During the past three years over 40 people have died as a result of incidents in the manufacturing industry, most commonly when cleaning machinery blockages or carrying out running repairs without the correct safeguards. Properly managing isolation and lock off procedures to secure machinery and ensure there is no power feed to the equipment lowers the risk of serious or fatal injury.

The campaign aims to:

• raise awareness about the risks and standards required for safe isolation and lock off;
• ensure, through formal enforcement, that robust isolation and lock off procedures are implemented; and
• ensure that employers have, or put in place, sound risk control systems for managing these procedures.

Chris Flint from HSE's Manufacturing Sector said: 'Machines still kill people. HSE inspectors all too regularly investigate fatalities at machinery. It's not as if the risks of moving machinery are new -
people need to stop and think before they work on a machine. It is not enough for managers to provide safeguards and assume employees will follow it. People need to be carefully trained in the procedure and be supervised by a competent manager. Senior management must carry out regular checks to confirm the procedure is always followed'.

To receive a checklist based on the campaign, please fill in the online form selecting the HSE option.