Owens Illinois Glass

The Owens Illinois (OI) Glass Manufacturing Plant in Spotswood, Victoria, is the largest facility of its kind in Australia and was tasked with establishing a global standard for lockout/tagout (LOTO) and machine guarding. Specialised was engaged to oversee the implementation of this standard and to develop systems for use during the ongoing global rollout.

This involved creating a master database from scratch for approximately 300 machines on-site, as there was no existing asset register. Specialised conducted inspections and audits of all plant and equipment, documenting findings with photographs and preparing individual machine lockout sheets. They made recommendations to identify potential issues, such as the absence of lockout mechanisms on electrical isolations, and installed appropriate signage for all isolation points, including gas, water, power, and compressed air. Additionally, Specialised assessed machine guarding against international risk standards and collaborated closely with the engineering and maintenance teams to determine specific equipment lock and tag-out procedures. They maintained communication with the Health and Safety Manager and the factory’s Managing Director.

 Key challenges included operating within a 24/7 facility, dealing with a very old plant that lacked asset registers, and assessing outdated and redundant equipment.