A lockout tagout checklist records that a machine or system has been isolated from every source of energy, that each isolation has a personal lock and a tag on it, and that somebody has proven it is dead before anyone puts their hands in. This one works through the isolation points one at a time, covers group lockouts and shift changes, and includes the periodic audit of the written procedure. You can fill it in here and download a finished PDF without creating an account.
Every energy source, not just the electricity
Most lockout failures are not someone forgetting the main isolator. They are the second source nobody listed: the hydraulic accumulator that holds pressure after the pump stops, the air receiver feeding a cylinder, the raised platen held up only by a valve, the steam line, the spring, the flywheel still turning.
So the isolation points here are a list, one entry per point, each with its energy type. If the written procedure lists four points and you find five on the machine, the procedure is wrong — and that is a finding in its own right.
- Electrical — mains, control circuits, capacitors, batteries, back-feed from other supplies.
- Hydraulic and pneumatic — pumps, accumulators, receivers, trapped pressure in lines.
- Mechanical and gravity — springs, flywheels, raised loads, parts that can drop or roll.
- Thermal and chemical — steam, hot fluids, process chemicals, gases in lines.
Proving dead is the step that matters
A lock on an isolator proves the isolator is locked. It does not prove the equipment is dead — the isolator may feed something else, a contact may have welded, a second supply may exist. That is why every point here asks how zero energy was proven, and whether a start was tried at the controls afterwards with everybody clear.
For electrical work, test the tester first on a known live source, test the circuit, then test the tester again. A meter that failed between the two checks would otherwise read "dead" on a live conductor.
Group lockouts and shift changes
When several people work on the same equipment, each one puts their own lock on — either on each isolation point through a multi-lock hasp, or on a group lockbox that holds the keys to the isolation locks. Nobody works under somebody else's lock.
At a shift change, the incoming worker's lock goes on before the outgoing worker's comes off. There should never be a moment when the isolation is held by nobody.
The periodic procedure audit
In the US, OSHA's lockout standard (29 CFR 1910.147) requires the written energy control procedures to be inspected at least once a year by an authorized employee other than those using the procedure being inspected, and the inspection to be certified with the equipment, the date, the people involved and the inspector. Other countries frame the duty differently but most expect the same thing in practice: someone checking that the written procedure still matches the machine and is followed.
Switch on the procedure audit section when this inspection is also that periodic check. It records what the certification needs alongside the lockout you watched.
Common questions
What is the difference between lockout and tagout?
Lockout physically prevents an energy-isolating device from being operated, with a lock only the person who fitted it can remove. Tagout is a warning tag that says not to operate it. A tag on its own is a sign, not a barrier; where a device can take a lock, it should have one, with the tag attached.
Who is allowed to remove a lock?
The person who fitted it. If they have left site, most procedures allow removal only after the employer has confirmed they are not on site, tried to contact them, and made sure they know before they next start work. Cutting a lock any other way is a serious breach.
What is a try-out?
After isolating and releasing stored energy, with everybody clear, someone presses start or operates the controls to prove nothing moves. The controls are then returned to off so the machine does not start when the locks come off.
Does every machine need its own written procedure?
In the US, yes, unless a narrow exception applies — essentially a machine with a single energy source that can be readily identified, isolated and locked, with no stored energy and no history of accidents. Most real equipment does not qualify, so most sites write one per machine or per family of identical machines.
How often should the lockout procedure be audited?
In the US, at least once a year for each energy control procedure, by an authorized person who does not use that procedure. Many sites audit more often for their highest-risk equipment.