In our part of the country, more and more people are working in various types of warehouses that serve the needs of e-commerce, including Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, FedEx, UPS, and more. For instance, Amazon operates warehousing in its logistics network that include “fulfillment centers,” alongside “sortation centers,” “delivery stations,” as well as “specialty centers” with workers employed as industrial truck operators (think reach trucks, forklifts) as well as those working to organize inventory; pick, load, and pack orders; and more as a “warehouse associate.” For more detail, read the current job openings offered by Amazon in its Indiana warehouses at Indeed.com.
Competition between Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. is fierce, of course. The need for speed between a customer placing an order and that customer receiving that purchase is intense, and the warehouse worker will feel that pressure. Automation, from digital coordination to heavy equipment and machinery is critical to success, and warehouse workers in these environments will work surrounded by all sorts of hazards as a result. See, “Walmart’s Top Competitors and Peers in 2026,” published by Hudson Labs on March 15, 2026, and “Amazon, Walmart, Target: Why the Future of Parcel Delivery is Retail-Owned,” written by Sierra Forsberg and published by IDrive Logistics on June 16, 2025.
- Also read: Amazon Warehouse Workers: Risk of Severe Bodily Injury or Death on the Job as OSHA Investigations Continue; and Local Amazon Warehouses Under Federal Investigation for Both Worker Dangers and Fraudulent Conduct and New OSHA National Emphasis Program Targets Dangerous Warehousing Industry.
LOTO (Lockout/Tagout) Failures in Warehouse Worker Accidents
Workers in our local warehouses can suffer permanent bodily harm or even die in an accident involving some type of machine, tool, or equipment that starts moving without warning. And e-commerce warehouses are particularly dangerous for workers being at risk of this sort of accident where they must work alongside things like conveyors; palletizing systems; heavy industrial trucks; robotic arms; automated pickers; and more.
Warehouse workers may be required to clear up a routine jam in something; or to do some type of repair, upkeep, or maintenance on these things with horrific consequences. These are often preventable accidents, where lockout/tagout (“LOTO”) procedures or standards are disrespected, missing, or insufficient and the worker is hurt as a result.
For instance, warehouse workers in Indiana or Illinois may suffer catastrophic harm in an instant in a lockout/tagout warehousing work accident where:
- Conveyor suddenly restarts without warning because the power was not locked out during repair or maintenance;
- Equipment repair worker is suddenly zapped by an unidentified live current, suffering severe electrical burns or electrocution; or
- Sorting machinery using hydraulics or pneumatic power causes harm to a worker when the stored energy was not properly contained before use, repair, or maintenance.
For more, read “Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout),” published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”).
What is LOTO?
Lockout/tagout (‘LOTO”) procedures or processes are longstanding practices designed to protect people from seven different types of worksite energy that can hurt or kill. They are electrical; mechanical; hydraulic; pneumatic; chemical; thermal; and gravity. Each is a form of hazardous energy that demands its own type of protections.
Lockout involves securing the energy into a safe mode with something like a lock, disconnect switch, etc. Tagout happens when the machinery or equipment cannot be blocked or turned off, so a tag is attached to it as a warning. LOTO includes things like keyed padlocks, isolation areas and LOTO stations, etc. with tags prominently displayed with warnings that include the date and time they were placed there.
For more, read: Lockout and Tagout (LOTO) Injuries on the Job: a Top Ten OSHA Safety Violation.
OSHA Regulations and Industrial Standards for LOTO Safety in Warehouses
Of course, these dangers are no surprise to regulators, employers, safety agencies, or advocates of worker victims and their loved ones. Longstanding regulations and industrial standards exist to protect warehouse workers from being hurt in a work accident involving a lockout/tagout failure.
In the event of a serious or fatal work accident, the warehouse worker has a right to independently investigate the incident to determine if there were violations of safety regulations or industrial standards and if so, if these violations may form the basis of a third-party personal injury claim against one or more parties.
These LOTO safety regulations include the following:
- 29 CFR 1910.147 (General Industry)
- 29 CFR §1910.269 (Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution)
- 29 CFR §1910.333 (Electrical Selection and Use of Work Practices).
Industrial standards include ANSI/ASSP Z244.1-2016 (R2020), published by the American Society of Safety Engineers.
Duty to Protect Against Catastrophic or Deadly LOTO Warehouse Accidents
Employers and all with possession, custody, or control of aspects of the warehouse and its surrounding premises (including utilities) have duties of safety and care that they owe to those at work at the warehouse. Regulations (including 29 CFR §1910.147) mandate that workers who are repairing, doing upkeep, or otherwise maintaining the complex warehouse equipment and machinery are to lockout and tagout without fail.
Everyone at the warehouse should be protected by shutting down the machinery or equipment, as well as identifying and turning off or isolating the sources of power before work begins. But that is not enough. The duties also include making sure that nothing starts up or re-energizes without warning, or that any stored energy is surprisingly released during the work being done.
All this stuff must be disabled to keep workers safe. Nothing should be able to move, rotate, cycle, etc. until the work is finished and everyone understands that the power is being resumed.
Warehouses are filled with dangers involving things like forklifts, robotic arms, powered gates or lifts, conveyors, sorters, dock equipment, etc. When they are in need of service or repair, it is imperative that proper LOTO protocols exist and are implemented.
If the machinery or equipment is restarted or triggered in some way, a warehouse worker can suffer severe injuries that include:
- Traumatic amputations
- Internal organ trauma (crushing injuries)
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage
- Fractures
- Burns
- Scarring and Disfigurement
- Wrongful death (electrocution, entrapment / asphyxiation, etc.).
More than one party (company and individual) may be responsible for a LOTO warehouse accident by breaching defined duties of care found in safety regulations or established industrial standards. This includes employers; lessors; equipment or machine manufacturers; parts manufacturers; designers of machines, equipment, or parts; and contractors for servicing or maintenance.
Accident reconstruction expert investigations may find things like a lack of proper procedure for energy control at the site of the accident; failure to understand of all sources of energy in the area and how they are to be disabled or contained during work; and lack of training for warehouse workers on the dangers involved in any lockout/tagout on the site.
All warehouse workers should have a healthy respect for all the hazardous energy sources at their workplace, and more than one party may have a legal duty to educate them on this.
Warehouses are key to the growing e-commerce industry here in Illinois and Indiana. More and more people are buying online, and waiting for their purchases to be delivered to their doorstep, even their groceries and prescriptions. The machinery and equipment hum 24/7/365 in these worksites, and often things need to be maintained or repaired where lockout/tagout safety measures must be respected to keep workers safe.
For more, read:
- Liability in Chicago Warehouse Worker Injury Claims: Accident Expert Investigations
- Growing Danger of Serious or Deadly Warehouse Accidents in Chicagoland
- Housekeeping in Warehouses: Work Accident Dangers in Illinois and Indiana
- Deadly Dangers Rising for Warehouse Workers in Indiana and Illinois.
LOTO accidents are a known danger in our warehouse worksites and failures in lockouts or tagouts can destroy a worker’s life in seconds. Please be careful out there!
