Lockout tagout (LOTO) is the common name for isolating plant from its energy sources, locking the isolation points off and tagging them so the plant cannot start while someone is working on it. Queensland’s Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 does not use the term, but its plant sections and the approved plant code cover the same ground.
Someone switching a machine on while you are cleaning or repairing it is a serious risk on any site. This guide covers what Queensland law and the approved codes say, a step-by-step method, locks, handovers, contractors and electrical work.
Does Queensland law use the term lockout tagout?
No. “Lockout tagout” and “LOTO” are terms industry uses, but we found neither phrase in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) or the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld). The law instead sets duties about plant, risk control and maintenance, and the Queensland approved Managing risks of plant in the workplace Code of Practice 2021 describes isolation in detail, using the words “lock-out” and “tag-out”.
What Queensland law says about isolating plant
- Plant without risks: section 21(2) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires a person with management or control of plant to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that it is without risks to health and safety. Section 203 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) requires that person to manage the risks.
- Isolating as a control: section 36(3)(b) of the Regulation lists “isolating the hazard from any person exposed to it” among the controls to use when a risk cannot be eliminated. Section 37 requires controls to be maintained so they stay effective.
- Controls that lock off: section 210(1)(d) requires operator’s controls to be able to be locked into the “off” position to enable the disconnection of all motive power.
- Running plant during maintenance: if that cannot be avoided, section 210(2) says the controls must not be able to be operated by anyone other than the person doing the maintenance or cleaning or, if that is not possible because someone else must operate the plant, by anyone other than a person authorised for that purpose.
- Guards removed: section 208(5) says that if guarding is removed, then so far as is reasonably practicable the plant cannot be restarted unless the guarding is replaced.
- Maintenance and inspection: section 213 requires a competent person to carry out maintenance, inspection and, if necessary, testing of plant, following the manufacturer’s recommendations or, if there are none, a competent person’s.
For confined spaces, section 70 of the Regulation requires a business to eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, the risk from connected plant or services being activated or energised, and otherwise to minimise it. The Queensland approved Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 says all potentially hazardous plant and services should be isolated before anyone enters. See our confined spaces guide.
How the approved plant code fits in
An approved code of practice is guidance rather than law in itself. But section 26A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires a business to comply with an approved code or manage the hazards and risks in a way that is different but provides an equivalent or higher standard of health and safety, and a court can rely on the code when deciding what is reasonably practicable (section 275). Section 4.5 of the plant code, “Isolating energy sources”, calls lock-out “the most effective isolation procedure”.
Which energy sources need isolating?
Switching off the power is only the start. The plant code lists these sources to identify (the examples in the table are ours):
| Energy type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Electrical | Mains electricity, battery or capacitor banks, solar panels |
| Hydraulic and pneumatic | Fluids or gases under pressure, such as water, air, steam or hydraulic oil |
| Gravity | Raised or suspended parts and loads that can fall or swing |
| Stored or residual | Compressed springs and pressure left in lines after the power is off |
| Thermal | Heat and steam |
| Other | Fuels and radiation |
The code warns that if plant fails to restart when you try it, the main power may be isolated, but that does not guarantee stored energy has dissipated.
A common isolate, lock, tag, test method
This is a common method built on the sequence in the plant code, not a legal prescription. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and your risk assessment.
- Plan and tell people: agree the task, who is affected and who applies locks.
- Shut down the plant with its normal stop controls.
- Identify every energy source and isolation point.
- Isolate each source at its isolation point (switch, breaker, valve).
- Release or contain stored energy: bleed pressure, block or lower raised parts.
- Lock out each isolation point with your own lock, using a multi-lock hasp where several people are involved.
- Tag the controls and lock points: who, when and why.
- Test by trying to start the plant without exposing anyone to risk.
- Do the work within the agreed scope.
- Restore: remove tools, refit all guarding, make sure everyone is clear and tell affected people. The plant code says there should be a process to communicate with affected workers and other businesses about restarting plant, and that all guarding must be replaced before the plant is used.
- Remove locks and tags as set out below, then restart and check normal operation.
Where plant genuinely cannot be isolated, the plant code says methods to prevent accidental operation should be used, under controlled procedures. Treat that as a last resort.
Personal locks, group locks and tags
Under section 4.5 of the plant code, you should where possible use a lock that takes more than one padlock, so each person can attach their own. Another way is one padlock on the isolation point with its key in a box that each worker has locked separately. The code also says:
- each worker should have a lock, tag and key for each isolation point;
- there should be no duplicate keys, except a master key kept securely and used only in an emergency;
- if several energy sources are isolated, the single key to each lock should be held by the same person; and
- a tag is only information for other people and should not be used on its own as an isolation device, because only a lock is effective.
The Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2021 adds that the key should stay with the person who placed the lock, and the tag should say someone is inside and that the isolation must not be removed until everyone has left.
Who may remove a lock or tag?
According to the plant code, locks and tags should only be removed by the person who applied them, or by the supervisor after consulting the signatory of the tag. If that person is unavailable, the lock or tag may only be removed in accordance with a management approved procedure. Write that procedure before you need it, including how you confirm the person has left site and the plant is safe to restart.
Contractors, shift handover and electrical work
Contractors
Section 46 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) requires businesses that share a duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other so far as is reasonably practicable. In practice, agree before work starts whose procedure applies, who holds which locks and who is told when plant restarts. See working alongside contractors and principal contractor duties.
Shift handover
The law does not set a handover method, so this is common practice, not a legal rule. Keep locks on while the job is unfinished. The incoming person attaches their own lock and tag before the outgoing person removes theirs, and both sign the isolation record.
Electrical work
Section 55 of the Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) says a person must not perform or supervise electrical work unless they hold an electrical work licence that authorises it (with listed exceptions). Section 197 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld) requires a business to ensure equipment de-energised for electrical work is not inadvertently re-energised. Section 198 requires a licensed electrical worker who has operated a device and does not keep it under their sole effective control to attach a warning sign and lock the device open or otherwise prevent it being closed. If the job involves wiring, switchboards or a machine’s electrical parts, have a licensed electrician do the electrical isolation and apply their own lock. If you are unsure whether a task is electrical work, ask a licensed electrician or the Electrical Safety Office.
The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) does not apply to the extent the Electrical Safety Act 2002 applies (schedule 1, part 2, division 2, section 4), so electrical safety duties come from that Act and its regulation. Also, construction work on or near energised electrical installations or services is high risk construction work (section 291(k) of the WHS Regulation), which needs a safe work method statement (section 299). See our electrical safety guide.
Keep a simple isolation record
The plant code recommends an up-to-date register of plant needing regular inspection and maintenance, including critical safety instructions such as the isolation procedure. A simple isolation log works alongside it. Common columns:
- plant, location and the job being done;
- energy sources, isolation points and lock and tag numbers;
- who locked out, date and time, and the test result;
- handovers, who removed the locks and who was told of the restart.
Your preventative maintenance routine and daily pre-start checks are where isolation points get found and labelled.
Common mistakes
- Tag only, no lock. The plant code says a tag alone is not isolation.
- Skipping the test, or assuming one failed start means all energy is gone.
- Forgetting gravity and pressure, which can move parts after the power is off.
- One lock for the whole crew, so nobody can tell who is still working.
- Spare keys floating around, or removing someone else’s lock.
- Relying on an emergency stop. The plant code (section 4.3) says emergency stop devices should not be the only method of controlling risks.
- Restarting without refitting guards. See our machine guarding guide.
- No training on the procedure. Section 39 of the Regulation requires information, training and instruction to be suitable and adequate.
Where to start
List the plant that gets maintained or cleaned, work out its energy sources and isolation points, and write one short procedure per machine type. A safe work procedure is usually the right document for routine isolation. A free risk assessment template helps you work through each machine’s hazards. Our equipment isolation policy and procedure template and plant and equipment maintenance template give you a base to adapt, and for tanks and pits the confined space entry permit covers the permit your isolation sits inside.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the current law or talk to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland for your situation.
Templates for this job
Ready-to-edit Word and Excel templates for Queensland workplaces.
