WATERVLIET ARSENAL, N.Y. (Oct. 29, 2014) --When rumors began flowing through the arsenal that it was getting new 'lockout and tagout' procedures, some may have thought the arsenal was having a labor issue or that professional wrestling was coming here.
The truth is, however, that unlike the labor strife of the 1930s or the gimmickry of professional wrestling, there will not be any trickery with the arsenal's new lockout-tagout program.
"We have had for many years lockout-tagout procedures to protect our workforce from injury," said Matthew Church, the arsenal's safety manager. "But those procedures were not easily understood, clearly defined, or on every machine operated by our manufacturing force."
Lockout-tagout procedures are a safety precaution that ensures that machines used in the manufacturing of military hardware are not started while they are being repaired or serviced, Church said. The arsenal has more than 600 machines that are tied to production.
"Given the scope of work to ensure that each one of our 600 machines has a proven lockout-tagout procedure developed, we asked one of the arsenal's machinists to take the lead," Church said. "After all, who would have more ownership to ensure that our manufacturing machinery is safe than a machinist?"
There was another reason why Church wanted to establish these new procedures using arsenal labor.
"We did a cost analysis of contracting this work out to a vendor versus doing it with our own labor," Church said. "Had we contracted the work, the cost for establishing lockout-tagout procedures for every machine would have exceeded $270,000. But by using in-house labor, the cost will be just a small fraction of the potential contracted cost."
Church then turned to machinist Tim Fontaine, who graduated from the apprentice program a little over one year ago, and asked him to take charge of this massive initiative. He would lead the effort supported by four others from manufacturing.
Why in the world would Fontaine want to take on this massive responsibility?
"Somebody has to do it and so, why not me," Fontaine said. "When I heard about the initiative (lockout-tagout), I thought it was a great idea that would have a significant impact on the safety of our workforce."
Fontaine's spirit of volunteerism began in the apprentice program when he was the only apprentice to join the arsenal's Voluntary Protection Program team.
Fontaine's work is no small undertaking as he must determine the energy sources for each machine, such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric, and then determine the correct startup and shutdown procedures for each machine. Once he has done that, he takes that information, translates his findings into simple explanations, and then places that information onto photos that he has taken of each machine.
During the recent arsenal shutdown week, Fontaine launched into the first few machines armed with nothing more than a camera, notepad, and a general understanding of how machines worked. Within one week, he had properly established procedures for more than 100 machines.
Great! About 500 more to go.
Some of the challenges Fontaine has faced, besides the shear scope of the task, deals with the complexity of the newer machines and the lack of information for the older machines.
"Because I am dealing with complex power systems, I sometimes have to take a step back and think through the process of how machines are powered on and powered off," Fontaine said. "With the older machines, which some date back to the 1940s, I have to figure out the lockout, tagout process without the benefit of manuals."
Fontaine said that his supervisor now allows him to work on this task one day a week, and at this rate he will have by December lockout-tagout procedures established for all 600+ machines.
Brian Bez, Fontaine's supervisor, said that he sees the time away from machining as an investment that will pay huge dividends.
"When we established the former lockout-tagout procedures years ago, it was a different time and definitely a different workforce," Bez said. "The work that Tim and several others are doing has not only made the procedures more clear, their work has also heightened the awareness of the workforce to use safer procedures."
Church added that once Fontaine has completed this task the arsenal will be one of the few, if not the only manufacturing center in the Defense Department to have established such a high standard of safety for its machines.
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Watervliet Arsenal
-The Watervliet Arsenal is an Army-owned-and-operated manufacturing facility and is the oldest, continuously operating arsenal in the United States, having begun operations during the War of 1812. It celebrated its 200th anniversary in July 2013.
-Today's arsenal is relied upon by U.S. and foreign militaries to produce the most advanced, high-tech, high-powered weaponry for cannon, howitzer, and mortar systems. This National Historic Registered Landmark has an annual economic benefit to the local community in excess of $90 million.
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