Energize Your Lockout/Tagout Plan

Failing to follow lockout/tagout rules can get you in trouble with OSHA, but it can also be
fatal.
When OSHA compliance officers inspect a facility, they examine its lockout/tagout program,
and last year the organization issued almost 4,000 citations for lockout/tagout violations,
with fines totaling almost $7.7 million.

Lockout/tagout regulations can minimize or prevent electrical workplace injuries, but only
if they're applied properly. If you perform maintenance work of any kind, you may need to
comply with the control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) regulations in 29 CFR
1910.147 and 29 CFR 1910.333(b)(2).
Following these rules isn't just good safety
practice, it's the law.

Are you covered?

OSHA lockout/tagout standards apply to
maintenance work that exposes employees
to energy hazards. Generally, you should
use lockout/tagout procedures to prevent
injury from energized equipment. But
more specifically, use them if you:

Remove or bypass equipment guards or other safety devices, creating exposure

hazards at the point of operation.

Place any part of your body in contact with the point of operation.

Place any part of your body in the danger zone of a machine's operating cycle.

Might contact parts of fixed electrical equipment or circuits. Shutting them off isn't
enough to protect you.

What should an employer do to protect workers from these hazards? The standard requires
employers to develop a written program that includes the following three elements:

Energy control procedures to document what authorized employees must know. If

similar equipment uses the same procedures, you may use a single energy control
procedure. Otherwise, develop separate procedures for each type of equipment.

Training and retraining employees so they understand the procedures.

Periodic inspections to ensure employees follow procedures.

Energy control procedures.

Your lockout procedures should follow these steps:

Prepare.
Before shutting off equipment, the authorized employee who will perform service or
maintenance must know and understand the procedures for that equipment.

Shutdown.
Turn off the equipment using established procedures to avoid hazards from unexpected or
unplanned stops.

Isolate.
Locate all energy-isolating devices, and isolate the equipment from its energy source(s).

Apply locks and tags.

Each authorized employee should add a personal lock. When more than one authorized
employee performs work, use a lockout device that can hold several locks at once. If an
electrical hazard isolation device will not accept a lock, you can't use just a tag; you must
add an additional safety measure that provides protection equal to a lock. Examples include
removing an isolating circuit element, blocking a controlling switch, or opening an extra
disconnecting device.

Release stored energy.

After lockout or tagout, release all potentially hazardous stored or residual energy.

Verify.

Before work begins, verify proper isolation. For electrical hazards, use electrical test
equipment to verify that the circuits and electrical parts are de-energized. To ensure
electrical equipment has been de-energized, you must meet and be trained on all
qualified person requirements, as outlined in 29 CFR 1910 Subpart S, Electrical.
If lockout work continues to the next shift, either maintain continuous control of the energyisolating devices or require the oncoming shift to verify de-energization and lockout/tagout.
In general, if equipment is locked out at shift change, incoming employees should apply
their locks before the outgoing employee removes his.
After finishing your work, follow these steps for removing devices and restoring energy:

Inspect the work area.

Remove tools and other items, and make sure all components are intact and operating
properly.

Check the area.

Remove or safely position all employees.

Remove locks and tags.

The authorized employee who applied the lock or tag should remove the device (see Who
Can Remove a Lock or Tag? above).

Notify all affected employees.

Inform other employees that locks or tags have been removed before starting the
equipment.
If you work with outside contractors, inform them of your procedures. They must also
understand the meaning of locks or tags they encounter. If you're a contractor, inform your
customer of your procedures and offer to provide training so the customer doesn't remove
locks or tags. Both parties should understand and comply with all restrictions of each
other's energy control program.

Training and retraining.

Do you know your responsibilities? The amount of training you need depends on your job
duties. If you're in charge, it's your responsibility to make sure your employees are up to

speed. Authorized employees need to recognize hazardous energy sources, understand the
type and magnitude of the energy available in the workplace, and know the methods for
energy isolation and control. Affected employees should understand the purpose and use of
the procedures and be familiar with the equipment, types of energy, and hazards specific to
the workplace. Other employees should be familiar with the procedures and trained not to
restart equipment that is locked out or tagged out.
Employees shouldn't tamper with lockout/tagout devices, or attempt to energize or operate
locked out equipment unless authorized.
The lockout/tagout standard requires you to provide retraining if:

An employee changes job assignments.

Machine, equipment, or process changes present a new hazard.

Energy control procedures change.

A periodic inspection gives a supervisor reason to believe an employee's knowledge

or use of the energy control procedures aren't adequate.
You must certify that all of your employees covered by the standard have received training.
Be sure to include each employee's name and the dates of training in the certification.

Periodic inspections.
Why should you schedule periodic inspections? Employees must follow procedures and
know their responsibilities. Inspections should also identify any problems that require
correction. The lockout/tagout standard requires these inspections at least once a year.
Inspections for lockout procedures should include a review of each authorized employee's
responsibilities. Inspections of tagout procedures should include a review on the limitations
of tags with each affected and authorized employee.
Certify each audit by identifying the equipment, inspection date, employees involved, and
person performing the inspection.

Safety is your responsibility.

OSHA standards provide the minimum requirements for protecting employees. As an
employer, you're responsible for developing an adequate program. But is it enough to just

protect your employees adequately? Take the time to institute a comprehensive

lockout/tagout program and make sure your employees are well trained in the procedures.
Not only will you avoid penalties from OSHA, but you'll also have the satisfaction of
maintaining a safer work environment.
Zalewski is a technical editor with J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

Sidebar: Who Can Remove a Lock or Tag?

What if the authorized employee who applied the lock or tag is not available to remove it? In
this case, the device may be removed under the direction of the employer if specific
procedures and training for such removal have been developed, documented, and
incorporated into the energy control program. The employer must:

Verify that the authorized employee who applied the device is not at the facility.

Make all reasonable efforts to contact the authorized employee before removing the
device.

Make sure the authorized employee knows the device was removed before he or she
resumes work.

Control of Hazardous Energy

(Lockout/Tagout)

Standards

Lockout/Tagout Concepts

Lockout/Tagout Program

Other Resources
Safety and Health Topics

What is hazardous energy?

Energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, or
other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing
and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored
energy can result in serious injury or death to workers.

What are the harmful effects of hazardous energy?

Workers servicing or maintaining machines or equipment may be seriously injured or killed if
hazardous energy is not properly controlled. Injuries resulting from the failure to control
hazardous energy during maintenance activities can be serious or fatal! Injuries may include
electrocution, burns, crushing, cutting, lacerating, amputating, or fracturing body parts, and
others.

A steam valve is automatically turned on burning workers who are repairing a

downstream connection in the piping.

A jammed conveyor system suddenly releases, crushing a worker who is trying to

clear the jam.

Internal wiring on a piece of factory equipment electrically shorts, shocking worker

who is repairing the equipment.

Craft workers, electricians, machine operators, and laborers are among the 3 million workers
who service equipment routinely and face the greatest risk of injury. Workers injured on the
job from exposure to hazardous energy lose an average of 24 workdays for recuperation.

What can be done to control hazardous energy?

Failure to control hazardous energy accounts for nearly 10 percent of the serious accidents
in many industries. Proper lockout/tagout (LOTO) practices and procedures safeguard
workers from hazardous energy releases. OSHA's Lockout/TagoutFact Sheet* describes the
practices and procedures necessary to disable machinery or equipment to prevent
hazardous energy release. The OSHA standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy
(Lockout/Tagout) (29 CFR 1910.147) for general industry outlines measures for controlling
different types of hazardous energy. The LOTO standard establishes the employer's
responsibility to protect workers from hazardous energy. Employers are also required to train
each worker to ensure that they know, understand, and are able to follow the applicable
provisions of the hazardous energy control procedures:

Proper lockout/tagout (LOTO) practices and procedures safeguard workers from the
release of hazardous energy. The OSHA standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy
(Lockout/Tagout) (29 CFR 1910.147) for general industry, outlines specific action and

procedures for addressing and controlling hazardous energy during servicing and
maintenance of machines and equipment. Employers are also required to train each
worker to ensure that they know, understand, and are able to follow the applicable
provisions of the hazardous energy control procedures. Workers must be trained in the
purpose and function of the energy control program and have the knowledge and skills
required for the safe application, usage and removal of the energy control devices.

All employees who work in an area where energy control procedure(s) are utilized
need to be instructed in the purpose and use of the energy control procedure(s),
especially prohibition against attempting to restart or reenergize machines or other
equipment that are locked or tagged out.

All employees who are authorized to lockout machines or equipment and perform the
service and maintenance operations need to be trained in recognition of applicable
hazardous energy sources in the workplace, the type and magnitude of energy found in
the workplace, and the means and methods of isolating and/or controlling the energy.

Specific procedures and limitations relating to tagout systems where they are
allowed.

Retraining of all employees to maintain proficiency or introduce new or changed

control methods.

OSHA's Lockout/Tagout Fact Sheet* describes the practices and procedures necessary to
disable machinery or equipment to prevent the release of hazardous energy.
The control of hazardous energy is also addressed in a number of other OSHA standards,
including Marine Terminals (1917 Subpart C), Safety and Health Regulations for Longshoring
(1918 Subpart G), Safety and Health Regulations for Construction; Electrical (1926 Subpart
K), Concrete and Masonry Construction (1926 Subpart Q), Electric Power Transmission and
Distribution (1926 Subpart V), and General Industry; Electrical (1910 Subpart S), Special
Industries (1910 Subpart R), and Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution
(1910.269).

Lockout/Tagout FAQs
Whats the regulation again?

1910.147

What kind of energy sources must be controlled?

All sources of hazardous energy must be controlled. This includes:

Electrical

Mechanical

Hydraulic

Pneumatic

Chemical

Thermal

Other energy sources

Are there also requirements to protect employees working on electrical circuits and
equipment?

Yes, 1910.333 includes requirements when employees are working on electrical circuits
and equipment.
The section requires that these workers follow safe work practices, which includes
using proper lockout/tagout procedures. These requirements are in effect anytime an
employee is exposed to electrical hazards when working on, near, or with conductors
or systems that use electric energy.

Why is it important to control hazardous energy sources?

Ultimately, for the same reason its important to follow all safety/health regulations:
people can get hurt if youre not.
According to an OSHA Fact Sheet, complying with the lockout/tagout standard saves
120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries every year. And those injured workers would have
spent an average of 24 days out of work recovering. So there are plenty of good
reasons to do this.

What can/must an employer do to keep employees protected and safe from hazardous
energy sources?
As an employer, you should:

Develop, document, implement, and enforce energy control procedures

Have lockout/tagout devices that are specifically intended for use with particular equipment
and machinery

Make sure those lockout/tagout devices are effective, standardized, durable, and substantial.

Make sure lockout devices correctly identify individual users

Use lockout devices on all equipment that can be locked out

Allow employees to use tagout devices instead of lockout devices only if the energy control
program provides employee protection thats equal to or better than the protection a
lockout device would provide

Develop a tagout policy if machines and equipment cant be locked out

Develop a policy that allows only the employee who installed a lockout device to remove it

Inspect your energy control procedures at least annually

Provide effective lockout/tagout training to your employees

Ensure that all new or overhauled equipment can be locked out

Comply with all other energy control provisions in OSHA standards when machines or
equipment must be tested or repositioned, or when outside contractors work at the site, or
in group lockout situations, or during shift and personnel changes

What do employees have to know?

Your training must ensure that employees (1) know, (2) understand, and (3) follow the
applicable provisions of the hazardous energy control procedures.

he training must cover (at least):

Aspects of your energy control program

Elements of the energy control procedure relevant to each employees duties or assignment

The various requirements of the OSHA standards related to lockout/tagout

Total citations- 3,308, a little more than the

previous years 3,117. Notice this is the first
standard on the list that saw an increase in
citations instead of a decrease.
Ranking in previous year- #6 (one lower than this
year, meaning this crawled up a notch on the list
this year)
Top five sections cited1910.147(c)(4)(i) Establishing and training
employees on energy control procedures, 627
citations
1910.147(c)(1) Energy control program, 445
citations
1910.147(c)(6)(i) Annual periodic inspection of
energy control procedure, 424 citations
1910.147(c)(7)(i) Employee training on purpose
and function of energy control program, 277
violations
1910.147(d)(4)(i) Lockout or tagout device
application, 197 violations n

Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) 3,308 violations in fiscal year 2015

Lockout/Tagout had the most violations of any electrical category. At number

5 on the Most Frequently Cited Standards list, LOTO violations are proof
positive that many facilities still do not prioritize employee safety training as
much as they should.
Examples:
Employer not providing lockout/tagout hardware for isolating machines from

their energy sources. [1910.147(c)(5)(i)]

Procedures not developed and used to control potentially hazardous energy.

[29 CFR 1910.147(c)(4)(i)]

Employees not trained to understand the companys energy control program,

and to recognize hazardous energy sources. [1910.147(c)(7)(i) and 1910.147(c)(7)

(i)(A)]

Case in Point: A temporary maintenance worker at International Paper

Company in Madison, Wisconsin, made contact with energized electrical
equipment while cleaning around a printing and die-cutting machine in
September 2014. The burns he received from that contact put him in the
hospital, and he was unable to work again for over four months. OSHA found
that the company had failed to train its workers in energy control
procedures. In fact, this was a repeat violation for the company.

LOTO failures result in $9+ million in fines

Fab metal manufacturing tops OSHAs hit list

Benita Mehta
April 1, 2016
http://www.ishn.com/topics/2731-top-osha-violations
No Comments
Lockout/tagout (29 CFR 1910.147) was the fifth most frequently cited OSHA
violation during the period October 2014 to September 2015. There were 3,350
citations reported across all industries during that time with $9,686,894 in
penalties.