Control of Hazardous Energy Program


The university is committed to the protection of university workers from occupational hazards, including the potential risks associated with hazardous conditions of equipment and energy sources. The Control of Hazardous Energy Program meets the university's goal of eliminating of hazardous conditions by the application of accepted engineering and work practice control measures, including lock out tag out, and other methods. When effective engineering controls are not feasible, or while they are being implemented, appropriate control measures must be used.


Control of Hazardous Energy Training

Machinery and equipment must be maintained for service and safety. Workers servicing, repairing, testing, or adjusting equipment may be injured when the equipment is unexpectedly energized, unexpectedly started up, or releases stored energy. The stored energy can be electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, etc. Before working on the equipment, all energy isolating devices that control the equipment's energy source must be located, isolated, and secured. Isolation means to lock out all energy sources from equipment or components of that equipment, to dissipate any residual energy in a system or component, and to secure the isolation by using a lock out device.

This course is available for faculty, staff, and students only. All workers, who must control hazardous energy as part of their job duties, must be educated through the participation and successful completion of the Control of Hazardous Energy course by EHS. This is not a regularly scheduled course and is only offered as required. Contact EHS for more information at ucsafety@ucalgary.ca.

If equipment must be serviced, repaired, tested, or adjusted, work must not be performed until the equipment has come to a complete stop and a worker has:

  • locked out the energy isolating device(s), or locked out the energy isolating device(s) and tagged with a warning tag(s), for the equipment and removed and rendered safe any hazardous conditions
  • otherwise rendered the equipment inoperative in a manner that prevents accidental reactivation and provides equal or greater protection than isolation. If alternate practices are used, all workers must know that the equipment is part of a control of hazardous energy procedure and must not be altered.