What Is 8 CCR §3314: Lockout and Tagout for Equipment Service?

Machinery or equipment capable of movement shall be stopped and the power source de-energized or disengaged, and, if necessary, the moveable parts shall be mechanically blocked or locked out to prevent inadvertent movement, or release of stored energy during cleaning, servicing and adjusting operations.

What Does California's Lockout and Tagout Rule Cover?

It covers any task where cleaning, servicing, repairing, or adjusting a machine could let it start up, move, or release stored energy without warning.

The rule reaches prime movers, machinery, and equipment of almost any kind, from a conveyor at a plant to a pressure washer at a car wash. An authorized employee is the worker trained to lock out or tag out a specific machine to do the work. An affected employee is anyone else whose job puts them near that machine while it is being serviced. Section 3314 does not cover work on live electrical systems. That work instead follows a separate set of sections, numbered 2320.1 through 2320.9 or 2940 through 2945.

Who Has to Follow 8 CCR 3314?

Any California employer whose workers clean, service, repair, or adjust machinery with that kind of hidden startup or stored-energy risk.

This reaches far more jobs than heavy manufacturing. Factory and plant workers, food processing and meatpacking crews, and car wash employees all work around machines this rule covers. The regulation carves out two narrow exceptions: a minor, routine tool change that is a normal part of running the machine, and work on plug-connected equipment that is simply unplugged and kept under the worker's own control. Outside those two situations, the lockout steps below apply.

What Must an Employer Do Before Service Work Begins?

Stop the machine, cut its power, lock or block it from moving, and post a warning sign or tag.

Section 3314 lays out the physical steps: stop the equipment, disconnect or de-energize its power source, and lock out or mechanically block any part that could still move or release stored energy. An accident prevention sign or tag goes on the controls so no one else tries to restart the machine. For bigger jobs, the employer also has to put the lockout steps in writing for each machine or group of similar machines, train every authorized and affected employee, and check the written procedure at least once a year. A crew working together uses a group lockout device, so that every worker on the job, not just one person, stays protected until the work is finished.

What Can a Worker Do About a Lockout Violation?

Raise the hazard inside the company, and separately, consider a Cal/OSHA complaint.

A worker who sees a machine running without a lock, or without a warning sign or tag, can raise it with a supervisor and can also contact Cal/OSHA directly. This site's guide to filing a Cal/OSHA complaint covers how to reach the nearest district office and keep a report confidential. Reporting a hazard and filing a comp claim are two different paths. One asks the state to look at a machine. The other asks for medical care and wage replacement after an injury, and a worker can use either path without waiting on the other.

How Does an Amputation or Crush Injury Get Paid For?

The same way any other job injury is paid for: through no-fault workers' comp, whether or not a lockout step was skipped.

California's no-fault coverage rule pays medical care and disability benefits once an injury is shown to have happened on the job. A worker hurt because a machine restarted or moved during service work does not have to prove that section 3314 was broken to get benefits, and does not have to wait on a Cal/OSHA finding first. This site's guide to amputation and lost limb claims covers how medical care, a prosthetic device, and permanent disability pay are handled after that kind of injury.

What Should You Do After a Lockout Related Injury?

Write down which machine was involved, whether it had a lock or tag on it at the time, and who else was nearby. Get medical care and tell the treating doctor exactly how the injury happened. Then call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form for a free consultation. Yazdchi Law reviews each workers' compensation matter on its own facts before deciding whether to take it on.