For authorized employees who lock and tag out machines in general industry: when the standard applies, the six-step application sequence, tags and their limits, safe release, group and shift-change lockout, and the annual periodic inspection.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147 (general industry) · about 7 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (25 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
An authorized employee is a person who locks out or tags out machines or equipment in order to service or maintain them. The standard applies to controlling energy during servicing and maintenance. That includes lubrication, cleaning, unjamming, adjustments and tool changes where you may be exposed to unexpected startup or release of hazardous energy.
During normal production
Normal production operations are not covered. Servicing during production is covered if you must:
Remove or bypass a guard or other safety device, or
Put any part of your body into the point of operation or an associated danger zone during a machine operating cycle
Narrow exceptions: 1. Minor tool changes, adjustments and other minor servicing during normal production are not covered if they are routine, repetitive, and integral to using the equipment for production, and the work is done using alternative measures that provide effective protection. 2. Cord-and-plug equipment is not covered when unplugging it controls the hazard and the plug is under your exclusive control while you work. 3. Hot tap operations on pressurized pipelines carrying gas, steam, water or petroleum products are not covered when the employer demonstrates that continuity of service is essential, shutdown is impractical, and documented procedures and special equipment giving proven effective protection are used.
Outside this standard entirely: construction and agriculture employment; maritime employment covered by 29 CFR parts 1915, 1917 and 1918; installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities for power generation, transmission and distribution; exposure to electrical hazards from work on electric-utilization installations, which Subpart S covers; and oil and gas well drilling and servicing.
Your employer must train you so that the purpose and function of its energy control program are understood.
Before you start, affected employees must be notified (by the employer or the authorized employee) before the controls are applied. Then the procedure is done in this sequence:
Prepare. Know the type and magnitude of the energy, its hazards, and how to control it.
Shut down. Turn the machine off using its established procedure, in an orderly way that does not create added hazards.
Isolate. Locate and operate every energy isolating device needed to isolate the machine from its energy sources.
Apply devices. Affix a lockout or tagout device to each energy isolating device.
Control stored energy. Relieve, disconnect, restrain or otherwise make safe all potentially hazardous stored or residual energy. If it could build back up to a hazardous level, keep verifying isolation until the work is done or that possibility is gone.
Verify. Before starting work, verify that isolation and deenergization have been accomplished.
Watch out: push buttons, selector switches and other control circuit devices are not energy isolating devices. A lock on a stop button does not isolate the machine.
Lockout or tagout is performed only by the authorized employees who are performing the servicing or maintenance. Nobody locks out for you.
Your lockout and tagout devices must show your identity.
Tags must warn against hazardous conditions and carry a legend such as Do Not Start, Do Not Open, Do Not Close, Do Not Energize, Do Not Operate.
If a tag is used on a device that can be locked, fasten it at the same point the lock would go. If a tag cannot go directly on the device, place it as close as safely possible, where anyone trying to operate the device will see it immediately.
Limits of tags
Warning onlyTags are warning devices. They do not physically restrain the device the way a lock does.
Never defeatedA tag is not removed without authorization of the person responsible for it, and is never bypassed, ignored or otherwise defeated.
False securityTags can give a false sense of security. Their meaning must be understood as part of the whole program.
Machine: inspect the work area so nonessential items are removed and components are operationally intact.
People: check that all employees are safely positioned or removed.
Remove: each device is removed by the employee who applied it.
Notify: after devices are removed and before the machine is started, affected employees are told.
One exception: if the person who applied a device is not available, it may be removed under the direction of the employer, but only under a specific, documented procedure with training. That procedure includes verifying the person is not at the facility, making all reasonable efforts to contact them, and making sure they know before they resume work there.
Testing or positioning
If devices must come off temporarily to energize and test or position the machine, follow this order: clear tools and materials, remove employees from the area, remove the devices, energize and test or position, then deenergize and reapply energy control to continue the work.
When a crew or other group services a machine, the group procedure must protect each worker as well as a personal lock would. Primary responsibility goes to one authorized employee for a set number of workers under the group device.
Your part: put your own personal lock or tag on the group lockout device, group lockbox or similar mechanism when you begin work, and remove it when you stop working on that machine.
Shift and personnel changes
Specific procedures must keep lockout or tagout protection continuous during shift or personnel changes, including an orderly transfer of protection between off-going and oncoming employees.
Your employer must inspect each energy control procedure at least annually to make sure it and the standard are being followed.
The inspector is an authorized employee other than the one(s) using the procedure being inspected. If you are an authorized employee who does not use that procedure, that may be you.
Lockout: the inspector reviews with each authorized employee that employee's responsibilities under the procedure.
Tagout: the review includes each authorized and affected employee, plus the limits of tags.
The employer certifies the inspection, recording the machine, the date, the employees included and the inspector.
When you will be retrained
A change in your job assignment
A change in machines, equipment or processes that presents a new hazard
A change in the energy control procedures
An inspection reveals, or the employer has reason to believe, there are gaps in your knowledge or use of the procedures
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147. It is not an OSHA card or license, it does not authorize anyone to perform lockout or tagout, and it does not by itself meet the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(7). Your employer must still train you so that you understand the purpose and function of its energy control program and acquire the knowledge and skills for the safe application, usage and removal of energy controls, including the recognition of applicable hazardous energy sources, the type and magnitude of the energy available in your workplace, and the methods and means necessary for energy isolation and control. Your employer must also retrain you when 1910.147(c)(7)(iii) requires it and certify that your training has been accomplished and is being kept up to date.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.