Issuing a permit to work: scope, inspection and isolation

The risk assessment is done, the worksite is prepared, the supporting documents are in order and the safety equipment is ready. Now you bring it together with the Permit Receiver, confirm everything face-to-face, and make the decision to authorise the work.

If you’ve done our permit issuer training, you’ll know that the signature means you have personally verified the scope, inspected the site, and confirmed the isolations. It is the most consequential thing you do as a Permit Issuer, and the process behind it must be thorough.

Confirming the scope of work

The scope defines exactly what work is being done, on what equipment, in what location, and over what time period. It must be specific enough that anyone reading the permit understands what has been authorised and what has not.

Vague scope descriptions are one of the most common failures in permit documentation. A permit that says “electrical work in the switchboard room” could mean anything from tightening a terminal to rewiring a distribution board. A permit that says “replace the 63-amp circuit breaker on panel DB-04 in the ground floor switchboard room, north wing” tells you exactly what is happening and where. The second version is what a permit requires.

Confirm the scope with the Permit Receiver. Where that role is split between an applicant and a Person in Charge of the Worksite, both must be present for this conversation. If there is any ambiguity, resolve it now. If the Permit Receiver describes work that is broader than what is written on the permit, the permit must be amended or the work limited to what is documented. A permit does not cover work that is not specified on it, and work that expands beyond the authorised scope must stop until the permit is updated.

This conversation also covers the duration. A permit is valid for a defined period, typically one working day or one shift. If the work will take longer, the permit must be revalidated or reissued at the start of each subsequent period. Work stops when the permit expires, regardless of how close the job is to completion.

The site inspection

You do this in person, at the worksite, with the person who will be in charge of the work on the ground. This is not optional and it is not something you delegate – the worksite is inspected with the personnel in charge of the work, and that isolation and safety requirements are confirmed on site.

Walk the area and confirm that the conditions the risk assessment and worksite preparation were based on are actually present. The area must be clean and clear, access and egress routes adequate, conflicting work absent or managed, isolations in place, and PPE and safety equipment on site. If you find something that does not match the documentation, stop. Do not issue until the discrepancy is resolved.

The site inspection is your last opportunity to catch things that may not have been captured in the risk assessment. Weather conditions may have changed since the application was submitted. A second crew may have started work nearby. A piece of plant that was shut down yesterday may have been restarted overnight. A spill or leak may have changed the ground conditions. These are the kinds of things you find when you walk the site, and they are the kinds of things that cause incidents when they are missed.

Use the inspection to check the practical details that paperwork does not always capture. Is the scaffolding tagged as inspected? Is the fire extinguisher near the hot work area charged and current? Are the barricades actually in place, or have they been moved aside to allow vehicle access? Does the lighting in the work area allow people to see what they are doing?

Verifying isolations

Isolation is the physical separation of energy sources from the work area. Failures in isolation are among the most common causes of serious injuries and fatalities in permitted work, which is why verification is a step you do yourself rather than accept on trust.

At the issuing stage, your responsibility is to verify that every isolation identified on the permit has been completed, locked, tagged, and proven. Go to the isolation points. Check the locks are applied. Check that the tags identify the permit number, the date, and the person who applied them. Confirm the equipment is de-energised. Do not rely on someone telling you it has been done.

The critical final step is the bump test, or try test. This is how you confirm the isolation is real. You attempt to start or energise the isolated equipment and confirm it does not respond. Press the start button on the motor. Check the downstream side of a closed valve for pressure or flow. Use a voltage tester on an electrical circuit. If the equipment responds, the isolation has not worked and the work does not begin.

Consider a permit for replacing a coupling on a centrifugal pump. The isolation certificate shows the motor electrically isolated, the suction and discharge valves closed and locked, and the line drained. You walk to the motor control centre and confirm the isolator is locked off. You walk to the valves and confirm the locks and tags are on. But when you check the drain point at the base of the pump casing, fluid weeps out under residual pressure. The line has not been fully drained or vented, and the isolation is incomplete. That permit does not get issued until the condition is resolved.

Only after the bump test confirms the isolation is effective do you and the Permit Receiver both sign the isolation certificate. Only then does the permit proceed.

Your signature

Once you are satisfied that the scope is clear, the worksite is ready, and the isolations are verified and proven, you sign the permit. The Permit Receiver countersigns to confirm they understand and accept the scope, controls, and conditions.

Both parties retain a copy. The original stays at the worksite for the duration of the work so it is available for reference by anyone working under it or auditing it. The permit is recorded on the site register, and where your organisation uses a permit board or control station, a copy is posted there.

Your signature is not a formality. It is a statement that you have personally confirmed the worksite is safe for the work described on the permit to proceed. If you are not satisfied with any point, you do not sign.