If you work on a construction site, no matter where you are in the world, you are likely to need a permit to work. This is because construction is a high risk industry, with many danger challenges that can mean that your people and the public are at risk.
In order to minimise that risk and ensure that your business is working in a compliant manner, a permit to work can be essential. They help to ensure that the right people are working on site, by detailing what is required of the role and what training is necessary.
Without a permit to work system, your business risks putting the wrong people on site. This is not only costly and ineffective, but also means that your site will be at higher risk of incidents.
We’re taking a look at why a permit to work is so crucial in construction, and how to manage them.
Why are permits to work essential in construction?
A permit to work is an essential in any industry or business that poses high risks, and construction sites often fall into that category. This is because construction sites are full of hazards that can be a risk to your people and the public. Some of the main concerns that need to be taken into account, and which may require a permit to work are:
- Working at height.
- Moving objects.
- Slips, trips, and falls.
- Noise.
- Hand arm vibration syndrome.
- Material and manual handling.
- Collapsing trenches.
- Asbestos.
- Electricity.
- Airborne fibres and materials.
Permit to Work systems are crucial to help manage these high risk elements of working in construction to ensure that work is able to continue to go on safely. Permits to work are usually supported by a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) process and a range of related procedures for high risk activities.
How are permits to work issued in construction?
To issue a permit to work, you need to be trained in work safety and hazards and need to be able to prove that. This may require certification and constant training updates to ensure that people in your organisation are assessing others are up to scratch.
Once your organisation has confirmed who is eligible to issue a permit, the person nominated to issue a permit to work informs the head contractor and details the tasks to be carried out and the location of the work. This is then assessed against each individual’s skills and qualifications to ensure that the right people are allocated to each job. After these are aligned and confirmed to match up, a permit to work will be issued to confirm that the person is able to do the job at hand.
How can you manage work permits in construction?
Despite the importance of an up to date and legitimate permit to work in construction, often people leave them to the last minute and don’t give them as much attention as they should. Equally, many people still use paper-based systems, which means that things can easily get lost. Not only that, but motivation is often low for people to fill out forms by hand and physically hand them over to someone.
For those reasons quickly detailed above, paper based systems are now being replaced by digital permits to work systems that allow versatile permit layouts, workflows and standards guaranteeing that mean that your company can get a full view of the permits being issued throughout the business.
Managing permits to work in construction can be done via an online system that allows you to:
- Issue Permits to Work.
- See Permit approvals.
- Audit-friendly records for permit history and access history.
- Work on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.
Managing permits to work in construction
Are you looking to manage your permits to work in a more effective way? Discover why a more effective permit to work solution is required for any construction site in our handy article.
Alternatively, you can get in touch today to start a free trial and see how much easier life is with a seamless permit to work solution that takes the hassle out of issuing work permits in construction.
