What’s a lockout and why should you use it? Consider the following scenario. You’re in the middle of repairing a tool or an appliance. You’ve unplugged the equipment and are working in a safe manner. Then someone else enters the room and for whatever reason plugs the equipment back in. What follows may be nothing, it may be damage to the equipment, or it may be serious injury and death.
A lockout provides a physical barrier to prevent a piece of equipment from being restarted. You can, of course, purchase lockouts. They are used in factories and laboratories around the world. Hobbyists may not often use them, but they should. Even if you are alone in your shop, you may accidently reenergize a tool.
My lockout works by encasing the plug portion of a tool. I use a container that used to hold wood screws. Besides the container, you will need a lock, a label, an electric drill, a drill bit (sized to the lock), and a knife.
Start off by removing the old labels. Then, using a marker, draw out a semi-circle a little bigger than the diameter of an electrical cord. Do this on the body of the container, right at the point it meets the lid (see photo). Cut out this portion with a knife.
Closing the lid, you will need to drill two holes for the lock — one through the lid and one through the body of the container (see photo).
Put a new label on the lid with a warning message. That’s it! The lockout is ready to be used.
2013/01/30 at 18:30
I love projects, but I’m afraid of electricity. So I will take this information under advisement and wait for your next suggestion.
2013/01/30 at 21:28
I can undertand that. The next project will be safer. Thanks for dropping by!
2013/02/26 at 13:02
Ah, the principles of lockout/tagout. I forget where I worked at the time but we had to be cognizant of that there.
2013/02/26 at 16:52
It’s a good habit, but easy to avoid if you are a hobbyist working on your own.
2013/02/26 at 17:06
Well yes – if it’s only you there’s no need. But one other thing you can do with power cords is loop it back and tie the plug to the entry point. that way it’d be impossible to plug in.
2013/02/26 at 14:32
An even simpler method is to use a very small padlock–one that you might use on luggage or a piggy bank–and put it through the hole of the prong of the plug itself.
2013/02/26 at 16:51
That should work, too. The only thing I would add is a label that says, “Lock Out – Do Not Plug In”.
2013/02/26 at 15:21
Why build a box? Just buy a small padlock with a shackle small enough to pass through the hole in one prong of your plug?
2013/02/26 at 16:55
I agree; you could just use a very small padlock. I would add a note saying “Locokout – Do Not Plug In”. At the same time, my “box” was a container that would have gone to recycling and this way I can use a much bigger lock.
2013/02/27 at 20:39
There is another point for the box, if you are working with a plug that doesn’t have holes. Check out this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets Thanks for dropping and your comment.
2013/02/27 at 05:14
I live alone and I do a lot of hobby electric work. I suspect that if I should use a lockout like this I may break up laughing when I discover it – perhaps even toy with the idea of a little prankie
2013/02/27 at 20:34
If you have a good memory and are quite organized, you can probably get away without using it, although I think I will go with the “official” answer and say that it is the safer way of working. Thanks for dropping by.