OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147: Lockout/Tagout Steps and Penalties

OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.147 lockout/tagout standard requires employers to establish a written energy control program that protects workers from unexpected startup or release of stored energy during machine servicing and maintenance. Compliance rests on three things: a machine-specific written procedure for each piece of equipment, trained authorized and affected employees, and an annual inspection of each procedure. The standard covers electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal, and gravitational energy, and it consistently ranks among OSHA’s five most frequently cited standards.¹

What the Standard Requires

Every covered employer must build an energy control program on three components. Missing any one of them is enough for a citation.²

Written Procedures for Each Machine

A separate, documented procedure has to exist for each piece of equipment that needs energy isolation. Each procedure spells out how to shut the machine down, isolate it from every energy source, apply lockout or tagout devices, and verify that isolation is complete.³ A single generic document covering an entire facility does not satisfy the rule. If one machine has three energy sources and the next has five, each needs its own written procedure listing its specific isolation points.

Training by Employee Category

The standard sorts workers into three groups and gives each a different training obligation.

Authorized employees perform the lockout and do the maintenance. They get the most detailed training on recognizing hazardous energy, applying locks and tags, and verifying isolation.
Affected employees operate the machines that will be locked out. They must understand why the equipment is down and that they cannot try to restart it.
Other employees working in the area must know that locked or tagged equipment is off-limits and that tampering is prohibited.

Training is not one-and-done. Retraining is required when a worker changes jobs, when machines or processes change in ways that create new hazards, when procedures are revised, or when a periodic inspection reveals that an employee’s knowledge or practice has slipped.⁴ The employer must certify each employee’s training with a name and date.

Annual Inspections

At least once a year, the employer has to inspect each energy control procedure to confirm it is still being followed correctly and still fits the equipment.² The inspector must be an authorized employee who is not currently using the procedure being reviewed. Each inspection is certified in writing, identifying the machine, the date, the employees included, and the person who conducted it.⁵

Who and What Is Covered

The standard applies to servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment where unexpected energization, startup, or release of stored energy could injure a worker. Normal production work also falls under it if the employee has to remove or bypass a guard, or put a body part into the machine’s point of operation.⁶

Several sectors and situations are outside 1910.147 and follow different rules:

Construction and agriculture have their own energy control requirements.
Shipyard, marine terminal, and longshoring operations covered under 29 CFR parts 1915, 1917, and 1918 are excluded.
Installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities for power generation, transmission, and distribution are excluded.
Exposure to electrical hazards from work on or near conductors and equipment in electrical-utilization installations is covered by OSHA’s Subpart S electrical standards instead.
Oil and gas well drilling and servicing are excluded.

Two task-level exemptions also matter. Cord-and-plug equipment does not require formal lockout as long as the worker unplugs it and keeps the plug under their exclusive control. Hot tap work on pressurized pipelines carrying gas, steam, water, or petroleum products is exempt, but only when the employer can show that service continuity is essential, shutdown is impractical, and documented procedures with special protective equipment are in place.⁷ Minor tool changes and adjustments during normal production are excluded when they are routine, repetitive, and covered by alternative measures that are equally effective.

The Lockout Sequence Workers Must Follow

Authorized employees have to follow the same sequence every time. The order matters, and skipping verification is one of the leading reasons workers get hurt during servicing.

1. Prepare and Notify

Before touching anything, the authorized employee identifies every energy source connected to the machine: primary electrical circuits, hydraulic and pneumatic lines, springs, elevated components, and anything else that stores or transmits energy. Voltage, pressure ratings, and source type drive the choice of isolation method and hardware. This information comes from the machine’s technical manual and the facility’s written procedure for that specific piece of equipment. The worker then notifies all affected employees that the machine is going down.

2. Shut Down and Isolate

The machine is shut down using the manufacturer’s recommended sequence. Once it stops, the worker physically isolates it from every energy source by opening disconnects, closing valves, or disconnecting lines.

3. Apply Locks or Tags

Lockout or tagout devices go on immediately, preventing anyone from returning the isolation point to the “on” position.⁸

4. Release Stored and Residual Energy

Isolation alone is not enough. After the locks go on, the worker has to address any energy still trapped in the system: vent pressure from pneumatic and hydraulic lines, discharge capacitors, release spring tension, and block or brace components that could fall under gravity.⁹ If stored energy could reaccumulate to a dangerous level during the work, the employee has to keep verifying isolation throughout the job.¹⁰

5. Verify Zero Energy

Before any physical contact with internal components, the worker attempts to restart the machine using the normal operating controls. Nothing should happen. That “try” step confirms the machine is in a true zero-energy state.

6. Restore Equipment to Service

When the work is done, the authorized employee removes tools and materials, reinstalls guards, and confirms all workers are clear. Every affected employee is notified before the locks come off. The person who applied each lock or tag is the only one authorized to remove it.¹¹

Locks, Tags, and When Tagout Is Allowed

Locks, tags, and other hardware have to be durable enough for the workplace conditions they’ll see, whether that’s corrosive chemicals, moisture, or temperature extremes. They must be standardized within the facility by color, shape, or size so any worker can immediately recognize them as energy control devices, and each device must identify the specific employee who applied it. Using them for any purpose other than energy control violates the standard.¹²

Locks have to be substantial enough that removing them takes unusual force or tools like bolt cutters. Tag attachment means must be non-reusable, hand-attachable, self-locking, and capable of withstanding at least 50 pounds of force.¹³ Employers also have to provide chains, wedges, key blocks, adapter pins, and self-locking fasteners for blocking parts that could move under gravity or residual pressure.

Lockout is the preferred method. If an energy isolating device is capable of being locked out, the employer must use lockout unless it can demonstrate that a tagout system will provide equivalent protection.⁵ When equipment genuinely cannot accept a lock, tagout is used along with an additional measure that compensates for the tag’s inability to physically prevent energization: removing an isolating circuit element, blocking a controlling switch, opening an extra disconnecting device, or removing a valve handle.¹⁴

Since January 2, 1990, any time a machine undergoes replacement, major repair, renovation, or modification, the energy isolating devices on that machine must be designed to accept a lockout device. The same rule applies to newly installed equipment.⁵

Group Lockout, Shift Changes, and Contractors

When more than one worker services the same machine, the employer uses a group lockout procedure that gives each person the same protection they would have with their own personal lock. A primary authorized employee takes overall responsibility, coordinating the initial lockout and managing lock removal.¹⁵ Typically each worker attaches a personal lock to a group lockout device such as a multi-lock hasp, and the primary lock cannot come off until every individual lock is off. When multiple crews or trades are involved, one authorized employee has to coordinate across all of them.

Lockout protection cannot lapse at shift change. The standard requires specific procedures for orderly transfer of protection between outgoing and incoming workers, with no unprotected moment in between.¹⁶ The usual approach is for the incoming worker to apply their lock before the outgoing worker removes theirs.

When outside contractors do covered maintenance, the host employer and the contractor must share their respective lockout/tagout procedures with each other. The host is also responsible for making sure its own employees understand and follow any restrictions in the contractor’s program.¹⁷

Emergency Lock Removal

If an authorized employee leaves the facility with their lock still on a machine, the employer cannot just cut it off. Removal is only allowed under a documented procedure that requires three specific steps:

Verify the authorized employee is not at the facility.
Make all reasonable efforts to reach the employee and inform them the lock has been removed.
Ensure the employee knows the lock was removed before they return to work at the facility.

The procedure must be developed, documented, and built into the energy control program before it is ever needed.¹⁸ Cutting a lock without following those steps is treated the same as any other violation.

Penalties for Noncompliance

OSHA adjusts civil penalties each January for inflation. As of 2025, the maximum penalty for a serious violation is $16,550, and willful or repeated violations can reach $165,514 per instance. Serious violations carry a minimum penalty of $1,221.¹⁹

In practice, the line between a serious citation and a willful one often comes down to documentation. A facility that has written procedures but failed to update them after a machine modification will usually face a serious citation. A facility that never created written procedures, or that was previously cited for the same deficiency and did nothing, is looking at a willful or repeated citation at roughly ten times the cost. Inspectors know where to look: missing procedures, outdated training records, inspections that were never conducted, and locks that are not standardized.²⁰

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Energy Control Program
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Energy Control Procedure
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Training and Communication
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Energy Control Program
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Scope, Application and Purpose
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Scope, Application and Purpose
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Application of Control
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Stored Energy
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Stored Energy
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Release from Lockout or Tagout
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Protective Materials and Hardware
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Protective Materials and Hardware
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eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Full Employee Protection
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Group Lockout or Tagout
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Shift or Personnel Changes
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Outside Personnel
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.147 – The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – Section: Release from Lockout or Tagout
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 2025 Annual Adjustments to OSHA Civil Penalties