Lockout/Tagout: Other Employee Awareness — Learning reference

Lesson 1 of 3

Recognize protected equipment and stay within your role

Objective: Explain the basic procedure and the prohibition on restarting protected equipment.

You may work in a facility area where energy-control procedures can be used without operating the protected equipment or being assigned work in an active servicing area. Your actions can still affect another crew’s protection. This instruction applies to other employees whose work operations are or may be in areas where energy-control procedures are used.

Lockout/tagout is an established procedure to prevent unexpected energization, startup or hazardous stored-energy release during covered servicing. Authorized employees apply the controls. Affected employees operate or use the equipment being serviced or have jobs requiring work in the servicing area. If your duties meet that description, you need affected-employee instruction rather than this awareness track alone. The employer determines the role from actual duties.

Do not attempt to start, restart or reenergize locked or tagged equipment. Do not operate controls, remove devices or bypass the procedure. A request from a coworker to “just try it” does not change this boundary.

Keep clear of the servicing area and follow the site’s access arrangements. A stopped machine can still contain pressure, gravity, heat or other hazardous energy. This course does not authorize you to enter the hazard area, evaluate isolation or perform servicing.

Authority: 1910.147(c)(7)(i)(C); (b). Reviewed October 21, 2026.

Lesson 2 of 3

Respect the protection and report problems

Objective: Recognize locks/tags and understand the limitations of tags.

Understand the limits of tags

A tag warns; it does not provide the physical restraint of a lock. Never bypass, ignore or defeat it, and do not remove it without the authorization required by the energy-control program. Tags must be legible and understandable to the employees who encounter them. The tag and attachment must withstand the workplace environment. The attachment must keep the tag from becoming accidentally detached. A tag can create false confidence if people assume the warning physically prevents energy release.

Use the employer’s approved system. If an isolating device is not capable of being locked out, the employer’s program uses a tagout system. When the device can be locked out, lockout is required unless the employer demonstrates that its tagout arrangement provides the full protection specified by the standard. An employee cannot make that demonstration simply by hanging a tag. If a tag is damaged, unclear or missing, keep out of the hazard, report the condition and have the protection resolved before the affected work proceeds.

If a tag appears loose or damaged, do not remove it, replace it on your own or use the equipment. Report what you can see from a safe place. The responsible authorized personnel must determine and restore the required protection.

Do not judge equipment status from the absence of noise, the location of a coworker or a single visible lock. Keep to the employer’s access and communication rules. The warning identifies a condition requiring protection, not an invitation to inspect the machine yourself.

Authority: 1910.147(c)(7)(ii). Reviewed October 21, 2026.

Lesson 3 of 3

Use the workplace contact and escalation process

Objective: Explain what to do when protection, instructions or assigned duties are unclear.

You find equipment tagged out while carrying out routine housekeeping. The safe response is to follow the area restriction and contact the person named by the employer. Do not move an isolating device, relocate a warning or enter the servicing area to complete housekeeping.

If a supervisor gives an instruction that appears to conflict with the protection, explain the condition and have the instruction resolved through the designated process before acting. Report missing or damaged warnings, interference and uncertainty. A new shift or a request to finish quickly does not establish that protection has ended.

Use the workplace walkthrough to identify actual locks and tags, access restrictions, prohibited actions and the responsible contact. Ask questions in language and vocabulary you understand. Your employer must provide instruction that is understandable and appropriate to the assigned work.

If your duties change so that you operate the protected equipment, work in its servicing area as an affected employee, or perform covered servicing, the employer must assign the corresponding training and responsibilities. Passing this awareness assessment does not promote you to another role.

The online result records knowledge taught here. The employer documents the actual instruction and role understanding and maintains the required training certification. Report gaps so instruction can be corrected and kept current.

Authority: 1910.147(c)(7)(i)-(ii); OSHA understandable-training guidance. Reviewed October 21, 2026.