Cleaning, maintaining and working on dangerous machinery should only be done when energy sources have been isolated. In addition, compressed air needs to be exhausted from a system before hazardous equipment can be considered safe.
Safety standards require a procedural system where a physical device for blocking and exhausting air is used and various people are responsible for the disconnection and reconnection. This Lock-Out/Tag-Out system specifies:
- simple effective isolation
- fast efficient dissipation (of stored energy)
- reliable verification (that there is no residual air pressure) and
- lock-out/ tag-out.
In order for this to function safely, a LOX* valve meets the following safety criteria:
- Easy to identify and distinctive in appearance.
- Easy to operate.
- Over-sized exhaust ensures rapid energy dissipation.
- Only capable of being locked in the "off" position.
- Built-in provision for a visual pressure indicator.
Port sizes range from 1/4" up to 3". Internals are engineered for safety and reliability. Special anti-clog high-flow mufflers are available to ensure fast, safe exhaust at comfortable noise levels.
Also, where sudden re-introduction of air pressure can cause problems, a built-in Soft Start function for gradual re-application of pressure is available.
*LOX is a registered trademark.
