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Permits to work: issue, sign off, suspend and close

Hot work, heights, confined spaces and more: a permit covers one work date under an approved SWMS, its controls are ticked before it goes active, and it's closed out at the end.

2 min readLast updated

Applies to: Site Safety Records · Administrator, Safety officer (HSEQ), Project or site manager, Director or executive

On this page

A permit to work controls high-risk work for one work date (24 hours at most), always under an approved SWMS. It moves Requested → Approved → Active → Closed, or Rejected or Cancelled; an active permit can be Suspended / withdrawn and resumed. Each one is numbered PTW-YYYY-NNNN.

Who does what

  • An admin issues permits, renews them and manages the permit types.
  • Builders and businesses: a safety officer issues and renews permits and manages the permit types too; a project or site manager approves, ticks controls, activates, suspends and closes permits on their own sites.
  • A director or executive can read permits but not change them.

How to issue a permit

  1. Step 1: Open Site safety → Permits.
  2. Step 2: Under Issue a permit, choose the contractor and their approved SWMS (it must cover the work date) and the Permit type.
  3. Step 3: Fill in the Job, Location, From, Until and Hazards.
  4. Step 4: Choose Issue permit. It starts approved, with you as the approver.

Contractors can also request a permit from their phone. You're told by email and phone notification (change it under Permit to work requested in your notifications), and it shows under Open permits as Requested.

How to take it through the day

  1. Step 1: Open the permit. For a request, choose Approve, or give a reason and choose Reject.
  2. Step 2: Tick each control as it's in place, then Save controls.
  3. Step 3: When work starts, choose Make active. It can go active from 60 minutes before the start time, once every control is ticked and (for types that need it) the contractor has acknowledged the asbestos register.
  4. Step 4: If conditions change, choose Suspend / withdraw with a reason. Resume (controls still in place) makes it active again.
  5. Step 5: At the end, under Close out the permit, confirm that all persons and equipment are accounted for and the area is inspected.

Renewing and cancelling

  • Renew for another work date → Create renewal makes a new permit for the new date. It needs a fresh approval and every control ticked again.
  • Cancel permit ends a requested or approved permit that won't go ahead. The contractor can cancel their own too.

Permit types

  • Your business starts with hot work, working at heights, confined space, asbestos-related work, electrical isolation, excavation and penetration, and roof access, each with its controls. Hazardous substances is there but switched off.
  • Under Permit types, edit the Controls (one per line), tick Needs asbestos register acknowledgement for work that disturbs building fabric, switch a type off, or add a New permit type. Admins and, on builders' and businesses' accounts, safety officers can change them.

What happens next

  • Today's approved and active permits show at the gate when the contractor's people sign in.
  • A finished permit stays on record and in evidence packs. Every step is in the permit's Timeline.
The default permit types and controls are based on Safe Work Australia model codes. Have your WHS adviser review them for your site: they're not legal advice.
Open permits to work
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