Locked control panel key management

To head off any confusion, I'm not talking about lock out tag out here, rather key lockable door handles on panel doors.

Bubba called me in the middle of the night for a sticky PLC relay output and when I got to the site I couldn't open the control panel door because it was key locked. It took half an hour to find out who had the key, and another half hour for him to come in with his key and unlock the panel door, all for a five minute module swap.

He explained the reason for locking the panel door, and in this case I completely agree, I won't elaborate the reason for IP reasons, but its a damn good reason.

Most of our panels are not locked aside from the disconnect interlock, however after the lost production overnight its obvious that we need a system for managing a few control panel lock keys.

Do any of you have a system that you would care to share"

We don't have anything like that, but we are a remote site, so getting someone on site with a key can be a problem. We have a key cabinet, that has a combination lock. If they need to get in there, they have to justify the need and get the combination from the 'key master.' In such a system the combination could be changed after the fact. Don't know if this will work as I don't know if the 'key master' is required to be on hand for the opening or not.

TConnolly said:

It took half an hour to find out who had the key, and another half hour for him to come in with his key and unlock the panel door, all for a five minute module swap.

Click to expand...

This is the biggest area for improvement. If the cabinet is going to be locked it should be clearly labeled as to where the keys are to be found and/or who has the keys. That simple change would reduce your downtime by half for very little cost.

The second is to implement a phone tree of who has keys and who is on call when. Nothing worse than having the list of the three people who have keys only to find out all three are unavailable.

The last change (much more costly) would be to segregate the 'classified' portions of the control panel but allow the unclassified portion to be accessed.

We have resorted to old fashioned hasps with padlocks. I'm sure it is a violation of some sort.

We have a line up of Rittal cabinets the style that when you turned the key the handle popped out so you could open the door. Some genius couldn't get in so he decided to drill all the locks out. Now if anyone make the mistake of pushing the handle into the door you need a pick to get at the mechanism to pop the handle out again.

We use these systems company wide so we use them for equipment keys also and we use the lockers to store shared but expensive tools.

http://keytrak.com/overview/?cpao=1...ement+system&gclid=CN2orpfs_rwCFYuXOgod-nMAdw

where i used to work, we had the following system in place

every entry gate, building door and certain panels were locked. period, no discussion.

if you needed into any of these places you went to security and signed for the key(s). you had to return them at the end of the day or get a call from security at the end of their shift, didn't matter when it was, return the key, and no it will not wait until the morning.

if the key(s) were lost, you paid $1000 out of your pocket to get all locks rekeyed.

the keys had do not duplicate on them.

regards,
james

As a SI inow have a key ring that grows with every job. If it has a lock I buy an extra key and charge it to the job.

A "Break Glass in Case of Emergency" key holder could be used. Mounted in an obvious place, the small glass pane gets broken and the key accessed. Next working day, management is made aware of why the key was accessed and by whom, and the glass replaced (a very simple procedure). A few panes of glass on site as spares are cheap compared to the time and lost productivity at stake.

I am so glad I do not have to put up with this stuff! Working for myself means I select the keys - and they are all the same from job to job to all panels.

Maybe something like this: http://www.keytracer.com/asset-management-solutions/key-management-systems/ .

Where I used to work there was a similar system - each person needing access got a PIN which gave you entry to the key locker. The key(s) you needed would be indicated and could be removed for use. Of course, everything was logged/time stamped.

Probably not cheap (up front).