The way we get around the question of whose lock stays on is to lock everything with a plant designated (and numbered) lock. All the keys for the locks on the system go into a metal box and you lock onto the box. There is a designated lock on each box (there will always be at least 2 locks if someone is on the lockout) that is numbered for the box. If the work is not signed off on, the designated lock stays on, and so do all of the other locks.
We have to have a system like this because many of our lockouts have 8-12 locking points, and during a maint. outage you may have 20 people who need on the lockout.
It makes for an interesting chain of multi-lock devices.
Ed
