621 Controlling Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)

Retraining

The employer should retrain employees when the employer has reason to believe employees do not have adequate understanding, skills, or abilities (KSAs). Employers should conduct annual retraining if employees do not perform lockout/tagout procedures regularly.

Situations requiring retraining include the following:

• When changes in job assignments affect lockout/tagout procedures;
• When changes in the workplace render previous training obsolete or inadequate;
• When changes in processes, equipment or machinery render previous training obsolete or inadequate; or
• When inadequacies in an authorized employee's knowledge of lockout/tagout procedures or equipment indicate that the employee no longer has the requisite understanding or skill necessary to correctly perform those procedures.

The purpose of retraining is to re-establish employee proficiency and introduce new or revised control methods and procedures, as necessary. Employers do not need to retrain their employees annually. However, if your employees do not actually use LOTO procedures often, it is a good idea to practice the procedures at least annually.

Additional Training

Employers must train workers in the following limitations of tags listed below:

• Tags are essentially warning devices attached to energy isolating devices and do not provide the physical restraint on those devices that is provided by a lock.
• When a tag is attached to an energy isolating means, it is not to be removed without authorization and it is never to be bypassed, ignored, or otherwise defeated.
• Tags must be legible and understandable by all workers.
• Tags and their means of attachment must be made of materials which will withstand the environmental conditions encountered in the workplace.
• Tags may evoke a false sense of security and their meaning needs to be understood as part of the overall energy control program.
• Tags must be securely attached to energy isolating devices so that they cannot be inadvertently or accidentally detached during use.

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