Uncontrolled energy during maintenance is one of the most serious risks in any factory. A machine that starts while someone has a hand in it, a pneumatic line that has not been vented, a capacitor still holding charge. Lockout tagout exists to make those things impossible before work starts. A LOTO audit checks that the safe isolation was actually done, step by step, and the honest version of that record gets written at the isolation point, not after the job.
Guide · Manufacturing
Lockout tagout (LOTO) audit for UK sites.
What a safe isolation and lockout tagout audit covers on a manufacturing site, how it fits the safe system of work and permit to work, and how to record it over WhatsApp instead of a form nobody fills in at the isolation point.
14-day free trial. No card required.
The point
An audit does not isolate the machine.
The lock, the tag and the verified zero-energy state do. An audit makes the isolation easier to record at the point of work, harder to skip a step, and faster to hand back. A good tool means nobody signs off a safe isolation from memory after the maintenance is already done.
Safe isolation steps
The core of a LOTO audit.
Identify
Sources and points
Every energy source identified, from electrical to pneumatic, hydraulic, stored and gravitational, and the correct isolation point located for each.
Isolate and lockLock and tag applied
Machine isolated, locks and personal danger tags applied, and each person working under the isolation holding their own lock where required.
VerifyProve zero energy
Isolation verified and residual or stored energy released or restrained, proving a zero-energy state before work begins.
The friction
The isolation form gets signed after the fact.
An engineer at the isolator is not filling in a bespoke app with a fresh login. The paper permit gets signed back at the desk, sometimes after the job is finished. The isolation you record at the point of work, with a photo of the applied lock, beats the one reconstructed later.
Run isolation audits on WhatsApp
No app install. No training.
Staff use the phone they already have. Text, voice note or photo of the locked isolator. The report generates itself. Setup to first live workflow usually takes under a week.
The short version
- Safe isolation and lockout tagout are part of the safe system of work an employer must provide under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and PUWER 1998.
- The steps are: identify every energy source, isolate, lock and tag, then verify a zero-energy state before work begins.
- Energy is not just electrical: it includes pneumatic, hydraulic, thermal, gravitational and stored energy such as springs and capacitors.
- LOTO usually sits inside a permit to work for higher-risk maintenance, so the audit confirms both the permit and the isolation.
- The audit does not isolate the machine. The lock, the tag and the verified zero-energy state do. The audit records that it was done.
The law
Where LOTO fits in UK law
There is no single regulation called lockout tagout in Great Britain. Safe isolation is part of the safe system of work an employer must provide under the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and the specific duty to make work equipment safe during maintenance under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). Electrical work brings in the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and the principle of safe isolation of electrical supplies.
A LOTO audit is the check that, on this job, the isolation was identified, applied, locked, tagged and verified before work started. Quickler runs that check as a conversation, so each step is confirmed at the isolation point with a photo of the applied lock. It does not isolate the machine or replace a competent person's judgement; it records that the safe system of work was followed.
The steps
What a safe isolation audit covers
A typical lockout tagout audit walks the safe-isolation sequence: identify every energy source feeding the machine; shut down and isolate at the correct point; apply a lock and a personal danger tag; where more than one person works under the isolation, apply a lock per person, often through a hasp; release or restrain any stored or residual energy such as pressure, springs or stored electrical charge; and verify a zero-energy state, for example by attempting a start or testing for dead, before any work begins.
The exact steps depend on the machine, the energy sources and the site's own isolation procedure, so treat a generic sequence as a starting point, not the whole procedure. Quickler builds the audit from the firm's own workflow, so each machine gets the isolation steps that actually apply.
Permit to work
LOTO inside a permit
For higher-risk maintenance, lockout tagout usually sits inside a permit to work: a formal document that authorises the job, records the isolations, and hands control back only when the work is signed off and the locks removed in a controlled order. The permit and the isolation belong together, because a lock without an authorised permit, or a permit without a verified isolation, is a gap.
Quickler can capture both in one workflow: the permit details, the isolations applied, the verification, and the controlled removal at the end. It does not replace the competent person who authorises the permit or the isolating authority; it records the sequence with timestamps and photos so the audit trail is complete. Check your own permit-to-work procedure and the current regulations. This is not legal advice.
Pricing
Per report, not per seat
Most audit apps charge per seat. For a factory that is the wrong shape: the maintenance manager who reviews permits pays the same as the engineer who applies and records an isolation on every job, and every contractor who needs to log a lockout costs more.
Quickler charges per report, with unlimited users on every bundle. Bundles run from Quickler 50 at 50 pounds a month for 50 reports, up to Quickler 500 at 500 pounds a month for 500 reports. Add as many engineers, contractors and managers as you like; you pay for the audits you file, not the people who could file them. Pricing is approximate and shifts, so check the current pricing page before you commit.
Questions, answered
What is a lockout tagout (LOTO) audit?
It is a check that a machine was safely isolated before maintenance: that every energy source was identified, isolated, locked and tagged, and that a zero-energy state was verified before work began. In Great Britain it is part of the safe system of work required under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and PUWER 1998, rather than a single named regulation.
What energy sources does a LOTO audit cover?
All of them, not just electrical. A safe isolation audit covers electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, thermal and gravitational energy, plus stored energy such as compressed springs, pressurised systems and charged capacitors. Each source has to be identified, isolated and, where relevant, released or restrained before the machine is considered safe.
How does LOTO relate to a permit to work?
For higher-risk maintenance, lockout tagout usually sits inside a permit to work. The permit authorises the job and records the isolations, and it hands control back only when the work is signed off and the locks are removed in a controlled order. The audit confirms both the permit and the isolation were in place. Check your own permit-to-work procedure and the current regulations. This is not legal advice.
Can I run a safe isolation audit over WhatsApp?
Yes. Quickler's lockout tagout workflow runs over the WhatsApp Business API. The engineer receives each step in their existing WhatsApp chat, replies with text, a voice note or a photo of the applied lock, and the completed audit generates automatically. No separate app or login is required, and Quickler manages the WhatsApp Business API account on the firm's behalf.