Pick the wrong locking bracket and it either won’t fit the switch, or it’ll fit badly enough that a padlock can’t close through the tab. Either way the machine doesn’t get isolated and someone must drive back to the workshop.
The types of locking brackets used on heavy mobile plant are grouped by the switch they suit, not by the size of the machine. A Cole Hersee battery master switch needs a different bracket to a Bosch rotary, and neither will take the bracket that fits a Big Red. Get the switch model right and the size follows on its own.
This guide runs through the main bracket families, the sizes they come in, and how to work out which one is sitting on your gear right now.
What a Locking Bracket Does and Why the Type Matters
A locking bracket is a stainless-steel housing that fits over a battery isolation switch and gives you a tab to put a padlock through. With the lock on, the switch physically can’t be turned back to ON.
That’s the whole job. The isolation point already exists on the machine; the bracket is what makes it lockable.
Under the Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice for managing the risks of plant, plant has to be isolated and secured against accidental re-energising before anyone works on it. A switch you can only tag isn’t secured. A switch with a bracket and a padlock is.
The reason type matters more than it sounds: these brackets are cut to the exact collar diameter, shaft length and mounting hole pattern of one switch family. There’s no universal option. A 16mm collar bracket won’t sit on a switch with a wider boss, and forcing it usually means the lockout tab ends up out of reach of the padlock shackle.
The Main Types of Locking Brackets
Locksafe’s range covers five switch families. Nearly every machine on an Australian mine site or heavy transport fleet runs one of them.
Cole Hersee Battery Master Switch Brackets
The most common bracket on Australian sites, because Cole Hersee master switches are fitted to a huge amount of earthmoving and transport gear.
The LS11004 series is the compact option at 70mm x 55mm x 45mm and 0.25kg, with the padlock going through the front face. It suits the LS14006, LS14008 and LS14015 switches and runs $117 plus GST.
The LS11005 series is the same footprint and price, but the lockout tab sits on the top face instead of the front. That sounds like a trivial difference until you’re working on a machine where the switch is mounted low in a battery box and there’s no clearance in front of it. Top-face locking gives you the shackle room. It’s worth checking which orientation you need before ordering, because the two aren’t interchangeable in tight installs.
Bosch and Hella Switch Brackets
The LS11003 series steps up in size to 105mm x 140mm x 80mm at 0.4kg, with a moulded aluminium handle. It fits Bosch (LS14005) and Hella (LS14004) switches and costs $185 plus GST.
The bigger housing isn’t just about the switch being larger. This bracket is built to keep water off the switch body, which matters on machines that get pressure washed every shift or work through a Pilbara wet season. Water ingress into a rotary isolator is a slow failure, the switch gets stiff, then it starts arcing internally, then it fails closed and you’ve lost your isolation point entirely.
The LS11040-01 uses the same 105mm x 140mm x 80mm body and suits the LS14017 (6EK 008 458-011) switch, also at $185.
Keyed Switch Brackets
The LS11001 and LS11002 series both suit keyed isolation switches, working with the LS14003 and shipping with an LS14002C Ezy Key.
They’re compact at roughly 70mm x 55mm x 45mm, 0.3kg, and $170 plus GST. LS11001 locks on the front face, LS11002 on the top. Same clearance question as the Cole Hersee pair.
If you need a heavier duty version, the Kissling brackets (LS11003-01KL and LS11003-02KL) sit at $325 plus GST. They’re the option for gear where the isolation points cops constant vibration or knocks.
Big Red Switch Brackets
The LS11006 series is the largest in the standard range at 85mm x 130mm x 130mm and 0.5kg, suiting the LS14010 and LS14010S Big Red switches. It’s $237 plus GST.
What you’re paying for is the green LED (LS14001G) and the moulded handle with an integrated lockout tab. The LED gives you a visual check that the circuit is live before anyone puts a hand near it, which is a genuinely useful thing to have on a machine where the isolator is nowhere near the operator’s line of sight.
Transmission and Specialty Brackets
The LS11009 series is the transmission bracket, 70mm x 55mm x 45mm with a 16mm collar diameter, suiting the 382-4475 transmission switch at $123 plus GST.
Two more worth knowing about. The LS11036-01 is built from a mix of 2mm and 3mm stainless steel at 140mm x 180mm x 110mm and suits Cormar or Bipolar switches, $170 plus GST. And the LS11039-01 is a three way On/Off/On bracket with two locking tabs for the 35-221-130-R-900 switch only, $190 plus GST.
That last one is a good example of how specific these get. One switch part number, one bracket, no substitutes.
How to Match Bracket Size to Your Equipment
Locking bracket sizes fall into three broad groups and knowing which group you’re in narrows things down fast.
| Size group | Dimensions | Weight | Typical use |
| Compact | 70mm x 55mm x 45mm | 0.25 to 0.3kg | Cole Hersee, keyed and transmission switches |
| Mid | 105mm x 140mm x 80mm | 0.4kg | Bosch and Hella switches, water resistant |
| Large | 85mm x 130mm x 130mm to 140mm x 180mm x 110mm | 0.4 to 0.5kg | Big Red, Cormar and Bipolar switches |
Here’s the practical way to do it, in order:
- Read the part number off the switch itself, not off the machine’s spec sheet. Fleets get retrofitted and the paperwork rarely keeps up.
- Check where the padlock needs to go. Front face or top face, based on what’s actually around the switch once it’s mounted.
- Measure the clearance you’ve got. The mid and large brackets add real bulk, and a 140mm deep bracket in a battery box designed for a bare switch won’t close the lid.
- Decide whether you need water resistance. If the machine gets washed down or works in the wet, the sealed LS11003 style is worth the extra $68.
The good news on installation: most Locksafe brackets are designed to go on without pulling the switch and cables out. That’s the difference between a ten-minute job and a two hour job across a fleet of thirty machines.
If you’re not sure what you’re looking at, the fitting manuals have exploded diagrams for the Bosch/Hella, Cole Hersee and keyed switch families. Match the picture to the switch in front of you and you’ll have your answer.
When to Buy the Assembly Instead
Sometimes the bracket isn’t the right purchase at all.
If the switch on the machine is old, corroded or already intermittent, buying a bracket for it is throwing money at a part that’s about to fail. The isolator assemblies pair a new switch with the matching bracket in one unit, which removes the compatibility guesswork and gives you a known starting point.
Assemblies run roughly $314 to $359 plus GST depending on the switch. Against $117 to $237 for a bracket alone, the maths usually favours the assembly when the existing switch has more than a few years on it.
Working Out What You Need
Start with the switch part number. Everything else follows from it.
If you’re specifying brackets across a whole fleet, it’s worth doing a quick audit first and grouping machines by switch family. Most fleets only need two or three of the types of locking brackets covered here, not all eight, and ordering in those groups is cheaper than picking them off one at a time.
Locksafe designs and manufactures the full range out of Canning Vale in Perth, and the gear is in service with Rio Tinto, BHP, Glencore, FMG, Hitachi, Komatsu and Roy Hill dealers. If your switch isn’t in the standard range, they build custom brackets too. Worth a call before you assume something can’t be locked out.
You can see the full range on the locking brackets page or read up on why battery isolation switches belong in heavy vehicles if you’re building the case for fitting them fleet wide.
