A few days ago, DIN EN 17975:2025 (Procedures for controlling the risks of energy and fluids during maintenance work – guidelines) was published. This finally provides a European standard for lockout/tagout (LOTO). But what does this new standard entail, and what does it mean for my existing LOTO system? Here we provide a brief overview and can already reveal that it is not a 1:1 transfer of the American OSHA legal text CFR 1910.147. Further blog articles will follow, which will examine individual aspects of the standard in detail and provide interpretations and proposed solutions.
Focus on risk analysis
The standard requires a risk analysis of individual maintenance activities. This should be based on the basic principles of risk analysis from DIN EN ISO 12100, but should address maintenance activities more specifically. Depending on the result of the risk analysis, there are four levels for implementing lockout/tagout.
Four levels of blockage of energy and fluid supply
The somewhat cumbersome designations were taken from the standard. Work with a high risk assessment can be found in 1., while work with a lower risk can be found in the numbers that follow. Which level must be selected depends on the result of the risk analysis. The following levels are described in the standard:
- Enhanced isolation through lockout/tagout of energy and fluids (RI)
- Explanation: Not only is the valve or ball valve locked with a lock, but part of the pipeline is also removed or permanently closed off with a blind flange or plug.
- Standard insulation with energy lockout/tagout (SI)
- Explanation: Well-known LOTO by locking and tagging energy isolation points
- Neutralization of energies and fluids through control systems (N)
- The machine's functional safety technology shuts off all hazardous energy sources and secures the safety door against closing.
- Special precautions for measures involving existing energies and fluids (SP)
- is used during test runs and trial runs of repaired machines.
The main change is that it is now officially permitted to use functional safety technology for LOTO, which is frequently used in Europe. Functional safety technology switches off hazardous energies and fluids when a safety door is opened, and only switches them back on again when the door is closed and acknowledged at the control panel.
Organizational requirements
The standard requires companies to address several organizational issues:
Establishment of a procedure/process and a management system for LOTO procedures at the company site.
Designation of employees and their roles in the LOTO system. Several new roles are described in the standard.
Training of personnel in the handling of energy and fluids.
The definition of the labeling of lockout points or energy isolation points is much more comprehensive than the standard known in the USA.
The appearance of the tagout tags and their contents are clearly defined.
Conclusion
This standard introduces many new aspects relating to the implementation of a lockout/tagout system. However, this is only intended to be a brief overview of the contents of the new DIN EN 17975 standard. Further blog articles will follow, dealing in detail with the contents of individual sections and how they can be implemented in practice.
Which of the points mentioned interests you the most and should be the first to be explored by us in a detailed blog article?
Translated with the free Deepl.com translator