A padlock is used to lock out a piece of equipment. Who should have the key?

• A. The person working on the equipment
• B. The supervisor
• C. The plant manager
• D. The safety officer

Answer: (A)

Lockout/tagout protects workers by ensuring no one can restart equipment while maintenance is underway. The key idea is that the person performing the work must have exclusive control of the energy-isolating device. Keeping the key with the worker prevents someone else from re-energizing the machine while their hands are in harm’s way. Supervisors, managers, or safety officers may oversee the process, but they should not be the ones who unlock and re-energize the equipment. If multiple workers are involved, each uses their own lock and holds their own key, and the machine can only be re-energized after all locks are removed.