Applying for a permit to work: when you need one and how the process runs

When do you need a permit to work?

A permit to work is a written authorization to carry out high-risk work under conditions set in advance. The idea is that this kind of work should not rely on the fitter's knowledge alone: someone else checks beforehand that everything is in place and only then releases the work.

When you need a permit differs per client, site and type of work. It is standard especially on industrial sites and with clients that have strict safety rules. Always check the rules of the site and apply before your planning is final, because a permit takes time.

For which work do you usually apply for a permit?

The list differs per organization, and sometimes a client asks for a permit for more types of work than listed below, sometimes for fewer. It is usually work where a single mistake can have serious consequences:

• Hot work: welding, grinding, cutting and work with open flames or sparks, because of fire and explosion risk.
• Work in confined spaces, such as tanks, silos, pits and crawl spaces, where the air may be dangerous or escape is difficult.
• Work at height, when fall hazards are not covered by permanent provisions.
• Excavation, because of cables, pipes and risk of collapse.
• Work on installations that are live, under pressure or running, involving isolating and locking out.
• Lifting with heavy or unusual loads, or near other people.

Permit to work, TRA and LMRA: how do they fit together?

The permit is the authorization, the TRA the justification and the LMRA the last check. For high-risk work the permit often requires an approved TRA, so that the applicant shows that steps, hazards and measures have been thought through.

The permit does not relieve you of your own judgment. Even with a released permit you do the LMRA on site, and if you see something that is not right, you stop. A permit gives authorization within the conditions, not for everything that might happen.

Applying for a permit to work step by step

Submit the application well in advance, so there is time to assess it and take preparatory measures. A same-day application often leads to rushed work or a rejected plan.

• Describe the work: what, where, when, for how long and with which equipment.
• Name who carries it out, with company and role, and who supervises.
• Attach the task risk analysis or refer to it, if the type of work requires it.
• State which measures you take beforehand, such as cordoning off, isolating, ventilating or a fire watch.
• Show that the people doing the work are competent, with valid certificates or training.
• Answer the application questions for the type of work and submit the application.

Checks beforehand and release

An application is not yet authorization. The issuer, often someone from the client or a designated person in your own company, assesses the application and visits the work area where needed. The checks differ per type of work.

Think of questions such as whether the installation is isolated and locked out, whether measurements have been taken (such as oxygen or explosion risk) against the limits from your own procedure, whether there is a fire watch and extinguishers, whether the space is ventilated and whether there is an emergency plan in case something goes wrong. Only when everything is in order does the issuer release the permit, with a validity period and any additional conditions.

Competence: who may carry out the work?

For high-risk work a permit is not enough: the people doing the work must also be able to do it. Many clients ask for a valid certificate or demonstrable training, for example for confined spaces, aerial platforms or hot work. Check that validity before you apply, not only at the gate.

A certificate that has just expired can bring the whole planning to a halt. Keep an overview of expiry dates and plan renewals in time. Also look at the role: the supervisor, the fire watch or the standby person at a confined space sometimes has requirements of their own.

During the work and closing out

Display the permit or a work-area card on site, so that everyone can see the validity and conditions that apply. The permit covers only the work, place and time stated on it. If something important changes, such as the weather, the method or the staffing, or if the validity expires, you stop and ask for a new assessment.

At the end you close out the permit: the work is finished, the work area is cleared, temporary protections are removed or handed over and the installation is returned in a safe condition. Only then can the installation be put back into use. You keep completed and closed-out permits as evidence.

Common mistakes with a permit to work

Things rarely go wrong because paperwork is missing, but because coordination is off. Watch out for these pitfalls:

• Applying too late, which puts the planning under pressure and leads to skipped steps.
• Using a permit for one job for another job or another place.
• Releasing without going to the work area, based on the paperwork alone.
• Continuing after the validity has expired or after a change.
• Not recording measurements or noting them without a unit.
• Forgetting to close out, leaving it unclear whether the installation is safe.

How BrydgeOne supports this

In the Permit to work module you request high-risk work, someone with the right to issue releases it and you close it out, with checks up front. You adjust types such as hot work, confined space, work at height and excavation, with a maximum validity per type and the choice of whether an approved TRA is required. An application does not yet give authorization, and a critical question that is not approved blocks the release. You record measurements with a unit and your own limits. For the approved task risk analysis you use the TRA module, Certificate management tracks the validity of diplomas and inspections, and in Start-of-work meeting you discuss the work with the team.