From Russian Roulette to secure LOTO: how to protect data center personnel

Safety first is not an abstract call, but a very concrete plan of action at enterprises with industrial safety risks. Data centers are related to such facilities, and, therefore, should have developed rules for labor protection. Today I will tell you how the LOTO system works on the Linxdatacenter site in St. Petersburg, which increases the security of data center operation.

Analysis of industrial accidents, injuries, accidents and occupational diseases shows that their main cause is non-observance of safety requirements, ignorance of the nature of man-made threats and methods of protection against them. According to Rostrud, from 30 to 40% of industrial injuries with serious consequences for health in Russia are caused by human factors.

At the same time 15-20% of all accidents are associated with incomplete disconnection of equipment from energy sources during the repair and maintenance of equipment. Workers are most often injured due to the release of residual energy, as well as due to erroneous switching on or violation of equipment shutdown procedures.


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Only one way out: to comply with safety regulations. Including to choose the most safe technological processes, organizational and technical measures and the rules of personal behavior.

What does the data center?

Even taking into account the fundamental difference between the data center and the plant or NPP, a potential danger exists when operating the engineering systems of the data center. Still, the data center is a few MW of electrical power, diesel generators, cooling systems, ventilation, no reinsurance in the direction of industrial safety can not be superfluous here.



In the process of preparing for the attestation of Linxdatacenter's operational efficiency according to the standard of Uptime Institute Management & Operations , we decided to put in order this direction within the framework of work processes in the data center.

The task was as follows: to develop and implement a unified procedure for reliable blocking of sections of the engineering networks of the data center and to create an understandable system for designating types of work and performers. We conducted a study of the available solutions and made a choice in favor of a complete LOTO system, as the most adequate and simple. Let's look at how this system works.

Block, mark!

The name of the system “Lockout / Tagout” is literally translated from English as “Lock / Hanging warning tags”. In the Russian language, the names “systems of protective blocking” and “blocking systems” were fixed. The common English abbreviation "LOTO" is also used. Its main purpose is to protect people from interacting with energy sources at industrial facilities, where electric, gravitational (gravity), hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal and other forms of energy with an uncontrolled release can entail a risk of injury to humans.

• Lockout . The first part of LOTO consists of Lockout procedures, which consist in installing special blockers and locks on a site of the engineering network - potentially dangerous due to the possible energy release. However, simply blocking the site is not enough, it is necessary to inform people about the potential danger and exactly what kind of work and for how long led to the withdrawal of this part of the network from normal operation.
  
• TagOut . For this, there is the second part of LOTO - TagOut. A potentially dangerous part of the network where work is being done and in connection with which it is disabled or blocked is indicated by a special warning tag. Birka informs the rest of the staff about the reason for the shutdown, from what moment, for how long and by whom. All information is confirmed by the signature of the responsible person.
  

Let's take an example.

In the data center in St. Petersburg, we use the following elements of the LOTO system:

1. Electroautomatic jammers for reliable fixation of the energy source in a certain position:
   
2. Mechanical hazards blockers :
   
3. Warning labels "Do not include", "Do not open" with information about the type of work, start and end time of work, the responsible person, etc .:
   
4. Padlocks for security lock:
   

In addition to the blockers themselves, procedures have been developed for their use:

1. The bollards are divided by type of equipment :
   
   
   • for mechanical systems blockers with the letter “M” are used,
     
   • for electrical - "E".
     
   
   This is done for ease of indicating them in the instructions and finding them on the stand.
2. Developed algorithms for installing bollards for work and removal in case of emergency:
   
   
   Algorithm off equipment.
   
   
   Algorithm enable equipment.
3. The instructions for the repair and service work indicate the types of blockers that should be used:
   
   

As you can see, everything is extremely clear. A set of blockers for a specific task is prescribed, and at least one of them is always available on the stand. The stand itself is executed as clearly as possible. In combination with a detailed instruction LOTO leaves no room for error.


So in the data center organized stand for storing locking devices LOTO.

What has changed with LOTO

Formally speaking, using LOTO allows you to:

• reduce the number of accidents
  
• reduce the cost of compensation for harm caused to health,
  
• Reduce downtime and increase productivity.
  

In sum, this reduces the indirect costs of operating the engineering systems of the data center.

If we operate with more informal categories, then after the introduction of the system, the heads of operational services of the data center increased confidence in the safe nature of all current work. Of course, everything worked in the usual way with self-made “Do not turn on!” Signs, “Caution!” Signs and verbal announcements.

With LOTO, however, there was much more confidence in the safety of the work of each engineering network of the data center at each site. In addition, the management of tasks for operation and maintenance has become much simpler: it is sufficient to indicate the area, node, model of the blocker, and the time of shutdown.



The transparency of rounds on duty also increased: if the machine, which must always be turned on, is in the “off” position, and the LOTO tag is not - everything is clear, emergency shutdown, you need to act. If there is a tag, everything is also clear, a planned shutdown, no need to touch anything, we continue to bypass.



The situations with “forgotten” tags and announcements are also excluded: in all cases you can always tell who, when and for what reason put the block and lock, who can remove it, etc. No secrets about "and what is this disabled machine on this shield for the second week already?".


We look at the tag, and immediately know what is happening and who to ask.

Let's sum up

• LOTO in the Linxdatacenter data center in St. Petersburg was one of the factors for the successful passing of the Uptime Institute M & O certification platform. Auditors admitted that they see the introduction of such a system in the data center is extremely rare.
• Definitely a positive impact on the quality of the data center as a whole: it became almost impossible to prevent failures in the operation of the operation services.
• Security guarantees for the company and its employees for the future: according to OSHA statistics, in the USA alone, the implementation of LOTO regulations prevents 50,000 serious injuries and 120 deaths per year.
• Small investments - significant effect. The main costs are prescribing regulations, rules, classification of situations and employee training. The total time for implementation - 4 months, it was held by the staff of the company.

Highly recommend!

If you have any questions, ask in the comments.