In September 2008, the CSST revealed that six deaths and more than 5,000 accidents occur annually during installation, maintenance and repair work carried out on machines that are incorrectly or not locked out. Due to the nature of the work that they have to perform, and of the equipment and machines that they use, workers in the municipal affairs sector are involved in lockout. The municipal affairs sector employs close to 80,000 workers in Québec.

This exploratory study will determine work situations and equipment that can require the use of lockout and will document the lockout practices and programs currently applied in the municipal affairs sector. The results will help municipal organizations wanting to draw up or update a lockout program to be better equipped, as well as help support the work of the Association paritaire pour la santé et la sécurité du travail, secteur affaires municipales (APSAM, joint occupational health and safety association, municipal affairs sector) on this issue.