Electrical Safety and Lockout Tagout

Treating circuits as live until proven dead, GFCI and cord care, clearance from overhead lines, and the one-lock-per-person rule for lockout tagout.

Download PDF with sign-in sheet Browse all

Fire & electrical · 29 CFR 1926.416 / 1910.147

Electricity kills quickly and quietly. The current that can stop your heart is far smaller than what runs a drill, and on a job site power hides in damaged cords, temporary panels, buried lines, and machines a coworker assumed were off. Electrocution is one of construction's Fatal Four killers, and lockout tagout exists so nobody dies working on equipment that was supposed to be dead.

Key hazards

• Ladders, booms, dump beds, and scaffold parts contacting overhead power lines
• Damaged extension cords, missing ground pins, and tools with cracked casings
• Working on circuits or equipment someone assumed was de-energized
• Wet conditions and standing water around cords and temporary power
• Equipment restarting unexpectedly because it was never locked out
• Unmarked or mislabeled breakers and unlocated buried utilities

Safe practices

• Treat every wire, line, and terminal as energized until it has been tested and proven dead.
• Use GFCI protection on all temporary power and cord-connected tools on site.
• Inspect cords and tools before use. Take anything with damaged insulation, a missing ground pin, or exposed conductors out of service immediately.
• Keep yourself, ladders, and equipment at least 10 feet from overhead power lines, more for higher voltages, and use a dedicated spotter when equipment works near them.
• Before servicing equipment, shut it down, isolate every energy source, and apply your own lock and tag. One lock per person, every person on the job.
• Verify zero energy by testing before you put hands on, and release stored energy in capacitors, springs, hydraulics, and air lines.
• Never remove someone else's lock or tag. Only the person who hung it removes it.
• Route cords out of walkways and water, and protect them where vehicles or foot traffic must cross.
• Leave panel work and electrical repairs to qualified electricians.

Discussion questions

• Where is the temporary power on this site, and is all of it protected by GFCI?
• For the equipment you use, do you know where its energy sources are and how it would be locked out?
• What would you do if you found a cord with the ground pin snapped off?

If something goes wrong

• If someone is being shocked, do not touch them. Kill the power first, or move them clear with something dry and non-conductive, then call 911.
• Anyone who takes a shock needs medical evaluation even if they feel fine. Electrical injuries can be internal and delayed.
• Tag and report damaged cords, tools, and panels immediately so nobody else picks them up.

Keep the record without the paper

Download the signed attendance sheet, then keep follow-up notes and photos in YakBuildHQ's timestamped project record — start free.