In Pennsylvania, a serious violation of 29 CFR 1910.147 (Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)) carries a maximum penalty of $16,550 per violation in 2026, rising to $165,514 for a willful or repeat violation. Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is enforced for private construction employers by federal OSHA.
29 CFR 1910.147 · Pennsylvania
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Requirements in Pennsylvania
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) in Pennsylvania: 2026 penalties, who enforces 29 CFR 1910.147, the paragraphs cited and free tools.
Verified vs OSHA sources · 2026-10-05
PennsylvaniaGeneral Industry (29 CFR 1910)Federal OSHA Jurisdiction
29 CFR 1910.147 does not apply to construction work. In Pennsylvania, federal OSHA enforces 29 CFR 1910.147. The federal maximum for a serious violation is $16,550.
$16,550
federal maximum for a serious violation
$165,514
federal maximum for a willful or repeat violation
3.1
fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time workers, all industries, Pennsylvania, 2024 (BLS)
Federal OSHA in Pennsylvania: 29 CFR 1910.147, FY2025
Counted · 2026-09-268
citations of 29 CFR 1910.147 in 5 inspections
$38,100
penalties, current amounts ($49,739 as first proposed)
0.6%
of the 1,245 federal construction citations in Pennsylvania
In FY2025, federal OSHA cited 29 CFR 1910.147 (Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)) 8 times in inspections of Pennsylvania construction employers. It ranked 22nd of the 79 standards cited in them. By classification: 5 serious, 3 other-than-serious. Most-cited paragraphs: 1910.147(c)(4)(i) (3), 1910.147(c)(4)(ii)(B) (1), 1910.147(d)(5)(i) (1).
NAICS 23 classifies the employer, not the work. 29 CFR 1910.147 does not govern construction work, so these citations do not measure what happens on construction jobsites.
Counted by HazComFast from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement data (inspection and violation tables, retrieved September 26, 2026): citations issued October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025 on federal OSHA inspections of construction employers (NAICS 23) in the state, deleted citations excluded, penalties at current amounts. OSHA's own cited-standards tool does not break federal states out; summed over every state, this count matches it within a few citations (6,778 for 1926.501, against 6,772). data.dol.gov
What federal OSHA is targeting in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has no state OSHA plan for private-sector work, so there is no state rule to read. What differs here is which hazards federal OSHA schedules inspections for, as set out in published emphasis directives.
Regional Emphasis Program for the Oil and Gas Service Industry
2023-04 (CPL 04) · Philadelphia Regional Office · effective October 1, 2023
“This Instruction applies to the Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, West Virginia Area Offices.”
Oil and gas service work is programmed through five named offices: Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania, and Charleston in West Virginia. Well-site service work brings hazard communication, permit-required confined spaces and hazardous energy control into one inspection, which is why the same program appears against all three standards.
Contact incidents and work deaths in Pennsylvania, 2024
Pennsylvania recorded 185 fatal work injuries in 2024, up from 169 in 2023. Contact incidents caused 26 of them (14%). Construction accounted for 48.
Source: BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Pennsylvania, 2024
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Cases in Pennsylvania
Vorteq Coil Finishers LLC
$345,685Butler County, Pennsylvania - coater-machine fatality · 2024
A worker instructed to clean a chrome roller on a coater machine while it was running was pulled into the machine and killed in September 2023. OSHA cited two willful and two serious violations, in part for failing to implement lockout/tagout procedures and to install machine guarding, for $345,685 in proposed penalties, and placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
U.S. Department of Labor / OSHA news release, March 11, 2024How Pennsylvania Enforces 29 CFR 1910.147
Pennsylvania has no State Plan, so federal OSHA has jurisdiction. 29 CFR 1910.147 is enforced by U.S. Department of Labor compliance officers using standard federal procedures and the federal penalty maximums.
29 CFR 1910.147 is a general-industry standard and does not govern construction work. “This standard does not cover the following: (A) Construction and agriculture employment”. Branding a construction program “1910.147 compliant” cites the wrong standard. Unlike confined spaces, Part 1926 has no wholesale re-enactment of 1910.147: construction energy-control duties are spread across hazard-specific provisions, so no single construction equivalent is named here. A Pennsylvania contractor auditing against 29 CFR 1910.147 is auditing against the wrong standard. The citation an officer writes on a construction site will name the 1926 provision, not this one.
Help and oversight in Pennsylvania
Free, confidential help: OSHA On-Site Consultation
In Pennsylvania, the program is Pennsylvania OSHA Consultation. OSHA describes it as “Primarily for smaller businesses, no-cost, confidential consultations help employers identify and address hazards and establish or improve safety and health programs.” It is separate from OSHA enforcement; the employer commits to correcting serious hazards.
Pennsylvania consultation program · OSHA consultation directory
Who inspects private employers here
Federal OSHA, from the Allentown Area Office (Center Valley), the Erie Area Office (Erie), the Harrisburg Area Office (Harrisburg), the Philadelphia Area Office (Philadelphia), the Pittsburgh Area Office (Pittsburgh) and the Wilkes-Barre Area Office (Wilkes-Barre).
Read on osha.gov and the state's official statute site, September 26, 2026.
Pennsylvania Penalty Amounts for 29 CFR 1910.147 (2026)
Verified · 2026-10-05| Violation type | 2026 maximum | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Serious | $16,550 | Federal max · 29 CFR 1903.15(d) |
| Willful | $165,514 | Federal max · 29 CFR 1903.15(d) |
| Repeat | $165,514 | Federal max · 29 CFR 1903.15(d) |
| Failure to abate | $16,550/day | up to $16,550 per day; total capped at 30x the daily amount (FOM Ch.6) |
Pennsylvania applies the federal OSHA maximums. Amounts are ceilings per violation. Federal OSHA reduces the proposed penalty for employer size, good faith and history (FOM CPL 02-00-164 Ch. 6). There was no inflation increase for 2026: the 2025 amounts remain in effect (OMB Memo M-26-11).
Key Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Requirements 29 CFR 1910.147
- Develop machine-specific energy control procedures
- Train authorized, affected, and other employees
- Use standardized lockout/tagout devices
- Follow the 6-step LOTO sequence
- Conduct annual periodic inspections of procedures
- Coordinate group lockout for multi-employee servicing
Who enforces it in Pennsylvania: Federal OSHA inspects private construction employers; Pennsylvania has no State Plan.
The compliance checklist, the paragraphs OSHA cites nationally and what an inspector checks under 29 CFR 1910.147 are on the 29 CFR 1910.147 page.
What a Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Violation Looks Like
Each item below breaches a specific paragraph of 29 CFR 1910.147. It is a list of requirements, not a ranking. A serious violation carries up to $16,550.
- No documented, machine-specific energy control procedures (1910.147(c)(4)).
- Failure to conduct the required at-least-annual periodic inspection of procedures (1910.147(c)(6)).
- Authorized/affected employees not trained (or retrained after changes) (1910.147(c)(7)).
- Stored or residual energy not released or restrained before servicing (1910.147(d)(5)).
- No verification of de-energization/isolation before work begins (1910.147(d)(6)).
Pennsylvania Safety & Enforcement Profile
26,559
Federal construction citations (national, FY2025)
1,245 of them in Pennsylvania (HazComFast count)
Federal OSHA
Enforces private construction
- Construction trades inspected most in Pennsylvania, FY2025: Commercial and Institutional Building Construction (281), Roofing Contractors (257) and Framing Contractors (95), out of 1,354 inspections opened (federal OSHA and State Plan combined).
- Construction fatality rate in Pennsylvania, 2024: 11.9 per 100,000 full-time workers, 10th highest of the 40 states BLS published (all industries: 3.1).
HazComFast count from the Labor Department's OSHA enforcement data: inspections of construction employers (NAICS 23) opened from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, federal OSHA and State Plan combined, grouped by the inspected employer's 2022 NAICS industry. Industry names are the Census Bureau's 2022 NAICS titles. data.dol.gov · BLS fatality rates by state, 2024
Free Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Compliance Tools
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) FAQ for Pennsylvania
Which Pennsylvania industries most often face a Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) inspection?
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) inspections reach general-industry employers in Pennsylvania, not the construction trades. Federal OSHA inspects these employers directly, since Pennsylvania has no state plan covering the private sector. A construction employer is not governed by 29 CFR 1910.147, and the construction-side duties on this subject are not concentrated in a single standard. Check your Part 1926 obligations instead.
How often is Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) cited in Pennsylvania?
29 CFR 1910.147 is enforced against general-industry employers in Pennsylvania, so the construction citation totals published for Pennsylvania (OSHA Frequently Cited Standards, NAICS 23) do not measure it. “This standard does not cover the following: (A) Construction and agriculture employment”. Branding a construction program “1910.147 compliant” cites the wrong standard. Unlike confined spaces, Part 1926 has no wholesale re-enactment of 1910.147: construction energy-control duties are spread across hazard-specific provisions, so no single construction equivalent is named here. A construction employer is not governed by 29 CFR 1910.147, and the construction-side duties on this subject are not concentrated in a single standard. Check your Part 1926 obligations instead.
Does OSHA require a written lockout/tagout program in Pennsylvania?
Yes. 29 CFR 1910.147 requires an energy control program with documented procedures for the equipment serviced, employee training, and a periodic inspection of each procedure at least annually. In Pennsylvania, federal OSHA can cite the missing program or missing machine-specific steps. In the Vorteq Coil Finishers case, OSHA cited two willful violations after a supervisor was killed cleaning a running machine.
Who enforces lockout/tagout (1910.147) for Pennsylvania employers?
Federal OSHA. With no State Plan, a compliance officer from OSHA's Philadelphia region inspects and cites 1910.147 directly at the federal penalty maximums.
Can I get free OSHA help in Pennsylvania without an inspection?
Yes. OSHA's On-Site Consultation Program in Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania OSHA Consultation. OSHA describes it this way: "Primarily for smaller businesses, no-cost, confidential consultations help employers identify and address hazards and establish or improve safety and health programs." Consultations are separate from OSHA enforcement, and the employer commits to correcting serious hazards.
How often does federal OSHA cite 29 CFR 1910.147 in Pennsylvania construction?
In FY2025, federal OSHA cited 29 CFR 1910.147 (Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)) 8 times in 5 inspections of Pennsylvania construction employers, with $38,100 in penalties at current amounts ($49,739 as first proposed), 0.6% of the 1,245 citations those inspections produced. It ranked 22nd of the 79 standards cited. NAICS 23 classifies the employer, not the work: 29 CFR 1910.147 does not govern construction work itself. (HazComFast count from U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, retrieved 2026-09-26.)
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Guides & Resources
Compare this combination against any other state and standard with the enforcement risk lookup.
Related standards
Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) in Other States
7 other state plans write a rule of their own for 29 CFR 1910.147 rather than adopting the federal text unchanged. Those are listed first. Compare all of them side by side.
California8 CCR §3314 (applied to all employments by §3202(a))own maxHawaii29 CFR 1910.147 as incorporated by HAR §12-60-50(a), with §12-60-4 and §12-60-6Indiana29 CFR 1910.147 as applied in Indiana; review by the board of safety review, not OSHRCown maxKentucky803 KAR 2:309, Section 3own maxMinnesotaMinn. R. 5207.0600Nevada29 CFR 1910.147 as applied in Nevada, with NRS 618.383UtahUtah Admin. Code R614-1-5.D.6.bown maxAlabama
Other OSHA Standards in Pennsylvania
Sources & verification
Penalty amounts and plan-type data were checked on 2026-10-05 against eCFR, OSHA.gov, and the Federal Register. This page is informational and not legal advice; consult the enforcing agency or counsel for your specific situation.
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