Permit-to-Work Software Demo: Offline Records and Shift Handover

1. Start with the permit process

HSE describes a permit-to-work system as a formal way to communicate and coordinate specified work. Issuing a permit does not by itself make the job safe. Map the responsibilities, related permits and handback steps in your existing process before discussing automation. HSE also highlights changeover, interface and training considerations when introducing electronic systems.

HSE: Permit-to-work systems. Human-factors guidance from Great Britain; adapt the evaluation to your site's process and applicable requirements. Checked 20 September 2026.

2. Demonstrate authority and status transitions

Ask the vendor to represent your request, review, authorisation, suspension, handover and closure states. Use separate test accounts to show who can make each change and what information they must see. Check how expired or withdrawn records appear in searches, notifications and linked views. Agree what the software records and which decisions remain with authorised people.

3. Define disconnected behaviour precisely

Distinguish viewing a cached record, drafting information and changing an authorised status. Ask how users recognise stale information and what happens if a permit changes while a device is disconnected. Test conflict handling after reconnection. Record unsupported tasks and the agreed fallback process; a generic claim of “offline support” does not establish that current authorisation is available.

4. Check linked work and physical controls

A link to an isolation, asset, contractor or risk record needs a defined owner and update process. In a simulation, change a linked record and inspect the effect on the permit view and review workflow. Confirm what conflict checks actually compare and which dependencies remain manual. A status in software does not demonstrate that a physical isolation or other control has been carried out.

5. Review changeover and continuing administration

Plan configuration review, user training, migration and the treatment of open records during changeover. Ask for the support arrangements and export scope for permit history and attachments. Assess processing time alongside review quality, unresolved dependencies and handover completeness; speed alone is an insufficient acceptance measure.

6. Look at what the incoming shift sees

HSE's human factors guidance on shift handover describes the aim as accurate, reliable communication of task-relevant information across shift changes, using both verbal and written communication, face to face and two way, with enough time allowed. A permit screen can carry the written part. Ask the vendor to show what an incoming supervisor sees: open permits, suspended work and conditions still outstanding. Check whether acknowledgement is recorded and whether the workflow leaves room for the conversation instead of replacing it. HSE's page does not discuss permits to work as such, so applying it to permits is our reading, not HSE's.

HSE: shift handover. General guidance on handover communication in safety-critical industries; it does not mention permit-to-work software. Checked 3 October 2026.

7. Follow a permit to the isolation it relies on

HSE's guidance HSG253 covers the safe isolation of plant and equipment, including work control systems and documentation. A permit that refers to an isolation should lead to a record that can be checked on its own: who isolated, what was isolated, how the isolation was proved and who holds the lock or tag. In the demonstration, open a permit and follow its link to the isolation record. Then change the isolation and see whether the permit is flagged or silently keeps its earlier status. The guidance is not a software specification, and a record in the system still does not show that the physical isolation is in place.

HSE: HSG253, the safe isolation of plant and equipment. The publication page for guidance issued in 2006. We read only the page summary, not the full text. Checked 3 October 2026.

8. For US sites, test lockout continuity

Where OSHA's lockout and tagout standard applies, 29 CFR 1910.147 requires an energy control program of procedures, training and periodic inspections. It requires an inspection at least annually by an authorised employee other than those using the procedure, and specific procedures during shift or personnel changes so that protection continues. Ask the vendor to show where the annual inspection is recorded and by whom, how a group lockout with several people is represented, and how the transfer of a device between an outgoing and an incoming employee is logged. Whether the standard applies to a given task is for the safety specialist to decide.

OSHA: 29 CFR 1910.147, control of hazardous energy. The text of the US standard. It sets no rule for software, and other countries apply different rules. Checked 3 October 2026.