BY THE INDUSTRY, FOR THE INDUSTRY PAGE | 7
TOP
10
"
"
"Excellent initiative to
connect sectoral experience
and engage all to resolve a
common risk. Great exercise
and very helpful to provide
direction to control the risk."
— Saima Bharwana, Cargill
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS WORKSHOP
In February 2023, WSPS held a two-day root cause
analysis workshop that focused on the top issue
identified — inadequate lockout/tag out of equipment.
Participants drilled down into the primary causal
factors contributing to inadequate LOTO in the food
manufacturing industry. Causal factors were then
categorized under people, processes, tools and
machines, measures, environment, and culture.
The collective knowledge and input from subject
matter experts ensured a holistic understanding
of inadequate LOTO and led to agreement on the
following risk statement: "Exposure to hazardous
energy, associated with inadequate lockout/tag out of
equipment, can have serious consequences for workers,
organizations and supporting community."
RISK STATEMENT:
"Exposure to hazardous
energy, associated with
inadequate lockout/tag
out of equipment, can have
serious consequences for
workers, organizations and
supporting community."
"
"
Deepa Sarao, consulting services manager at WSPS
and co-facilitator of the workshop, said the point
of the in-depth exercise is to effect real change
around inadequate LOTO.
"At the industry level, everyone knows what
lockout/tag out is, and many companies have
written procedures on how to do this," she
remarked. "But the opportunity lies with effective
implementation and training."
On the consulting and association level, Sarao said
we can use the outcomes of these workshops to
further enhance existing and new solutions to help
the sectors we serve.
"We often hear things like 'why would I lockout/
tag out when it's going to waste 10 minutes of my
time to restart the machine again'? The pressure for
production is a big deal in manufacturing."
Sarao added.
Even though most organizations have a process
for lockout, troubleshooting and maintenance, the
perception at the worker level can be different, she
said. "It's all about how we use this data to support
that conversation."