Permit to Work: Employer's How-to Guide

The PTW form needs to be a detailed document that authorises certain people to carry out specific work at a specific site, at a certain time, and in a certain way.

It is usually prudent to establish a PTW system for higher-risk work that may adversely affect the safety of personnel, plant, or the environment. This includes non-production work, such as maintenance, repair, inspection, testing, alteration, construction, dismantling, adaptation, modification, cleaning, etc.

The need for a PTW and what activity may or may not require it, should always be laid out within any organisation’s health and safety procedures, contractor control documents, and relevant safety procedures.

For example, an organisation may apply a hot work permit system to any hot work, such as welding, use of gas torches, or hot air guns which take place other than in a permanent workshop where such work is routinely undertaken.

Similarly, a permit to work to control work at height may be applied to access a roof area without a fixed guard railing, but not to a roof area with a permanent guard railing.

PTW systems should be restricted to higher-risk and non-routine activities. This is to avoid it being devalued into a general authorisation document, such as contractor authorisation for all contractors coming on site. As opposed to controlling high-risk work undertaken by such contractors.

Examples of Tasks That Require a PTW

While there is no definitive list, typical tasks likely to require a PTW system include:

• • Hot Works

• • Working In Excavations

• • Electrical Work (HV)

• • Confined Spaces

• • Electrical Work (Isolations)

• • Vessel Entry

• • Work At Height

• • Working With Asbestos

Permit-to-work systems should be considered whenever it is intended to carry out work that may adversely affect the safety of personnel, plant, or the environment.

However, permit-to-work systems should not be applied to all activities, as experience has shown that their overall effectiveness may be weakened.

Permits-to-work are not normally required for controlling general visitors to the site or routine maintenance tasks in non-hazardous areas.

One critical feature of any PTW system would be clear identification of all persons who may authorise particular jobs, any limits to their authority, and who is responsible for specifying the necessary precautions.

Clarity & consistency of titles or role holders used throughout all PTW documentation is vital.

Examples of Tasks That Don’t Require PTW

• • Person requesting the work

• • Competent person that assesses the work plan to evaluate if the work can be carried out safely

• • Person working under the terms of the permit

• • Person authorising the permit for issue

• • Person issuing the permit

• • Person accepting the permit on behalf of the user(s)

• • Person in control of the location where the work is to be carried out

• • Person carrying out checks as detailed on the permit

• • Person responsible for making isolations

• • Person required to supervise, monitor, or otherwise verify that the work plan is authorised is being complied with

• • Persona that closes out the permit

• • Person that accepts hand back of the plant being working upon (if applicable)

When incidents occur under permit to work systems, they are often caused by a lack of training, instruction, communication, or understanding of the system’s purpose or practical application.

Effective training is therefore essential to achieving quality and consistency in the use of PTW systems, and there should be successive levels of training for those involved. All workers (at every level of each organisation involved) who actively take part in and contribute to the PTW system should receive training in the use of the PTW system.

All PTW documents need to contain a clear description of the work to be done, its location, start time, duration, the precautions required and that limitations on the timing and scope of the work are defined.

Copies of a PTW should be clearly displayed at the work site, or in an alternative recognised location. If this is not practicable, e.g. when a job is carried out in several locations, then the permit should be kept on the person accepting the permit on behalf of the user.

Work being carried out under a PTW may sometimes have to be suspended, for example, if the work cannot be completed due to a lack of parts, if there is an emergency, or if the nature or scope of the work changes.

Suspended permits should note the condition in which the plant or equipment has been left and the consequences for other activities. Work should not recommence until the person issuing the permit has confirmed that it is safe to do so and has revalidated the permit or issued a new permit.

Hand-Back Procedure

A hand-back procedure should be in place that confirms whether the work has been completed, that the plant or equipment has been returned to a safe condition, and that it is safe to be returned to the control of other areas or departments, such as production staff.

Monitoring and auditing systems should be in place to ensure that the PTW system is working as intended.

Get Expert Advice

If you have any questions about a Permit to Work or if you’re not sure whether you have all the necessary control measures in place, now is the time to contact us.

The Avensure Health and Safety team can provide expert advice to keep your workplace safe and compliant. Simply click here: Avensure Contact.