Group Lockout and Shift Change Energy Control
Group lockout procedure using a group lockbox and a primary authorized employee, with continuity of energy control protection across shift changes, personnel changes, and contractor work on warehouse equipment.
- Audience
- Authorized employees working in crews, primary authorized employees, supervisors coordinating handoffs, and outside contractors servicing facility equipment
- Review cycle
- annual
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- Revision
- 1
Group Lockout: what is in the procedure
8 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.
- 01
Purpose
FixedThis procedure defines how energy control protection is maintained when more than one authorized employee services the same equipment, and when the people holding that protection change part way through the job.
- 02
Scope
CustomizedThis procedure applies whenever two or more authorized employees service the same machine or system, whenever servicing continues across a shift change or a change in the crew performing it...
- 03
Responsibilities: Primary Authorized Employee
CustomizedOne authorized employee is designated the primary authorized employee for each group lockout and is named on the lockbox tag before work begins.
- 04
Procedure: Group Lockbox
Fixed1. The primary authorized employee identifies every energy source and isolation point for the job and briefs the crew on hazards, scope, and boundaries.
- 05
Procedure: Shift and Personnel Changes
Fixed1. Protection is transferred, never interrupted.
- 06
Procedure: Contractor and Outside Personnel Coordination
CustomizedBefore an outside contractor begins servicing, the facility program owner and the contractor exchange energy control procedures in a documented briefing: the contractor states the procedure and devices they will use...
- 07
Special Cases: Testing, Positioning, and Absent Employees
CustomizedTesting or positioning during a group job: clear tools and materials from the machine, move every crew member clear of the machine area, remove the lockout devices in the reverse of the order they were applied...
- 08
References
Fixed29 CFR 1910.147 The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout).
Regulatory references
Group Lockout and Shift Change Energy Control: 29 CFR 1910.147(f)(3)
Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.
The on-site employer shall ensure that his/her employees understand and comply with the restrictions and prohibitions of the outside employer's energy control program.
| Standard | Title | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| 29 CFR 1910.147(f)(3) | Control of hazardous energy: group lockout or tagout | When servicing is performed by a crew, group lockout or tagout must give each authorized employee protection equivalent to a personal lockout device. One authorized employee is given primary responsibility for a set number of employees working under a group device, that employee ascertains the exposure status of the crew, and each authorized employee affixes a personal lockout device to the group device and removes it only when finished working. |
| 29 CFR 1910.147(f)(4) | Control of hazardous energy: shift or personnel changes | Specific procedures must be used during shift or personnel changes to ensure the continuity of lockout or tagout protection, including an orderly transfer of devices between off-going and oncoming authorized employees so that the machine is never left unprotected. |
| 29 CFR 1910.147(f)(2) | Control of hazardous energy: outside personnel and contractors | When outside servicing personnel work on equipment covered by this standard, the on-site employer and the outside employer must inform each other of their respective energy control procedures, and the on-site employer must ensure its employees understand and comply with the restrictions of the outside employer's program. |
| 29 CFR 1910.147(f)(1) | Control of hazardous energy: testing or positioning of machines | Where lockout or tagout devices must be temporarily removed to test or position a machine or component, a defined sequence must be followed: clear the machine of tools and materials, remove employees from the machine area, remove the devices, energize and proceed with testing, then de-energize and reapply energy control measures before servicing continues. |
Compliance checklist
Group Lockout: what an inspector looks for
A primary authorized employee is designated and named for every group lockout
29 CFR 1910.147(f)(3)
Each authorized employee in the crew applies a personal lock to the group device and removes only their own
29 CFR 1910.147(f)(3)
Shift and personnel changes transfer protection without leaving the equipment unprotected at any point
29 CFR 1910.147(f)(4)
Energy control procedures are exchanged with outside contractors and the exchange is documented
29 CFR 1910.147(f)(2)
Temporary removal for testing or positioning follows the clear, remove, energize, de-energize, reapply sequence
29 CFR 1910.147(f)(1)
Group lockboxes, hasps, and spare personal locks are available where group work is performed
Templates related to Group Lockout
All Lockout/Tagout templates- Lockout/TagoutRev 1
Lockout/Tagout Application and Removal
Step-by-step application and removal of lockout/tagout energy controls for servicing and maintenance of machines and...
- Regulatory references
- 4 CFR refs
- Sections
- 7 sections
- Review cadence
- annual review
- Lockout/TagoutRev 1
Lockout/Tagout Periodic Inspection
How to conduct the at least annual periodic inspection of each energy control procedure...
- Regulatory references
- 4 CFR refs
- Sections
- 8 sections
- Review cadence
- annual review
- Management SystemsRev 1
Business Continuity Plan
Business continuity procedure covering the risk register of realistic disruption scenarios...
- Regulatory references
- Best practice
- Sections
- 9 sections
- Review cadence
- annual review
- Management SystemsRev 1
Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)
Facility-wide corrective and preventive action process covering what opens a CAPA, the numbered CAPA log...
- Regulatory references
- Best practice
- Sections
- 9 sections
- Review cadence
- annual review
Reading this template costs nothing. Generating it for your own building, with your equipment, your job titles and your sign-off sheet attached, is what the product does, on plans from $79 a month per building. You can start a 14-day free trial with no card and have this procedure back in minutes.
Two of the free tools sit alongside this work: the Warehouse SOP checklist and the OSHA training matrix. Neither asks for an email.
Free trial
Generate your Group Lockout SOP
Answer the facility questionnaire once and this template comes back with your equipment, your titles, and your sign-off sheet attached.
14-day free trial, no credit card. Launch pricing.
This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.