Permit to work forms are commonly used by workers and contractors to ensure that work is done safely for any task that has the potential to affect the health and safety of people in the workplace. Using a permit to work involves a permit request, review by the responsible person, authorisation of the permit and supporting documentation to begin the job task or activity. Typically this might be in response to a work request and helps prevent any conflicting job activity tasks from other workers.
Comprehensive Permit to Work Forms
With permit to work templates, each type of work activity matched to the appropriate template will detail the risk controls, certifications, hazards, risks, equipment and, isolation management to be implemented. It will include what process and procedure to follow for the job activity with checks at each stage during the job activity.
Best practice permit to work templates are typically covering the hazardous activity and safety checks to be performed by the worker of contractor with a workflow around review and approval before work can commence and a sign off process with a digital historical record of the permit to work. This commonly forms part of your Permit to Work System and your overall Contractor Management process.
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Workplaces are diverse and different, operate in different industries with complex working requirements and worksites where a permit to work form is required. The permit to work should be easy to access, complete and work through the safety checks involved through to approval and sign off. It should provide a clear overview of the job activity and tasks, the risks, instructions and approvals.
With so many critical workflow components, an online management of permit to work forms is critical. When using a permit to work system, organisations can:
- enable quick and easy access to submit a permit to work form digitally
- have a digital record of all permit to work forms both historical and current/active
- provide digital access to different permit to work templates and forms
- enable responsible persons to access, review and approve permits to work remotely and easily
Here are 10 of the best permit to work templates that are commonly used across workplaces and the risk types they relate to:
1: Hot work permit
A hot work permit to work is a crucial safety measure for any workplace where activities such as welding, cutting, or grinding are performed. This permit is essential for ensuring that potential fire hazards are identified and controlled before hot work operations commence. By requiring a hot work permit, organizations can effectively mitigate the risk of fires and protect the safety of workers, equipment, and property. Understanding the purpose and importance of a hot work permit to work is essential for maintaining a secure work environment and preventing potential disasters.
A hot work permit is required for temporary job tasks that involve open flames or producing heat and / or sparks. Examples might include: Brazing, Soldering, Grinding, Torch Applied Roofing or Welding.
2: Radioactive materials
There are a number of industries where radioactive materials and radiation are involved in job activities from working in various health sectors, transmitter or mining.
3: Dangerous chemicals
Job activities involving dangerous chemicals are applicable in many different industries and a permit to work is relevant across a wide spectrum of job tasks here relating to substances, mixtures and articles used, handled, generated or stored at the workplace. It also relates to the generation of hazardous chemicals from work processes, for example toxic fumes.
4: Power supplies
For activities and job tasks relating to inspection, testing, commissioning, operation, maintenance and modification of power generation assets i.e for High Voltage (HV) and Low Voltage (LV) work.
5: Confined spaces
A confined space permit to work is a crucial document that authorizes individuals to conduct work in confined spaces. This permit is used to ensure the safety of workers and prevent accidents in areas with limited access and potential hazards. By obtaining a confined space permit to work, companies can demonstrate their commitment to maintaining a safe working environment and complying with regulations. It serves as a formal acknowledgment of the risks associated with working in confined spaces and outlines the necessary precautions and procedures that must be followed. Therefore, understanding the purpose and significance of a confined space permit to work is essential for promoting workplace safety and mitigating potential dangers associated with working in such environments.
Required for job tasks that involve an enclosed or partially enclosed work space that is not designed or intended primarily to be occupied by a person or is likely to be a risk to health and safety due to hazards and conditions such as safe oxygen levels contaminants, gases, vapours dusts or other hazardous conditions that may cause injury. Hazards or risks from fire or explosion, harmful concentrations of any contaminants or other dangerous fire risks.
6: Excavation Permit to Work Template
Typically for job activity or works such as removing soil or rock to make a trench, tunnel or shaft, or filling or part filling a trench, tunnel or shaft where risks might include a fall from one level to another, the dislodgement of earth or rock, hazardous noise or exposure to an airborne contaminant.
7: Working at heights
Commonly for works on a roof surface, near an exposed edge, near an open hole, on heavy plant and machinery, on a tower structure, erecting scaffolding or on a crane
8: Electrical Template
Working with live electrical equipment and condition and the specific hazards and precautions to undertake with live work. Specifically designed to deal with the control measures and precautions for live electrical work and that have been implemented.
9: Other hazardous conditions
For general work and job activities involving hazards with the checks to workflows around elimination or effectively controlled hazards to ensure all risks are reduced.
10: Maintenance Permit to Work Template
Popular maintenance staff, facility management and helps ensure equipment or materials should be locked out and isolated and tagged before any maintenance work commences.
The goal of each of these permit to work templates is to specify the hazards and the risk control measures that staff and contractors need to be aware of before they start work or the job activity. See more on 5 Must Have Permit to Work Software Forms.
Example Permit to Work Template
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A permit to work template is essentially a list of instructions for employees about undertaking hazardous activities in a safe manner. The instructions are usually specific to the industry, business or task at hand. For example, if someone wants to carry out electrical works then they must make sure that all switches are turned off before commencing operations - this would be stipulated clearly in the permits' terms and conditions. By using this type of documentation workers can be sure that they understand the risks involved in their particular job role and the necessary steps they need to take when completing tasks safely.
Using Permit to Work Software, you can centralise all permit to works digitially where contracting companies can access and search relevant permits for high risk work and all permit to work templates on demand and in real-time for different sites and work locations. This will commonly be part of your overall contractor management system.
With any of the templates above, when it comes to permit to work management, in todays modern and mobile workforce, contractors need fast and efficient tools for accessing, requesting and being assigned a permit to work. Using mobile based technologies and a mobile app helps ensure that when a contractor requests a permit to work or is assigned one for submission and review, they are being engaged in real-time and in the field as the job activity circumstances come up. There may be a quick fast need for a permit to work while the contractor in is the field. When sent to their mobile device, they can action those requests more quickly and approvals.
Quite often a permit to work relates to a job task of activity that spans multiple days. Rather than issuing a new permit to work each day the contractor returns, another approach is to simply sign in against an existing permit to work for ongoing works the authorisation to work relates to. A common workflow here is to implement a site access request to check each day that works being undertaken are either in relation to an activity that requires a new permit to work being issued or if the task relates to an existing permit to work.
If there's a custom permit to work form you need to create beyond our templates, try setting it up from scratch using our permit to work form builder
