3MI Club: You’re Not Your Spot Check Score

U.S. 7TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

10.28.2017

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Eduardo T Otero  

USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76)   

“The first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club.”
The first rule of 3MI, apparently, is you talk about it…a lot.
As you’ve probably heard or read or seen by now, 3MI is happening. So we’re working on a series of articles where we’ll take a look at Fight Club, the cult novel by Chuck Palahniuk, to give you some tips and tricks for the upcoming inspection. Yep, you read that right – I still don’t know how I got away with it.
First round is the Tag-out Users Manual (TUM). So remove the plastic housing around your computer’s monitor tube or work through the vent panels in the top, cause Tyler’s about to fill it to the brim with an explosive mixture of 3MI knowledge.

Round 1: Tag-Out Users Manual

In chapter 26 of Fight Club, the narrator pulls up to his workplace and a cold sweat runs down his neck. He sees the floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor of his office are blown out and he knows his boss is dead. Tyler must have done his little version of the lightbulb bomb, but using the boss’ computer monitor instead. The narrator knows this because Tyler knows this.
I’m not going over the specifics of how Tyler did this because of editors and such. Long story short, he filled a computer monitor with gasoline or napalm or what have you. The boss turned it on. Kaboom!
Here’s an excerpt from the novel:
“A computer tube can hold a lot more gasoline than a lightbulb.
“A cathode ray tube, CRT, you either remove the plastic housing around the tube, this is easy enough, or you work through the vent panels in the top of the housing.
“First you have to unplug the monitor from the power source and from the computer. This would also work with a television.
“Just understand, if there’s a spark, even static electricity from the carpet, you’re dead. Screaming, burned alive dead.
“A cathode ray tube can hold 300 volts of passive electrical storage, so use a hefty screwdriver across the main power supply capacitor, first. If you’re dead at this point, you didn’t use an insulated screwdriver.”
If maintenance requirement cards (MRC) read like this, maybe performing maintenance around the ship wouldn’t be such a mind-numbing ordeal, but hey, we gotta work with what we have. In any case, whether you’re an anarchistic psychopath trying to get out of work, or a well-adjusted Sailor trying to ensure the material readiness of the ship is up to standards, electrical safety is just as important.
This is where the Tag-out User Manual comes into play. The key is to know what it is, how to use it, and what inspectors will be looking out for during 3MI. After all, you wouldn’t want to end up “screaming, burned alive dead,” would you? I didn’t think so.
According to resident Project Mayhem…err Maintenance expert, Fire Controlman 1st Class Carlos Aruz, the TUM gives you the basic guidelines and rules for performing tag-outs. It also outlines the steps and procedures to do your thing.
Here are the key rules to follow when using the TUM to perform maintenance and being spot checked.
Rules of 3MI Club (TUM):
#1: Make sure your line items match.
Verify the line items (specific numbers on a breaker, for example) that apply to the equipment you’re working on and make sure they match your tag-out. Ask your work center supervisor for guidance.
#2: Make sure there’s a second checker present to perform a tag-out.
Doing a proper tag-out requires two people. The maintenance person and the verifier. That’s you and one other. 1+1=2. You get the gist.
#3: Bring all the necessary documents when you go see the authorizing officer for a tag-out.
If you get to the tag-out authorizing officer (probably the guy wearing the gray tie on Tuesdays) without the necessary documents such as diagrams or other amplifying information, you’ll waste the trip.
#4: Don’t sign the tag until its hanging on the equipment.
It’s called gun-decking. Don’t do it. First put the tag up, then sign.
#5: Document the tag-out numbers for your maintenance in the SKED check notes after your maintenance is completed.
After you’re done with your tag-out maintenance -- if you’re still alive – congratulations! Next step is to write down the numbers for the tag-out on the check notes in SKED. Talk to your work center supervisor if you have questions and make sure the numbers are there for your spot check.
And there you have it. Simple. To the point. Marla Singer-proof. Now, promise you’ll check out our next edition of 3MI club on the Hellcat News sometime next week, ok? Do you promise? Are you sure you promise? Now remember, that was three times that you promised. I’m Joe’s itching anticipation!

• Date Taken: 10.28.2017
• Date Posted: 12.29.2017 20:15
• Story ID: 260883
• Location: U.S. 7TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY