Trapped Key Systems
Fortress Safety designs and manufactures customised safety equipment, protecting lives in hazardous workplaces. Its interlocks work in sequence to ensure employees are safeguarded from dangerous…
Fortress Safety designs and manufactures customised safety equipment, protecting lives in hazardous workplaces. Its interlocks work in sequence to ensure employees are safeguarded from dangerous machinery by eliminating the possibility of human error.
Fortress Safety products control who can access industrial equipment safely and when they can access safely.
Interlocking controls two or more interdependent operations which must take place in a predetermined sequence, if necessary remotely controlled or time delayed. The need for this sequence may be safety to personnel and equipment, or to control processes and productivity.
Trapped key interlocking is a tried and tested method of mechanically safeguarding dangerous machines and hazardous processes. Mechanical keys eliminate most of the electrical wiring associated with other types of interlocks making it cost effective to install and maintain.
Fortress Safety’s product portfolio includes:
- mGard – the only range of mechanical interlocks independently certified to PLe
- amGardpro – heavy-duty safety gate switches with connectivity and trapped key integration certified to PLe
- tGard – medium-duty interlocks with configurable built-in control functionality, independently certified to PLd
- Atom & FRANK – compact & robust safety
- Louis – hygienic interlocks for washdown environments
- Osbourn – retrofittable safety keys to prevent unexpected restart
- Alfred – interlocks for explosive atmospheres & hazardous locations
Trapped-key interlocking uses locks and keys for sequential control of equipment and machinery to ensure safe operation. The safe sequence is created through a transfer of physical keys that are either trapped or released in a determined order, usually starting with the isolation of a power source that can then be used to gain access through a gate to a high risk area. Different types of keys ensure that the initial key cannot be returned until the original personnel are clear of the hazard and all keys have been returned in sequence.
