Group Lockout/Tagout

When a crew, department, or other group performs service/maintenance, they must use a procedure that provides all employees the same level of protection they would normally have under a personal lockout/tagout device.

One authorized employee must be made responsible for the group. Their job is to keep track of which employees are working and what their exposure status is. When more than one crew, department, etc. is involved, one authorized employee must be made responsible for coordinating all workers and ensuring that protection continues steadily throughout the job.

Each employee in the group must still have personal control over the sources of hazardous energy. To do this, each employee must apply a personal lockout/tagout device to the group lockout device, group lockbox, or comparable mechanism. The lock should be applied when the employee begins work and removed when they finish. This ensures that no one person can remove all the locks and reenergize the machine while another person is still working. YOUR LOCK IS YOUR LIFE. DO NOT USE A SINGULAR LOCK FOR THE GROUP. There should be as many locks involved as there are lives at risk. Using a personal lock means you are taking responsibility for protecting your own life instead of relying on a supervisor (or anyone else) to protect you.