ModulesEnergy IsolationWork Control
Isolated, proven dead, and who holds it.One certificate, from the first point to the last lock off.
For isolating authorities and maintenance crews: points come from a register per equipment tag, each one isolated, verified and proven dead where its method asks, and every worker’s personal lock is on the record. With a permit, or on its own.
Held · meets the gate on PTW-2026-0142
| Order | Point | Energy | Method | Isolated | Verified | Proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P-201Transfer pump P-201 · MCC-4 bucket 7 | Electrical | Breaker off, racked out, locked | 06:52 · Lucas Almeida | 06:54 · Lucas Almeida | Start tried at local station: no start · 0 V at terminals, meter MT-12 |
| 2 | XV-210Fill valve XV-210 | Process · diesel | Closed, locked, actuator air isolated | 06:58 · Lucas Almeida | 07:00 · Lucas Almeida | Position confirmed at the valve · no proof asked by method |
| 3 | F-3Spade at flange F-3 | Process · diesel | Spade downstream of XV-210 | 07:01 · Lucas Almeida | 07:03 · Lucas Almeida | Bleed at F-3 open: no flow · 0.0 bar on PG-214 |
Locks · Group box GB-07
- Lucas Almeida
- Isolating authority · 06:50
- Carlos Mendes
- Arden Welding · 07:26
- Rafael Okonkwo
- Arden Welding · 07:27
Release waits for: PTW-2026-0142 handed back · 3 personal locks off
One certificate, three moments. Switch the state: steps fill in, locks go on and come off. An example certificate; the fields are the product’s, the values illustrative.
Where it connects
On the same loop: Machine Safeguarding, Incident Investigation, Shift Handover and 38 more modules in one workspace.
Method note
Spade it, or prove the valves? It depends on what is behind them.
Positive isolation is the strongest. It is not always the safest one to install.
Leandro · Founder, UProcess
Guidance ranks isolations from physical disconnection, through double block and bleed, down to a single closed valve. Fitting a spade can mean breaking containment to make the plant safe for breaking containment, so experienced isolators argue over when a proved valve isolation is the better choice, and who may accept less.
So each point records its method, and a lower one carries its reason.
- PositiveSpade, blind or disconnection, chosen from your method library.
- ProvedValves closed and locked, and the isolation proven at the bleed before anyone breaks in.
- Below the baselineAllowed with a written reason and the isolating authority’s signature.
Where Energy Isolation usually breaks
Four places an isolation goes wrong, and what the record does about each.
A closed valve is trusted, not proven.
At a refinery in Delaware, operators relied on one closed outlet valve to separate two vessels from a pressurised column. It leaked, hydrocarbon flowed back, and an operator was burned when a drain was opened. Nothing confirmed the isolation was holding first.
Source: U.S. Chemical Safety Board, Delaware City safety bulletin
In UProcess Each point is signed isolated, then verified, then proven dead where its method asks, with the instrument and the reading. The certificate is held only when every point is done.
Point 3 · spade at F-3
- Isolated
- 07:01 · Lucas Almeida
- Verified
- 07:03 · Lucas Almeida
Bleed at F-3 open: no flow · 0.0 bar on PG-214 · confirmed on device
The method drifts below the standard.
Guidance sets a baseline isolation for each hazard. A lower standard is acceptable only where a risk assessment supports it and an appropriate person authorises it, and repeated variations need a written justification and regular review.
Source: HSE, HSG253 The safe isolation of plant and equipment
In UProcess Each point carries its method from your library. A method below your baseline needs a written reason and the isolating authority’s signature.
ISO-2026-0034 · cooling water to E-305
- Method
- Single valve, locked
- Baseline
- Below the company baseline
- Reason
- Line at 2 bar, water at 30 °C; a spade needs a unit shutdown
- Signed
- Lucas Almeida · 11 Nov 2026 16:10
One lock for a whole crew.
Under group lockout, each authorised worker is expected to put their own lock on the group lockbox when they start and take it off when they finish, so nobody is covered by someone else’s lock.
Source: OSHA 1910.147(f)(3)
In UProcess The point keys go in a group box named on the certificate. Each worker’s personal lock is recorded on and off with their signature, and the certificate cannot move to release while any lock is on.
Group box GB-07 · ISO-2026-0031
The box opens when the last lock is off.
The plant comes back while work is still open.
On Piper Alpha, the night shift most likely restarted a pump whose relief valve had been removed under a separate permit. Suspended permits were filed by trade, not by location, so checking them would not have shown the two together.
Source: IChemE Loss Prevention Bulletin 261
In UProcess A certificate is ready to release only when every permit relying on it is handed back and every personal lock is off. Reinstatement runs in reverse order, signed point by point.
Release and reinstatement · ISO-2026-0031
- 16:40
- PTW-2026-0142 handed back
- 16:46
- Last personal lock off · Lucas Almeida
- 16:58
- Point 3 · spade removed, flange made up
- 17:04
- Point 2 · XV-210 lock removed, valve returned to service
- 17:10
- Point 1 · P-201 breaker restored · Released
Ready to release only when every linked permit is handed back and every lock is off.
Process accident case · Inadequate isolation
The valves were closed. The reactor was not isolated.
No welding, no entry, so valves seemed enough. The cutting wheel was hot work.
See the case →Certificate ISO-2026-0031 · group box GB-07 · 12 Nov 2026
| Person | Company | On | Off | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Almeida | Site | 06:50 | 16:46 | Confirmed on device |
| Carlos Mendes | Arden Welding | 07:26 | 16:38 | Confirmed on device |
| Rafael Okonkwo | Arden Welding | 07:27 | 16:39 | Not re-confirmed (sent offline) |
Abandoned lock · ISO-2026-0029 · 9 Nov 2026
- Lock owner
- Daniel Price · left site 18:10
- Looked for
- Called twice; checked at the gate
- Signed
- Thiago Moreira, authoriser · Sarah Mitchell, appointed
- Owner told
- 10 Nov 2026 06:45, before his shift
The record an auditor asks for.
An isolation is proven by the readings and the locks, not by a tick on a form.
- Each point’s isolation and verification, signed, and its proof with instrument and reading.
- Every personal lock on and off, by person and time.
- Abandoned lock removals, with both signatures and the owner told.
- Reinstatement in reverse order, signed point by point.
What’s in a certificate
- Points
- A register per equipment tag: energy, device, method and the steps to isolate, reused by every certificate instead of retyped for each job.
- States
- Draft → Being isolated → Held → Ready to release → Being reinstated → Released, or Cancelled before any point is isolated.
- Proof
- Isolated and verified, each signed with its time, and, where the method asks, proven dead with the instrument and the reading.
- Group lockout
- A named group box, a personal lock per worker on and off, and a separate abandoned lock procedure with two signatures.
- Links
- The permit’s isolation gate, the points a confined space needs, and a machine’s energy procedure, which starts a certificate already filled in.
Questions
Can a certificate exist without a permit?
Yes. A simple lockout for an operator task stands on its own. It is released when every personal lock is off.
What if a lock is found cut or a valve open?
Anyone can report the point as compromised. The certificate goes back to being isolated, and every permit linked to it is suspended until the point is isolated and verified again.
Can someone else remove my lock?
Only through the abandoned lock procedure: the owner looked for, the site checked, two signatures, and the owner told before their next shift. It is never a button on the lock.
Does it connect to electronic padlocks?
No. UProcess records the physical locks your people apply; it does not talk to lock hardware.