osha dude is coming to town 
He's making a list 
And checking it twice; 
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice 
Osha dude is coming to town 
He sees you when you're working 
He knows when you're unsafe 
He knows if you've been bad or good 
So comply for goodness sake! *


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## FlyingSparks (Dec 10, 2012)

chicken steve said:


> You better punch out
> You better just fly
> Better not pout
> I'm telling you why
> ...


That made my day!


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