29 CFR 1910.147 Lockout/Tagout: Steps, Training, and Penalties

OSHA’s lockout/tagout standard at 29 CFR 1910.147 requires employers whose workers service or maintain machines to control every source of hazardous energy through a written program, machine-specific procedures, a defined isolation sequence, role-based training, and yearly inspections; noncompliance can cost up to $165,514 per willful violation.¹ Hazardous energy under the rule includes electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, and thermal sources.

Who and What the Standard Covers

The rule applies to general industry workplaces whenever employees perform servicing or maintenance, meaning tasks like adjusting, cleaning, repairing, or unjamming equipment where a worker could be exposed to unexpected startup or a release of stored energy. Running a machine for its intended production purpose is outside the standard’s scope.²

The regulation places workers into three categories. Authorized employees are trained to apply and remove energy control devices and perform the maintenance. Affected employees operate the equipment or work in the area but don’t do the maintenance. Other employees are anyone else whose work brings them near an area where energy controls are in use.³

Three narrow situations sit outside the full requirements. Cord-and-plug equipment is exempt when unplugging it fully removes the energy source and the plug stays under the exclusive control of the employee doing the work. Hot tap operations on pressurized gas, steam, water, or petroleum lines are exempt when continuous service is essential, shutdown is impractical, and documented procedures with special protective equipment are in place. Minor servicing during normal production is exempt only when the task is routine, repetitive, and integral to production, and alternative measures give equivalent protection. All three conditions must be met at once for the minor servicing carve-out; a routine task that isn’t integral to production, or an integral task performed only occasionally, doesn’t qualify.²

Lockout or Tagout

OSHA treats lockout as the preferred method because a physical lock on an energy-isolating device creates a hard barrier against startup. A lockout device is a physical restraint, such as a padlock or hasp, that holds the isolating device in the off position. A tagout device is a prominent warning tag on the same point; it depends on people reading and respecting it.

Tagout alone is permitted only when the employer can demonstrate that the tagout program provides safety equivalent to a full lockout program. That means full compliance with every tagout provision in the standard plus additional safeguards, such as removing a circuit element, blocking a controlling switch, opening an extra disconnect, or removing a valve handle.² Where an energy-isolating device cannot accept a lock, tagout with supplemental safeguards is the only option.

The Written Energy Control Program

Every covered employer must develop a written energy control program. The document identifies every energy source for each piece of equipment, sets out the isolation methods, and describes the procedures employees must follow before starting maintenance work.²

Machine-specific procedures sit at the heart of the program. For each piece of equipment, the procedure identifies the type and magnitude of energy present, the location of every energy-isolating device, and the step-by-step method for reaching a zero-energy state. Lockout and tagout devices must be durable enough for the environment, standardized in color, shape, or size across the facility, and substantial enough that they can’t be casually removed by hand. When equipment changes, new machines are installed, or energy sources are modified, the program must be updated to match.

Six Steps to Isolate Hazardous Energy

The standard sets a specific sequence for applying energy controls.⁴

Prepare for shutdown. The authorized employee identifies the type and magnitude of energy the machine uses and determines how to control it, before touching a switch.
Shut down the machine using the normal stopping procedure, so the shutdown itself doesn’t create new hazards.
Isolate the energy source. Every energy-isolating device, such as a circuit breaker, valve, or disconnect, is moved to the off or safe position.
Apply lockout or tagout devices. Locks, tags, or both are attached to each isolating device so it cannot be moved back to on.
Release stored energy. Residual or stored energy, such as hydraulic pressure, spring tension, or a capacitor charge, is dissipated, drained, or physically restrained.
Verify isolation. The authorized employee tests the operating controls to confirm the machine cannot start.

Stored energy is the hazard that catches experienced workers. A machine can be fully disconnected from its power source and still injure someone if a compressed spring releases or a pressurized line vents. If stored energy can reaccumulate after being dissipated, the employer must ensure continuous monitoring or repeated verification until the work is complete.²

Restoring the Equipment

Bringing a machine back online is its own controlled sequence.⁵ Inspect the machine and its surroundings to confirm tools and parts have been removed. Verify that every employee is positioned safely away or has been notified to move clear. Have each lockout or tagout device removed by the same authorized employee who applied it. Notify all affected personnel before restoring energy.

The rule that only the person who applied a lock may remove it is a fundamental protection: it prevents anyone from removing another worker’s lock while that worker is still inside a machine. The standard allows one exception. When the authorized employee who applied the device is not available, the employer may remove it, but only under a documented procedure that includes verifying the employee is not at the facility, making every reasonable effort to contact that employee to inform them the lock was removed, and ensuring the employee has that knowledge before returning to work.²

Group Work and Shift Changes

When a crew or multiple departments work on the same equipment, group lockout/tagout procedures must give each worker the same protection as an individual lock.⁶ One authorized employee takes primary responsibility for a set number of workers under the group device. That primary authorized employee must be able to determine the exposure status of each group member at all times. When more than one crew is involved, a single authorized employee coordinates all affected groups. Every authorized employee in the group attaches a personal lock to the group lockout device, lockbox, or similar mechanism when starting work and removes it when finished.

A typical setup uses a lockbox: the primary authorized employee places the main key inside, and each worker attaches a personal padlock to the box, so no one can reach the main key until every individual lock is off. OSHA has clarified that the lockbox does not need to be in the same room as the energy-isolating device or permanently mounted. When the primary authorized employee verifies isolation, other group members are not required to verify it themselves, but each worker must be informed of the right to do so and allowed to verify if they choose.⁷

Shift changes require written procedures that transfer lockout/tagout protection between outgoing and incoming employees without any gap.²

Contractors on Site

When an outside contractor performs work covered by the standard, host and contractor share obligations. The two employers must inform each other of their respective energy control procedures before work starts. The host must also make sure its own employees understand and follow the contractor’s energy control restrictions while the contractor is on-site.⁶ Neither party can rely on the other’s procedures by default; the exchange has to happen.

Training by Worker Role

Training tracks the three worker categories.⁸ Authorized employees must recognize every applicable hazardous energy source in the workplace, understand the type and magnitude involved, and know the methods for isolating and controlling it. Affected employees must understand the purpose of the energy control program and the danger of trying to restart equipment that is locked or tagged. Other employees must be instructed not to remove, tamper with, or bypass any lockout or tagout device.

Where tagout is used, training must address the limits of a tag: it can be ignored, removed, or overlooked in ways a lock cannot.³ Retraining is required when job assignments change, new machines are introduced, processes change in ways that create new hazards, or a periodic inspection reveals a procedure isn’t being followed correctly. The employer must certify that training and retraining have been completed and keep those records available for OSHA review.²

Annual Periodic Inspections

At least once a year, the employer must inspect each energy control procedure in use at the facility. The inspection must be performed by an authorized employee who is not currently using the specific procedure being reviewed.²

The inspection checks whether the written procedure still matches the equipment and reviews each authorized employee’s responsibilities with that employee directly. The employer must certify each inspection, identifying the equipment, the date, the employees involved, and the person who performed the inspection. When a review uncovers an outdated procedure or unsafe shortcuts, the employer is expected to correct the deficiency and retrain as needed.

Penalties

OSHA adjusts penalty amounts annually for inflation. Under the adjustment effective January 15, 2025, a serious or other-than-serious violation carries a maximum penalty of $16,550, and a willful or repeated violation carries a maximum of $165,514.¹

Each piece of equipment without a proper energy control procedure can be cited as a separate violation. A facility with twenty machines and no written procedures faces twenty citations, not one. Willful violations, where the employer knew about the requirement and consciously ignored it, carry the steepest penalties and are more likely to trigger follow-up inspections.

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Lockout-Tagout – Tutorial – Application of Energy Control
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Lockout-Tagout eTool – Release From Lockout/Tagout
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Group Lockout/Tagout
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Lockout-Tagout – Tutorial – Employee Training and Communication