Process safety management was introduced by OHSA to guide the holistic management of safety in a factory. The standard incorporates best practices for effective safety management.
The permit to work helps to reduce the risk of safety incidents by ensuring the people involved are aware of the specific hazards, take the necessary precautions and are competent for the work. It also ensures that communication takes place between production and maintenance teams throughout the job from planning, preparation, execution to hand over and restoring the plant to normal operations.
Confined space entry is a particularly dangerous activity and special care needs to be taken when work is done. The confined space permit assists the employer to make sure that adequate precautions are in place for each job or task involving confined spaces.
A permit to work is a formal document that is part of a structured process designed to improve the safety of people working on hazardous jobs.
IntelliPERMIT is not a computer based replica of a paper-based permit system. Intelligent safety rules, enforced system controls, auditability, visibility etc. are all enhanced over paper-based systems and represent a step change in safety integrity and reliability.
A permit to work system touches many functions; production, safety, maintenance, people and information technology. Getting all of these stakeholders aligned to a common goal is essential for a successful implementation of IntelliPERMIT.
The primary role of a permit to work system is to improve the safety of maintenance activities in hazardous production environments. This is particularly important during shutdowns when there are many contractors on site unfamiliar with the process, and who might be under tight deadlines to bring the plant back online.
