Accident Prevention Tags

§1926.200(h) is clear on the limits: tags shall not be used in place of, or as a substitute for, accident-prevention signs. A few rules that follow from that:

• A tag warns; it does not isolate energy. Locking out a machine still requires a lockout/tagout program (1910.147) — the tag alone never makes it safe to work on.
• A tag on a defective tool means take it out of service, not 'use with care.' Tag it and remove it.
• Tags are temporary. If a hazard is permanent, it needs a sign or an engineered fix, not a tag left hanging for months.
• The tag has to stay legible and attached until the hazard is gone.

OSHA's tag format traces to the ANSI Z35.2 / Z535.5 tag standards and the general-industry tag rule at 1910.145(f), which sorts tags into categories — Danger, Caution, Warning, and Biological Hazard (BIOHAZARD) — with example messages like 'Do Not Start,' 'Do Not Use,' 'High Voltage,' and 'Close Clearance.'

The point isn't memorizing every wording. It's that the message is unmistakable and matches the hazard: red Danger tags for the worst, yellow Caution for lesser, and the biohazard symbol where there's biological exposure. If someone can misread a tag as 'probably fine,' it's the wrong tag.

Around access points and public exposure, tags back up your signs and barricades — a tagged-out gate motor, a tagged extension cord pulled from a public walkway, a tagged hydrant or valve. They tell your own crew and any contractor on site that this item is not to be used.

But the public doesn't read your equipment tags. Keeping non-workers safe still comes down to the perimeter, barricades, and signs. Use tags to control the hazard among the people working; use the boundary controls to keep everyone else away from it.