Sacramento Construction Site Accident Lawyers
Machinery Lockout Attorneys in Northern California

Founded in 1993, Demas & Rosenthal is the law firm that believes in getting to know each and every client on a personal level to successfully represent Northern California accident and injury victims. Sacramento attorneys, John Demas and David Rosenthal, started their firm with the vision of achieving justice and obtaining maximum results for serious injury victims. With extensive experience in all types of serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, Demas & Rosenthal will not quit until your case is settled.

Contact with hazardous energy injures over 50,000 workers each year and is responsible for approximately 120 work related deaths.

Many workplace injuries and deaths occur during the routine service, repair and maintenance of machinery when the hazardous energy source has not been properly shut down. Hazardous energy includes electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal and other energy sources.

Employers are required to protect employees working on electric circuits and equipment and are required to implement strict lock out and tag out procedures when employees are exposed to electrical hazards while working on, near, or with systems that use electric energy.

Employees servicing or maintaining machines may be exposed to serious physical harm or death if hazardous energy is not properly controlled. Craft workers, machine operators and laborers are among the 3 million workers who service equipment and are at the greatest risk.

OSHA has set lock out and tagout standards that generally include affixing the appropriate lockout or tagout devices to energy isolating devices and de-energizing machines and equipment. Employers are required to comply with the following standards:

1. Employees need to be trained to ensure that they know, understand and follow the applicable provisions of the hazardous energy control procedures.
2. Training must cover at least 3 areas - aspects of the employer's energy control program, elements of the energy control procedure relevant to the employee's duties, and the various requirements or the OSHA standards related to lockout.
3. Use lockout devices for equipment that can be locked out. Tagout devices may be used in lieu of lockout devices only if the tagout program provides employee protection equivalent to that provided through a lockout program.
4. Ensure that new or overhauled equipment is capable of being locked out.
5. Develop, implement and enforce an effective tagout program if machines or equipment are not capable of being locked out.
6. Develop, document, implement and enforce energy control procedures.
7. Use only lockout/tagout devices authorized for the particular equipment or machinery and ensure that they are durable, standardized and substantial.
8. Ensure that lockout/tagout devices identify the individual users.
9. Establish a policy that permits only the employee who applied a lockout/tagout device to remove it.
10. Inspect energy control procedures at least annually.
11. Provide effective training as mandated for all employees covered by the standard.
12. Comply with the additional energy control provisions in OSHA standards when machines or equipment must be tested or repositioned, when outside contractors work at the site, in group lockout situations, and during shift or personnel changes.

You need the representation of aggressive, experienced trial attorneys to ensure you are fairly compensated for your suffering. The Law Offices of Demas and Rosenthal are ready to take on your machinery lockout or tagout case and will not quit until you get the settlement you deserve.