Process family
Permit to work: from site induction to gas testing and stop work authority
Sixteen safety templates around the permit to work: contractor induction, toolbox talk, the permit itself, gas testing and stop work authority, plus hot work, confined space, height and excavation permits and four isolation charts.
Permit to work is the control system that turns hazardous work into authorized work: the people on site are inducted and briefed, the job is screened and assessed, isolations are applied and proved, an authorized person issues a time-limited permit at the worksite, the atmosphere is tested and kept tested, and anyone can stop the job. Five templates form the spine; eleven cover the permit types, the isolations and the yard-specific SOPs.
Contractor safety induction is the gate: ID and certificates checked, site rules and emergency arrangements briefed, an expiring badge and a supervised first shift. The toolbox talk then briefs the hazards the crew will meet today and the controls from the risk assessment. The permit to work process is the spine: work screened and assessed, isolations applied and proved, a permit issued at the worksite, suspended if conditions change, and cancelled only when the plant is handed back and accepted. The hot work, confined space, working at height and excavation permits hang off its permit-type decision; lockout/tagout, electrical and multi-energy isolation take over at its isolation step.
The failures are in what is assumed, not proved. Gas testing exists because an atmosphere safe at permit issue may not be safe an hour later: an authorized tester, a calibrated, bump-tested detector, oxygen before LEL and toxics, readings judged against stated limits, a record on the permit with a validity period, and retests or continuous monitoring while the work runs. The isolation charts insist on zero energy verified at the point of work, not a switch in the off position. Stop work authority catches what the plan missed: anyone can stop the job, the area is made safe, the hazard is agreed and controlled at source, and resumption is signed off only when the person who stopped it agrees.
The ship-repair twins, the hot work permit and confined space entry SOPs, and the high-voltage electrical work SOP carry the same structure with a dock master, HSE and a named authorized person signing the gates; the furniture-plant lockout/tagout chart adds a group lockout branch. Two controls are not here: there is no lifting or rigging permit, and the pre-start-up safety review appears only as a gate inside the management of change chart in the change control family, not as a permit of its own. What happens when a control fails is the safety incidents family, from near-miss report to investigation; the maintenance work the permit authorizes is drawn in the maintenance family.
The sequence
Step 1: Contractor safety induction process flowchart (site access)
Contractor safety induction flowchart template: pre-qualification check, ID and certificate checks at the gate, site rules and emergency briefing, work area walk, assessment, badge issue with an expiry and supervised first shift.
Step 2: Toolbox talk process flowchart (daily pre-task safety briefing)
Toolbox talk flowchart template: topic from the talk plan or a recent incident, controls from the risk assessment, the talk delivered at the workface, issues fixed, logged or stopped, attendance recorded.
Step 3: Permit to work process flowchart (issue, suspend, hand back)
Permit to work process flowchart template: screening, risk assessment, permit type, isolation and proving, second signature, issue and display, suspension, shift handover, hand-back and cancellation.
Step 4: Gas testing process flowchart (permit-to-work atmospheric testing)
Gas testing flowchart template: test called on the permit, authorised tester, calibration and bump test, oxygen then LEL then toxics, a limits decision, ventilate and retest, continuous monitoring and alarm response.
Step 5: Stop work authority process flowchart (stop to resumption)
Stop work authority flowchart template: stop the job and warn those affected, make the area safe, agree the hazard, fix it or escalate, authorise resumption in writing, and protect the person who stopped.
Also part of this family
- Hot work permit process flowchart (welding, cutting and grinding) — Hot work permit process flowchart template: cold-method challenge, area fire risk assessment, combustibles cleared, fire watch appointed, gas test, time-limited permit, suspension on alarm, post-work watch and closure.
- Confined space entry process flowchart (permit-required entry) — Confined space entry flowchart template: the avoid-entry test, isolation and lock-off, ventilation, gas testing, rescue cover, permit issue, attendant and monitoring, evacuation, headcount and permit cancellation.
- Working at height permit process flowchart (fall protection) — Working at height permit process flowchart template: the avoidance question, collective protection or fall arrest, rescue plan, scaffold and MEWP inspection, weather call, exclusion zone, permit issue and close-out.
- Excavation permit process flowchart (ground disturbance) — Excavation permit flowchart template: utility records and service marking, hand digging inside the tolerance zone, soil classification, sloping or shoring, permit issue, pre-entry inspection, backfill and handback.
- Lockout/tagout process flowchart (LOTO hazardous energy control) — Lockout/tagout process flowchart template: minor servicing check, equipment-specific procedure, affected employee notification, isolation, group lockbox, stored energy, zero energy verification and lock removal.
- Electrical isolation process flowchart (identify to re-energise) — Electrical isolation flowchart template: identify the circuit and every supply, decide dead or live working, isolate and lock off, prove dead, earth where required, issue the permit, work and restore.
- Energy isolation process flowchart (multi-energy process plant) — Energy isolation process flowchart template: isolation boundary and energy sources, isolation standard, scheme approval, lock and tag, purge, zero-energy proving, isolation certificate and reinstatement.
- Hot work permit SOP: gas test, fire watch, and closure — A hot work permit SOP for ship repair: gas-test the atmosphere, assign a fire watch, get dock master and HSE sign-off, then hold a mandatory post-work watch before the permit closes.
- Confined space entry SOP for ship repair yards — A confined space entry SOP for ship-repair yards: risk assessment, isolation and ventilation, atmosphere testing, permit issue, standby and rescue readiness, entry, and permit closeout.
- High-Voltage Electrical Work SOP — A high-voltage electrical work SOP for Scanel's strictest, safety-gated jobs: a written isolation plan, a named Authorized Person authorization gate, and a verified de-energization check before anyone touches the system.
- Equipment lockout/tagout process flowchart (furniture manufacturing) — An equipment lockout/tagout process flowchart covering multi-source energy isolation, a group lockout branch for multiple workers, and a zero-energy verification.