What is a work permit?
A work permit is a set of documents to permit to do a job which also includes the precautions that should be taken to avoid foreseeable safety hazards. In work permit also mentioned the location of work, time period, etc. It also ensures that the employees are well aware of the hazards and appropriate precautions before starting the work. It also acts as an agreement between the issuer and the receiver.
A work permit is needed for the employees to enter the confined space for installation, repairs, maintenance, and regular checkups.
Why use a Work Permit?
Employees have to sign work permits when their job is in very hazardous conditions and has the potential of causing serious injuries or death. The work permits contain the instructions employees should follow to do the job and this prevents instructions from being missed, forgotten, or misinterpreted. It also functions as a checklist to ensure that all potential threats have been recognized and assessed.
The following jobs require a permit:
• Maintenance jobs, both major and minor.
• Examination.
• The construction industry.
• Modification.
• Cleaning of process equipment
• Access to limited space.
• Demolition
• Vehicle access into dangerous places, and so on.
How to Get a Work Permit?
Step 1: The contractor needs to fill the company’s details, job description, location, date & time, and estimated time period of work in proper forms.
Step 2: The company’s engineering department validates this form and also checks whether all the employees are taken the necessary steps to prevent accidents.
Step 3: Regarding this validation and arranging necessary settings on the workplace based on the checklist send this permit to the Environment Health & Safety (EHS) department for further verification.
Step 4: Performer (Subcontractor Performing Authority) performs and supervises the work in accordance with the applicable permit prescription; once done, these activities notify the Validator of the permit for closure.
Types of Work Permit
Work permits in safety are mainly classified into two types. They are
-
Cold Work Permit
-
Hot Work Permit
Cold Work Permit
Cold work refers to any job that does not involve the use of an ignition source Working on pipes, adding valves, spades, or blanks, erecting scaffolding, adding insulation, or performing any mechanical or civil maintenance work without the use of flammable materials are all examples of cold work tasks. Working with corrosives, resins, solvents, chemical cleaning, radiation, or electrical equipment are also examples of cold works.
How does a Cold Work Permit Work?
-
Usually in most industries, the operator issues a cold work permit. The operator will issue a cold work permit to each and every individual if more workers are there.
-
Operator will check and give an authorization letter to perform the work once the cold work permit is filled.
-
The worker also needs to sign to acknowledge their responsibilities once the operator signs the permit
-
The details in the cold work permit will be entered in a directory after both parties sign. The employer can do their job at the site after getting the permit. The validity of the permit varies with the company policy.
Hot Work Permit
Hot work is any work that uses flame, heat, friction or may cause sparks or heat.
Examples of hot work
• Welding
• Brazing, and soldering.
• Grinding and cutting.
How does a Hot Work Permit Work?
The person who wants to do a hot work job has to contact the project manager or relevant department and obtain the work permit.
Permits for hot work are usually handled by the Risk Management or Fire Prevention departments. This may vary from industry to industry. The employee needs to fill in the details of hot work such as location, the behavior of the job, etc. to obtain the hot work permit.
Once the relevant department provides the hot work permit, the employee has to keep this work permit for the entire duration of the work.
Once the work is finished, the employee needs to hand over the permit to the project manager or relevant department.
The Advantages of the Work Permit System
The work permit provides information on the most common hazards in your line of work. It also specifies the precautions to be taken to avoid foreseeable hazards, as well as the remedies to be used in the event of a dangerous situation that may arise while doing the job.
• It provides a checklist of various safety precautions to be done.
• It gives a written record of the procedure, including the name of the person who performed it and was involved in the authorization and execution of the operations
• The permit system, which requires a variety of tests and precautions lets the crew think about safety before conducting the job, which will let them avoid any safety mishaps.
• The work permit system has shown to be one of the most effective ways of maintaining positive control over hazardous operations carried out under adverse conditions.
Work Permit Handling procedure
While requesting a work permit from the concerned authority by the user, the employer should arrange the equipment mentioned in the desired work permit. Get approval from QA if necessary
• The permit is a triplet in the logbook.
White, Pink, and Yellow.
The white copy shall be filled by the engineering department based on the job with a carbon copy on pink and yellow.
• After arranging necessary settings on the workplace based on the checklist send this permit to the Environment Health &Safety (EHS) department for further verification.
• Then EHS person shall verify and certify the arrangements and make sure all the safety precautions are taken
• Following approval, the EHS department will keep the pink copy and the vendor or originating department will keep the yellow copy. The engineering department will keep the white copy.
• After finishing the job, the vendor will contact the engineering department for verification about the job.
• Then the engineering department will contact the EHS department for closing the work permit.
What is toolbox talk?
A toolbox talk is a safety meeting that is part of an organization’s overall safety program that can be held anywhere, anytime depends upon the organization.
Usually, toolbox meetings are held at the job site before the commencement of a job or work shift. In the toolbox meetings, cover topics like hazards in the workplace and safe work practices during the job. Toolbox talks are considered a very effective method to avoid occupational hazards by giving awareness about safety.
Toolbox talks are also called toolbox meetings, tailgate meetings, or safety briefings.
Benefits of Toolbox Talk
• Promote awareness in safety
• Encourages employee involvement in the safety program
• It helps to give an idea about new safety rules, equipment, preventive practices, etc.
• Introduces important information to the workers on accident causes, types, and preventive measures
• Planning, preparation, supervision, and documentation are all highlighted.
• Encourages personnel to share their experiences in order to improve future safety measures.
Here are some examples of toolbox topics for construction
Fire Safety
It is very important to know to minimize fire hazards and how to evacuate if any emergency occurs.
A toolbox talk for fire safety includes how the fire starts, what are the type of fire hazards that can occur on your site, how to control if a fire occurs, etc.
Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls
There are thousands of people who are dying each and every year cause of slips, trips, and fall accidents. According to HSE (Health and Safety Executive), thousands of construction workers are injured each year due to trips or slipping while working on a construction site.
Toolbox talks about slips, trips, and falls that could minimize the hazards and what actions should employees take to minimize the risks such as watching their steps, managing materials properly, and waste around the site, etc.
General-Work-Permit.pdf (119.0 KB)
Permit-Form-Electrical-Work.pdf (50.1 KB)