The Red Shop Rag

Operators & technicians from yesteryears likely remember the “red shop rag”. It has been a staple of the refrigeration department for many decades. However, its use has not always been for cleaning and wiping as it was truly intended for.

Before the existence of standards, and in the early days of PSM, the red shop rag was often used as an air purifying respirator. Nowadays this sounds unreal, but it was very common at one point for a technician to wet down the rag and place it over their mouth and nose and then breathe through the rag during times of an ammonia release. The concept was that the water in the rag would absorb the ammonia as air was being inhaled. Now, with the long-term existence of standards and response education, this practice would be completely unacceptable and hopefully it no longer exists within the industry.

Another non-typical use of the red rag was when the ammonia refrigeration system needed maintenance or repairs. The red shop rag has been used to identify a closed valve. A technician would tie the red rag or red ribbon tape to the valve handle of a valve that had been closed. Unfortunately, this practice is still being implemented to this day at many facilities across the nation. The observation of a red rag tied to a valve could be a “red flag” for an auditor or an inspector. The question proposed by an auditor or inspector may be “show me where in your written program it states that a red shop rag or red ribbon tape will be used to identify a closed valve.” We couldn’t imagine anyone actually stating this within their formal written programs.

If valves are closed or opened for the completion of a task or activity, the documentation and records of these actions should be included within a “written procedure”. It is the written procedure itself that would identify which valves were closed or opened for the related task or activity. The written procedure could contain instructions to apply a wired tag to the valve to identify the valve position, the date the valve was put in such position, and the name of the technician who did so. Even so, it is the documentation of the procedural steps within the written procedure that would be the method to track all the manipulated valves. Additionally, the written procedure would also contain procedural steps to reverse all actions associated with the task or activity to return the system, or circuits, to their normal operating mode / position.

If a valve is to be closed on a permanent basis, it would be best to include that valve within a Car Seal Valve Position Management program and designate that valve as Car-Sealed Closed (CSC). In accordance with the Car Seal program the valve would then be secured in that position and tagged as CSC and recorded as such in the Car Seal valve list. Any future change in the position of the valve would be controlled through the Car-Seal program procedures and documentation.

If you are still using a red shop rag or red ribbon tape to identify a closed valve, please consider developing a written procedure, or implementing a Car Seal program, to track and manage the valves position.

Stay tuned to the MySafety blogs. Reach out to us if you have additional questions or concerns. Our team will be pleased to assist you.

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