Safety
Control of Hazardous Energy — Affected Employee
Understand hazardous-energy controls, affected-employee responsibilities, notifications, prohibited actions, and the separate employer role-validation boundary.
Who this is for
Intended audience
Affected employees who operate or use equipment being serviced, or work where energy-control procedures are used.
Relevant industries: Manufacturing, Petrochemical, Maritime, Energy
Learning outcomes
What learners will work toward
- Explain the purpose and function of an energy-control program.
- Distinguish affected, authorized and other employee roles.
- Recognize common hazardous-energy types and why a stopped machine can remain dangerous.
- Recognize locks, tags, hasps, lockboxes and tags-plus warnings.
- Explain why push buttons, selector switches and software controls are not energy-isolating devices.
- Describe required notifications before application and after removal of controls.
- State the prohibition against restart, reenergization, bypass, tampering or removal.
- Recognize affected-employee responsibilities during group lockout, shift change, testing/repositioning and restoration.
- Explain contractor and multi-employer communication awareness.
- Distinguish general-industry lockout/tagout from shipyard lockout/tags-plus.
- Identify retraining triggers and reject the false claim that OSHA requires annual retraining in every case.
- Complete an employer-specific digital role module without being designated an authorized employee.
Course outline
7 modules
Orientation and Role Boundary
Define the course endpoint and credential states. Present examples of an operator who becomes an affected employee while maintenance is performed, an authorized maintenance worker, and an employee who merely works nearby. Explain that role depends on actual duties and the employer's program—not job title alone.
Why Hazardous Energy Must Be Controlled
Explain unexpected startup, movement and release of stored energy. Cover electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, pressure, gravity, spring, kinetic and residual energy. Show how control circuits can stop normal operation while energy remains available to move, energize, pressurize or heat equipment.
Programs, Procedures, Devices, and Notifications
Introduce the written program, equipment-specific procedures, energy-isolating devices, personal locks, tags, group devices and warning signs at an awareness level. Emphasize that tags warn but do not provide the physical restraint of a lock. Affected employees receive notice before controls are applied and after they are removed, according to the employer's procedure.
Affected-Employee Conduct During Servicing
The affected employee must not restart, reenergize, bypass, defeat, tamper with or remove controls. The employee follows notifications, remains outside controlled areas as instructed, communicates operational needs through the designated channel, and reports damaged, missing or questionable devices. Production urgency does not permit bypassing the procedure.
Group Lockout, Shift Change, Testing, and Restoration Awareness
Explain group lockout, primary authorized employees, shift/personnel changes, outside contractors and temporary testing or positioning without training the affected learner to perform those steps. During restoration, the affected employee waits for the employer's notification and instructions. Removal by anyone other than the device applier is controlled by a documented employer procedure and is never a self-help action.
Sector Overlays
General industry is anchored in 1910.147. Shipyard employment uses 1915.89 and includes lockout/tags-plus, primary authorized employee and coordinator concepts. Construction does not have one identical universal standard; electrical circuits and task-specific standards must be identified. The LMS must never merge these frameworks into a single unqualified claim.
Employer-Specific Module and Final Scenarios
The employer module identifies the actual program, procedure family, work areas, devices, notifications, group/shift practices, local restart rules and reporting channels. It can remain fully digital using photographs, controlled documents and scenarios. It must explicitly state that the employee is not an authorized employee.
Assessment and completion
Requirements stay explicit.
Assessment plan: 35-question protected staging QA assessment; 80% plus the critical-item rule. The 35-item draft seed bank must expand to 105 independently approved items before paid release.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is this an official OSHA or third-party certification?
No. IM Academi will identify the course provider and the exact completion outcome. It will not imply OSHA authorization, regulatory qualification, or another organization's certification unless the applicable authorization has been obtained and documented.
Does my employer still need to provide site-specific training?
Often, yes. Site hazards, procedures, equipment, emergency plans, supervision, and role authorization remain employer responsibilities. This page states course-specific boundaries but cannot replace an employer's hazard assessment.
What happens if a practical component is required?
The knowledge portion and practical evaluation are tracked separately. Final completion depends on the published course rules and a documented evaluation by an approved evaluator.
Need this course for a team?
Discuss assignments, delivery, practical coordination, and reporting needs.