Industry · Metals
LOTOTO in metals and steel
Metals plants often run continuously, and their equipment is large and interconnected. Maintenance takes place while other sections keep running and during major planned shutdowns, when many people from in-house maintenance and contractors work in the same place. Here, the LOTOTO process has to keep track of who is working on the equipment and allow unlocking only once all work has been completed.
LOTOTO in metals means lockout, tagout and verification of isolation on cranes, rolling mill stands, furnaces, hydraulic systems and utility networks. The focus is on coordinating many people and parallel jobs on large, interconnected equipment.
Unlocking is allowed only once nobody is working on the equipment.
What makes LOTOTO in metals specific?
Short answerLarge equipment with several energy types and media, continuous operation and a high number of parallel jobs during shutdowns involving many groups and companies.
A single piece of equipment in a steelworks may involve high-power electrical drives, hydraulics, cooling water, gas lines and lifting equipment. Different trades isolate the individual energy sources and media. Each of them needs to know what has already been secured and what is still pending.
The risk does not lie only in the isolation itself. Unlocking matters just as much. With many parallel jobs, it must be clear that nobody is still working on the equipment before it returns to operation.
Which equipment and energy sources are typically isolated in metals?
Short answerMainly cranes, rolling mill stands, furnaces, conveyors, hydraulic systems, cooling circuits and gas lines. Besides electrical energy, this means hydraulic, thermal, mechanical and gravitational energy, gases, water and steam.
| Equipment / area | Examples of energy sources |
|---|---|
| Overhead and gantry cranes | electrical, mechanical, gravitational (load) |
| Rolling mill stands | electrical, hydraulic, mechanical |
| Furnaces | thermal, electrical, gases |
| Conveyors and roller tables | electrical, mechanical, gravitational |
| Hydraulic systems and power units | hydraulic, electrical |
| Cooling circuits | pressurised water, thermal, electrical |
| Gas and steam lines | gases, steam, pressure, thermal |
These are illustrative examples, not a complete list. The actual energy sources and isolation points come from your equipment register and your plant’s approved procedures.
For media in pipework, correctly defined isolation points are decisive. A list of energy types alone does not say where and how to secure them. That is why checking the equipment register and its links to isolation points is an important part of implementation. In the digital process, each energy source is recorded separately and the equipment is shown as locked only once all have been confirmed. More on the Energy isolation page.
ReadEnergy isolationWhat do maintenance and shutdowns look like in metals?
Short answerRoutine jobs on sections that can be taken out of service without stopping the whole plant, and large planned shutdowns with many parallel jobs.
During routine maintenance, the rest of the process keeps running. It is therefore important to define precisely what is isolated and what remains live. The system flags when another lockout is already active on the equipment, so parallel jobs in the same place do not go unnoticed.
Before a shutdown, lockout records can be prepared in advance and kept as drafts. Equipment that is locked out together can be grouped and the lockout created for the whole group at once.
How do you coordinate large teams and contractors?
Short answerEach group working on the equipment joins the lockout. The equipment can be unlocked only when none of them is still active.
Fitters, electricians, hydraulics specialists, instrumentation technicians and several contractors may all work on the same equipment at once. The overview shows which groups have joined the lockout, who is responsible for each and how to contact them. Unlocking stays blocked until every group has closed its work. The requester also has to close the work before unlocking can begin.
In continuous operation, work is often handed over between shifts. An authorised substitute can take over a task, and the record keeps who actually performed it. Taking over a task in the application does not, however, authorise anyone to remove another person’s personal lock. How contractors take part is something we design according to your rules. More on the Group lockout page.
How can approval and authorisations be set up by area?
Short answerThe right to approve can be restricted to specific equipment or plant areas. If your rules require several levels of approval, we design how they fit into the workflow during the process analysis.
A steelworks is divided into plants and areas, each with its own responsibility. An operator approves lockouts only for the equipment they are responsible for. User types are linked to energy types, so an electrician, for example, confirms electrical isolation. For designated jobs, the health and safety technician is notified.
For high-risk work, such as hot work, work at height or in confined spaces, the relevant form template is attached to the record and the completed document is uploaded to it. More on Roles and authorisations and Digital permit to work.
Why does traceability matter in metals?
Short answerWith many people and parallel jobs, it is hard to establish afterwards who did what. The audit trail records the user, time and data changes for every action.
Closed records stay in the archive together with their attached documents. They can be used when investigating an incident, but also in regular reviews before anything happens, for example to spot recurring gaps in permit preparation or in work handovers. More on the Audit trail page.
What can a digital LOTOTO process bring to metals?
No promises in percentages. These are concrete things a digital process changes in day-to-day work:
How do you get started with digital LOTOTO in metals?
Short answerWe recommend starting with one plant or area, checking the equipment and isolation point register, and testing the setup before the next shutdown.
In this industry, we draw on our experience with LOTOTO processes and on an analysis of your plant. We first go through your existing procedure, permits to work and division of responsibility. Then we propose what the digital process should look like. The implementation steps are described on the Solution page, the wider context in Digital LOTOTO.
What does digital LOTOTO not replace?
Frequently asked questions
What if another lockout is already active on the equipment?
When the record is created, the system flags that another lockout is active on the equipment. What happens next is governed by your plant’s rules.
How do contractors take part in the process?
That depends on your rules: whether contractor staff have their own access or are represented by a responsible person from your plant. We design the approach together with you.
Where is Tryout recorded?
How Tryout is recorded and built into the digital workflow is designed according to your plant’s rules.
Can we start with a single plant area?
Yes. We recommend starting with a selected plant or area, validating the setup in practice and then expanding.
Next step
Show us how you lock out.
We go through your LOTOTO procedure, permits to work and shutdown process with you. Then we work out together which parts are worth digitalising first.