Lock Out on a Plug?

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megloff11x

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I have a ~100yr old machine that still works but is largely unused. The building was pretty much built around it and it contains almost as much steel as a battleship. I was informed by one of my former colleagues before he passed away that he would come back as a poltergeist and haunt us if we ever got rid of it because the new machines that do the same thing are ****, etc. And he was largely correct on the 2nd point. We fired it up when the calibration service came in and it was the most accurate and consistent machine that did what it does. Go figure.

It has huge exposed gears and belts that can't effectively be covered and all sorts of other horrors for the unwary. Just don't wear loose clothing or get too close...

What I would like to do is just "lock it out." Its motor, connected to an original 1876 Reeves Variable Speed Drive, plugs in to an outlet.

I seem to recall that you can buy something to clamshell over the plug and lock out tag out the clamshell.

1. Do I recall correctly?
2. If so where can I buy one?
3. Will this satisfy safety folk/regs otherwise in great angst over giant old school exposed tooth gears and belts?

If it has to be dismantled I'll get a medium to re-direct my late colleague's spirit to torment OSHA, et. al. To me it's a piece of working history.

Let me know.

Matt
 
OSHA will accept the lockout device on the plug, but not the exposed gears and belts. If you intend to run the machine, better get somebody familiar with machine guarding to take a look. I've seen effective guarding with cyclone fence sections - nothing says you can't guard large portions, or virtually all, of the machine. You must keep body parts out of the machine where damage can occur.
 
My intent is NOT to run the machine. It would be like taking a Model T to work on the highway in a blizzard.

If I lock it out and leave it locked out, the exposed gearing should not be an issue.

Covering the gears over would be like the pope having the nekkid pictures painted over and statues covered up, or massachusetts putting trigger locks on the muskets used at Lexington & Concord in the state capital, or having customs stamp "Painted in Italy" on the Mona Lisa, or having a teenager "customize" your formerly all-original 1965 Mustang.

It's a working work of art that can still run, but won't.

Matt
 
You will have to have a written LO/TO program if you choose to "LO/TO" the machine. If you are just trying to prevent it's use, any means required would suffice. LO/TO is strictly to prevent a mechanic from getting hurt while servicing the machine.

We have some really old Bullard lathes and machinery that was never designed with machine guarding in mind. Supervisors are always like, "this thing is too old to machine guard...blah blah blah blah." Any machine can be effectively guarded, for a price.

If it's a large machine, which sounds like it is, it's prolly running on 480v?
 
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