Permit to Work
Control high-risk work — hot work, confined space, working at height, electrical, and excavation — with a type-specific safety checklist, an approval workflow, and an embedded AI Assistant.
Overview
Permit to Work controls high-risk work through a formal permit lifecycle: hot work, confined space entry, working at height, electrical work, excavation, and general permits. Every permit carries a mandatory, type-specific safety checklist that must be reviewed before work begins.
The screen combines a searchable, filterable, multi-select table with an embedded AI Assistant scoped to permit scheduling and risk review.
Auto-Numbered
Every permit gets a PTW-##### number generated automatically on creation.
Six Permit Types
Hot Work, Confined Space, Working at Height, Electrical, Excavation, and General — each type comes pre-loaded with its own 5-item safety checklist.
Type-Specific Checklists
Selecting a permit type auto-populates the checklist with the relevant safety checks (e.g. fire watch for hot work, gas monitoring for confined space).
Approval Workflow
Permits move through Draft → Pending Approval → Approved → Active → Completed, with an explicit Approve action and approver name recorded.
Multi-Select Table
Select one or more permits with row checkboxes to scope the AI Assistant to exactly the records you care about.
AI Assistant
Ask the embedded assistant to flag permits nearing their start time, spot scheduling conflicts, or review high-risk permit types.
Quick Start
- Open Permit to Work in the QHSE sidebar group.
- Click Add Permit.
- Enter a Title, choose the Type (this auto-populates the safety checklist), and set the Location.
- Fill in Requested By, an optional Job Reference, and the Start / End date-times.
- Describe the work in Work Description, and list any Hazards and Precautions (comma-separated).
- Review and tick each item in the Checklist before saving.
- Click Create. The permit starts in Draft status.
- Once ready, use the inline Approve button (visible on Draft and Pending Approval permits) to move it to Approved.
Permit Types & Default Checklists
Choosing a permit type auto-populates the checklist with five type-specific safety checks. The checklist is only auto-replaced if it hasn't been touched yet — editing an existing permit's checklist, then changing the type, preserves your edits instead of silently overwriting them.
| Type | Example checklist items |
|---|---|
| Hot Work | Fire extinguisher inspected, combustibles cleared 10m, area barricaded, fire watch assigned, gas detectors checked. |
| Confined Space | Atmospheric testing complete, continuous gas monitoring, rescue team on standby, entry/exit log maintained, ventilation operating. |
| Working at Height | Harness inspected and worn, anchor point load-rated, exclusion zone established, scaffold/MEWP inspection signed off, tool tethering in place. |
| Electrical | Lockout/Tagout applied, absence of voltage confirmed, authorised electrician assigned, insulated tools/PPE in use, adjacent live circuits guarded. |
| Excavation | Utilities located and marked, edges benched/sloped/shored, spoil pile set back 1m, safe access ladders installed, daily inspection signed. |
| General | Work area inspected, PPE identified and worn, emergency procedures communicated, first-aid kit accessible, toolbox talk completed. |
Permit Status Lifecycle
A permit can also be set to Cancelled at any point before completion.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
draft | Being prepared; not yet submitted for approval. Every new permit starts here. |
pending_approval | Submitted and awaiting sign-off from an authorised approver. |
approved | Signed off — approver name is recorded automatically when this status is set via the Approve action. |
active | Work is currently underway under this permit. |
completed | Work finished; permit closed out. |
cancelled | Permit withdrawn before completion. |
Quick Approve
Draft and Pending Approval permits show an inline Approve button directly in the table row — no need to open the edit modal just to approve a permit.
Table, Search & Filters
The table lists Permit #, Type, Title, Location, Requested By, Status, Start, End, and Approved By. Search matches against title, permit number, location, requester, and approver name. Status tabs (All / Draft / Pending Approval / Approved / Active / Completed / Cancelled) narrow the list further, each showing a live count.
Multi-Select and List Style
A checkbox column sits to the left of the Permit # column. The header checkbox selects or clears every row currently in view; per-row checkboxes toggle individual permits. Selecting one or more rows scopes the AI Assistant panel to just those permits — with nothing selected, the assistant uses the current filtered view instead.
Checkbox shape and check-icon visibility follow the shared List Style settings (Settings → Appearance → Multi-Select Shape / Show Check Icon).
AI Assistant
A collapsible AI Assistant panel lives on the right edge of the screen. Click the sparkle tab to open it. Suggested prompts:
- Which pending-approval permits are close to their scheduled start time? — surfaces permits that need urgent sign-off.
- Are there any overlapping permits in the same location or time window? — flags potential scheduling conflicts.
- Summarize the draft, pending, approved, active, completed, and cancelled permits — a quick status breakdown.
- Which high-risk permit types are active or upcoming? — highlights hot work, confined space, and other elevated-risk permits.
If one or more permits are selected via the checkboxes, the assistant's context is limited to just those records; otherwise it analyses the currently filtered table view. Replies with useful analysis can be saved directly to My Reports with the "Save as Report" button.
CSV Export
Click Export CSV in the top toolbar to download the currently filtered permit list, covering Permit #, Type, Title, Location, Requested By, Status, Start, End, Approved By, and Job Reference.