A single point isolation, is where there is only one point that needs to be isolated prior to maintenance or repairs commence. In situations where more than one person is working on the job, a hasp is commonly applied to allow multiple workers to lock on with their red personal safety padlocks.

A group isolation system is an efficient method of isolating multiple energy sources prior to maintenance or repairs commencing. In a group isolation, a person known as an authorised isolator would isolate all the energy sources with a keyed alike set of safety padlocks (often yellow in colour). The isolations would be verified by a second person. Once all the energy sources have been isolated, the authorised isolator places the key to the yellow safety padlocks inside a Group Lock Box and then places his or her safety padlock on the outside of the box.