Permit to Work – not a bureaucratic nightmare

Permit to work systems are excellent tools for controlling any non-routine procedures in any kind of workplace.  They can be used effectively to manage the safety of contractors and in house workers.  Like any health and safety management system they only work well when they are backed up by a culture of safety with full commitment and adequate knowledge.  These human qualities are more important than any bit of paper.

A Permit to Work is a formal management system used to control high risk activities. These enable an assessment of risks to be made and to specify control measures which will be put in place in order to minimise the risk.  An authorising person issues the permit as a formal permission to start work, having agreed reasonable safety measures.  It should be time and space specific with all parties who could be effected by the work, or endanger the workers concerned, considered.  A suitable system of safety monitoring should be built into the system.  At the end of the work the permit should be signed off by both parties, with assurances that the site has been left safe and tidy.  Where a permit covers more than one working day or work session, it should be signed on and off each time the workers come on and off site.

The documents need not be complicated and should certainly not repeat information already in the risk assessment/method statement (RAMS).  In fact the RAMS or standard operating procedures should ideally be attached to the document.  Ideally the permit should be issued for every piece of work of a non-routine nature except where it is so simple and short in duration that direct accompaniment and supervision would be more practical.

Specific permits to work may be beneficial in conjunction with the general permit to work.  These may be for such things as hot works or confined space working.  Be cautious though not to create too many specific permits to work as it may be ridiculous to have a general permit and a working at height one for changing a few lightbulbs just slightly out of reach.

Don’t lose sight of what the permit to work system is for.  It is for managing safety, not for creating paper mountains.  The human elements of training, experience, co-operation, coordination and supervision will always be far more important than filling in a form with burdensome detail.

So, don’t turn a Permit to Work System into a bureaucratic nightmare.

This article was written by a guest author: our very own Senior Health and Safety Consultant:

Peter Phillips BA(Hons) MCIEH CMIOSH