Lockout/Tagout compliance

Comply with safety regulations using LoTo

Lockout/Tagout padlocks and devices enable compliance with many safety regulations, when they are used in combination with machine-specific procedures and a governing policy.

Developed for compliance with evolving US OSHA and EU regulations, our quality Lockout/Tagout - or Lockout/Tagout/Tryout (LoToTo) - solutions enable safer maintenance operations by isolating machines from their energy supply while interventions are ongoing.

Lockout/Tagout best practice standards

European and national norms provide standardised guidance on how to effectively set up Lockout/Tagout programmes. Created by industry expert users, these standards offer practical implementation insights. They provide the more technical ‘how to’ for safety legislation.

EN 17975 Maintenance - Risk control processes of energies and fluids risks in maintenance activities - Guidance provides guidelines to ensure the health & safety of workers during maintenance operations involving hazardous energies and fluids. The standard defines categories of risk with matching Lockout/Tagout intensity, based on company risk assessments.

EN 17975 is the first, unified European standard that codifies hazardous energy control methodologies, replacing an older, fragmented collection of national norms.

Key takeaways:

• HOT approach: Safety is not just about a padlock. It is Human, Organisational, and Technical.
• 5 Safety Levels: Scaling from "Simple Isolation" to "Reinforced Isolation" and “Neutralisation”, the standard offers several degrees of Lockout/Tagout in relation to a company’s risk assessment.
• Identification: Clear identification of all energy sources is a core requirement for EN 17 975 compliant LOTO processes. For a lockout procedure to be safe, it is paramount that all relevant energy sources have been mapped, so that they can be locked out.

EN ISO 14118 Safety of machinery related to the equipment’s safety, the standard defines the measures regarding the energy isolation of machinery and the power dissipation to keep hazardous equipment from re-energising. It assures a safe and secure intervention within a risk-prone area. Introduces verification of isolation, leading to the LoToTo abbreviation (Lockout/Tagout/Tryout) as the verification has become the most critical failure point.

BS 7671 IET Wiring Regulations British Standard for the design, installation, and verification of electrical systems. Chapter 46 (Isolation and Switching) and Section 537 (Devices for Isolation and Switching) provide technical specifications for the hardware and procedures necessary to achieve a secure disconnection as required by law. The regulations emphasise that simply switching off a piece of equipment is not equivalent to isolation.

Lockout/Tagout regulatory compliance

Widely used in Europe to secure maintenance operations, Lockout/Tagout enables compliance with EU and member state legislation, as well as safety legislation in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Some of the most impactful legislation includes:

EUROPEAN UNION

Directive 2009/104/EC specifies minimum requirements for the protection of workers using work equipment at work.

• Paragraph 2.14 mentions that “every piece of equipment must be fitted with clearly visible devices with which it can be separated from every energy source”.
• Paragraph 2.15. states “work equipment must bear the warnings and markings essential to ensure the safety of workers”.

Directive 2006/42/EC, known as the Machinery Directive, creates the technical environment in which LoTo programmes can be successfully implemented. The directive requires machine manufacturers to integrate physical means of energy isolation and to provide detailed instructions for safe maintenance. Directive 2006/42/EC remains in place until January 20, 2027, when it will be succeeded by (EU) 2023/1230 New Machinery Regulation that includes more stringent digital safety requirements, including safety control system cybersecurity.

• Section 1.6.3 stipulates that machinery must be fitted with means to isolate it from all energy sources. The directive defines "isolation" as a physical separation from the power supply, which must be distinguished from a mere "stop" command through the control system.

AUSTRIA

AschG – ArbeitnehmerInnenschutzgesetz – Federal Act on Occupational Health and Safety

AM-VO – Arbeitsmittelverordnung (Ordinance on Work Equipment and Tools) – Regulation of the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Labour on protection of employees while using work equipment paragraph 1, §17 (1).

FRANCE

Code du Travail

• Article L. 4121-1 requires employers to take all measures necessary to ensure the safety and protect the physical and mental health of workers. This obligation includes the implementation of preventive actions, information and training programs, and the provision of appropriate organizational structures.
• Article L. 4121-3 mandates a comprehensive risk assessment, documented in the Document Unique d’Évaluation des Risques Professionnels (DUERP). The cornerstone of any LoTo programme, the DUERP must identify all hazardous energy sources—electrical, mechanical, fluidic, thermal, and chemical—and define the procedures required to neutralize them during maintenance.
• Article R. 4321-1: Mandates that work equipment and protective means must be equipped, installed, used, adjusted, and maintained to preserve the safety and health of workers.
• Article R. 4323-15: Establishes the principle that maintenance operations must be carried out when the equipment is at a standstill. It clarifies that consignation is the mandatory method for ensuring this standstill is maintained.
• Articles R. 4323-14 to R. 4323-18: These articles govern the conditions under which maintenance and modification of equipment must occur. If an operation must be performed while the machine is running (for diagnostic or adjustment purposes), the employer must draft a specific "instruction" and ensure that the work is performed by specialized personnel using compensatory safety measures.
• Article R. 4544-5: Specifically addresses electrical risks, stating that work performed "hors tension" (de-energised) must be carried out under a formal lockout (consignation) procedure.

The above are further refined by two critical decrees:

• Decree 92-767 (July 29, 1992): This decree set the technical rules for new equipment installed after January 1, 1993. It requires that machines be designed with built-in energy isolation devices that can be locked in the safe position.
• Decree 93-40 (January 11, 1993): This decree applied to equipment already in service before 1993, mandating that employers retrofit or upgrade such machinery to meet minimum safety requirements for energy isolation.

GERMANY

BetrSichV 2015 (Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health) Ordinance concerning the protection of safety and health in the provision of work equipment and its use at work and maintenance processes. Extract from BetrSichV 2015

§ 8 Protective measures in case of hazards caused by energies, start-up and stoppage
Paragraph 3: “Command devices which have an influence on the safe use of the means of work shall in particular be secured against unintended or unauthorised operation. Paragraph 4: “Work equipment may only be intentionally put into operation. If necessary, the startup process must be safely prevented.

§ 10 Maintenance and modification of work equipment
Paragraph 3: The employer must take all necessary measures to ensure that maintenance work can be carried out safely. (3) to secure the working area during the maintenance work (6) to avoid hazards caused by moving raised work equipment or parts thereof, as well as by hazardous energies or substances. (9) Provide necessary warnings and dangers messages referring to maintenance work on the work equipment Paragraph 4: Where, in the case of maintenance activities ... are carried out under the threat of energy, the safety of workers shall be ensured during the duration of this work by means of other appropriate measures.

SWITZERLAND

UVG – Federal Law on Accident Insurance

VUV – Regulation on the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Diseases title 1, chapter 2, paragraph 1, art. 3; title 1, chapter 3, paragraph 2, art. 30, 31 paragraph 3, art. 37; paragraph 4, art. 43

EKAS Guideline no. 6512 – Work Equipment

These regulations clearly stipulate that during maintenance, adjusting or cleaning of the equipment, it has to be in non-operative state and appropriate devices have to be used to ensure that, for example, a machine is not accidentally switched on.

SPAIN

The Spanish directive (REAL DECRETO 1215/1997, de 18 de julio por el que se establecen las disposiciones mínimas de seguridad y salud para la utilización por los trabajadores de los equipos de trabajo. BOE nº 188 07-08-1997) states the minimum safety and health for workers’ use of work equipment.

UNITED KINGDOM

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) – Regulation 19 – Isolation from Sources of Energy states: “Every employer shall ensure, that where appropriate, work equipment is provided with suitable means to isolate it from all its sources of energy. Every employer shall take appropriate measures to ensure that reconnection of any energy source to work equipment does not expose any person using the equipment to any risk to his health or safety.

Electricity at Work Regulations (EAWR) refer to the prevention of "danger" and "injury," where injury is specifically defined as death or personal harm resulting from electric shock, electric burn, electrical explosion, or fires initiated by electrical energy.

• Regulation 12 mandates that suitable means must be available for cutting off the supply of electrical energy and for the isolation of electrical equipment. In this context, isolation is defined as the disconnection and separation of electrical equipment from every source of electrical energy in such a way that the disconnection and separation is secure.

USA

OSHA regulation The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout / Tagout) 1910.147 states that it “requires employers to establish a program and utilise procedures for affixing appropriate lockout devices or tagout devices to energy isolating devices and to otherwise disable machines or equipment to prevent unexpected energisation, start up or release of stored energy in order to prevent injury to employees.