How robust is your Permit to Work System: Full Audit Checklist

Established Risk Assessment Policy: Having an established policy for risk assessment of high-hazard operations and maintenance activities is crucial. This ensures that all potential risks are identified, evaluated, and mitigated before any work begins. It helps in maintaining a safe working environment and prevents accidents or incidents that could harm employees or damage equipment.

Clear Understanding of Permit System Objectives: The objectives of the permit system need to be clearly defined and understood by all involved. This ensures that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, and what they need to do to comply with the system. It also ensures that the system is implemented and used correctly, which is essential for it to be effective in preventing accidents and ensuring safety.

Flexibility of the Permit System: The permit system should be flexible enough to accommodate potentially dangerous tasks that were not specifically recognized at the time of its inception. This is important because work environments and tasks can change over time, and new hazards can emerge. A flexible system can adapt to these changes and continue to provide effective risk management.

Clear definition of responsibilities: ensures that everyone involved in the system knows their roles and duties. This promotes accountability and effective implementation of the system.

Understanding the scope of the permit system: ensures that it is applied correctly and consistently, reducing the risk of accidents due to unpermitted work.

Clear guidelines on permit issuance: Clear guidelines ensure that only qualified and authorised individuals can approve potentially hazardous work, enhancing the safety of the workplace.

Clear procedures: Accessible and clear procedures are essential to make the permit system easy to use and follow, ensuring that all necessary permits are obtained before work begins.

Prevention from self-issue of permits: This rule prevents potential conflicts of interest and ensures that the permit approval process is unbiased and thorough.

Importance Recognised: Recognition of the system’s importance promotes compliance and ensures that the system is used whenever necessary.

Displaying permits together by area/equipment: Keeping and displaying permits together allows for easy tracking and coordination of work activities, reducing the risk of accidents due to overlapping work.

Coordination and avoiding clashes: Coordination of work activities helps prevent accidents caused by unexpected interactions between different tasks.

Cross-referencing with other certificates & permits: Cross-referencing permits ensures that all necessary permissions have been obtained and relevant safety procedures are followed.

Agreeing to permitted works: Gaining agreement from all affected parties ensures that everyone is aware of the planned work and can take necessary precautions.

Authorisation to Remove Isolation procedures: This procedure ensures that safety measures remain in place until all associated work has been completed and checked.

Recovery Method: A recovery method ensures that work coordination can continue even in the event of a system failure, maintaining safety and productivity.

Permit Log and Permit Copies: This practice ensures that there is a record of all permits issued, which can be useful for tracking and auditing purposes. It also allows the permit holder to have a reference of the permit conditions at all times.

Permit copies on display: Displaying a copy of the permit at the work site allows everyone in the area to be aware of the ongoing work and its associated hazards, promoting a safer work environment.

Specific data capture: Clear and specific information on the permit ensures that the work is carried out as planned, in the correct location and by the authorised person, reducing the risk of accidents.

Permit Acceptance: The recipient’s signature confirms their understanding of the permit conditions and their commitment to follow the safety measures, which is crucial for ensuring safety.

Valid From and To: Time limits ensure that the permit conditions are reviewed at regular intervals and that the permit is still valid for the current work conditions, promoting ongoing safety.

Permit Handover: A handover process ensures that safety information is passed on to the next shift or team, maintaining continuity of safety measures.

Permit Return Signature: A hand-back signature confirms that the work has been completed as per the permit conditions, allowing for the permit to be closed and the work area to be safely returned to normal operations.

Permit training: Training on the permit system ensures that all personnel are aware of the permit system and its importance in maintaining safety on site.

Competent Personnel: This ensures that key personnel are competent and understand their responsibilities, which is crucial for the effective operation of the permit system.

Adequate time and resource: This ensures that tasks are not rushed, reducing the risk of errors or oversights that could compromise safety.

Formal Evaluation: A formal evaluation ensures that only competent individuals are given responsibilities, thereby maintaining the integrity of the permit system.

A maintained record: provides a reference for verifying that all personnel have received the necessary training and are competent to perform their roles.

Competent Contractors: Contractors are part of the workforce and their actions can impact safety. Therefore, they should also meet the same standards of training and competence.

Written proof of training:  Provides tangible evidence of training completion and allows for verification before assigning responsibilities, ensuring that only qualified individuals are appointed.

Contextual hazard awareness: Understanding the hazards is crucial for assessing risks and implementing appropriate safety measures, thereby ensuring the safety of all personnel.

Explicit job: This ensures that the scope of work is clearly defined, reducing the risk of misunderstandings that could lead to safety incidents.

Isolation Procedures documented: Well-documented isolation procedures ensure that the necessary precautions are taken when working on hazardous equipment, thereby enhancing safety.

Stop works:  This allows for reassessment of risks and implementation of additional safety measures if necessary, thereby maintaining a safe working environment.

Emergency protocol: This ensures that personnel know how to respond effectively in emergencies, which can help to prevent injuries and damage.

Identify potential hazards: This ensures that all potential risks are considered and appropriate safety measures are implemented.

Explicit safety precautions: This ensures that everyone involved in the work is aware of the necessary precautions, thereby promoting a culture of safety.

Disabling of devices protocol: This ensures that safety is not compromised when safety devices are inhibited and that there are plans in place to manage any potential risks.

Permit Checks: Ensures that the permit system is being followed correctly and consistently, which is crucial for maintaining safety standards.

Incident reporting: A suitable system allows for the timely and accurate reporting of incidents, which can help in identifying causes, implementing corrective actions, and preventing similar incidents in the future.

External Audits: external audits can provide an unbiased assessment of the system’s effectiveness and identify areas for improvement, thereby enhancing the overall safety of the workplace.

Review Process: Regular reviews can help to ensure that the system remains effective and up-to-date, taking into account changes in operations, technology, regulations, and best practices. This contributes to continuous improvement in safety management.