The safety barrier during the maintenance of the LOTO equipment

As equipment engineers or managers, we deal with equipment maintenance every day – from replacing a sensor to disassembling and overhauling the main unit, and the most overlooked aspect is the “unexpected startup” – this silent killer. And LOTO (Lockout-Tagout) is the last line of defense and the most crucial safety barrier against this killer. Many people think LOTO is just a “formality”: “I’ve been working with equipment for over a decade. Power off and it’s done. I’ve never had an accident.” “To meet the schedule, we just start working and add the tags later.” But the tragic accidents tell us: Every step of LOTO cannot be taken lightly. On the morning of March 15, 2026, in a vertical warehouse of an automotive parts company in Shandong Yantai, an unexecuted LOTO maintenance directly claimed the lives of three people. The lesson was so painful that it was almost unbearable.
Let’s understand: What is LOTO? Why is it necessary? Many newcomers and even experienced employees only understand LOTO as “power off and lock”. But this is far from enough. The core of LOTO is “energy isolation + warning notification”, which essentially means using physical means to completely cut off all dangerous energy sources of the equipment and clearly inform all personnel on site that “the equipment is under maintenance and starting is prohibited”, ensuring that the operators can operate safely in a “zero energy state”.
The “dangerous energy” here is not just the electricity we are most familiar with, but also hydraulic energy, air pressure energy, heat energy, chemical energy, and even the gravitational potential energy of the equipment itself (such as the suspended forks and the unreset mechanical arms) – if these energies are released accidentally, they can cause either equipment damage or casualties. According to industry statistics, nearly 30% of industrial accidents occur during equipment maintenance, and among them, the unexpected startup and energy release caused by not following the LOTO procedure are the fatal “number one killer”. From a compliance perspective, GB/T 33579-2017 “Mechanical Safety – Methods for Hazard Energy Control – Lockout/Tagout” and GB/T 44686-2024 “Mechanical Safety – Hazard Energy Control – General Principles” both clearly require enterprises to establish a LOTO management system. Failure to do so will face severe penalties and also bear legal responsibility for safety accidents. For equipment personnel, LOTO is not an “extra burden”, but a “protective charm” to protect their own and colleagues’ lives – every standardized operation is a way to avoid fatal risks for themselves and the team.