What's in the template
Three working pages to take to the machine and one guidance sheet.
- A Audit details: machine, procedure, auditor, reason
- B Written procedure: does it exist and match the machine?
- C Isolation points and devices
- D Locks, tags and keys
- E Applying and removing locks
- F Zero-energy verification
- G Training and instruction
- H Contractors
- I Review and records
- J Findings and actions, each with a responsible person and a due date
- K Audit result and sign-off
- L Closeout once every action is done
Pages 1 and 2 hold the checklist, parts A to I, each item answered Yes, No or N/A; page 3 holds the findings and actions table, the sign-off and the closeout. The guidance sheet explains the steps, when a lighter check is enough, who audits and, for each requirement, the German and the Swiss rule side by side; where a country has no rule of its own, the sheet says so.
When do you need it?
The employer checks that protective measures work and adapts them when things change. For lockout, that means walking one machine with its written procedure: are the isolation points labelled and lockable, does everyone use a personal lock, is zero energy verified, are people instructed? Every No becomes an action with a responsible person and a date. Audit at the interval your site sets, and after any incident or change to the machine or the procedure.
Rules it follows
Germany
- ArbSchG §3, §6, §8 and §12; BetrSichV §3, §4, §8, §10, §12 and §13: checking measures, records, contractors, maintenance, yearly instruction
- TRBS 1112 on maintenance (March 2019) and TRBS 2111 on mechanical hazards: personal lockout locks, shift change, unsafe machines
- DGUV Information 209-015 on maintenance of machines and plant (June 2026)
- DGUV Vorschrift 1 and 3; DIN VDE 0105-100, the five safety rules
Switzerland
- VUV Art. 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 30, 32b and 43
- NIV Art. 22: the five safety rules for work on electrical installations
- EKAS guideline 6508 (ASA)
- Suva 84040 and 88813, eight vital rules for maintenance; Suva 84042 for electrical work
- Suva checklist 67075, unexpected start-up of machines and plant
Checked against the current editions on 15 October 2026.