Enablon The Ultimate Guide to e-Permit to Work: The Top 3 Benefits of Moving Away from Paper - Plant Services
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enablon Insight Brief The Ultimate Guide to e-Permit to Work: The Top 3 Benefits of Moving Away from Paper By Tina Amirtha
Most frontline operations rely on a combination of and pre-requisites to safely and successfully complete
paper forms and informal knowledge transfer from the job.
senior team members to navigate the permit to work
process in the field. Though when the time comes Moving to an electronic Permit to work system
to start work, work permits might still be getting introduces a lasting process to your frontline
administered in the permit office. Out in the field, area operations that:
authorities might take shortcuts to allow operators
with incomplete permits to start work. Meanwhile, • Decreases Waiting Times
as the field workforce gets younger, less experienced • Reduces Incidents
operators may not receive the full work instructions • Standardizes the PTW Process
“Using one digital system that combines all
permitting, risk assessment, and isolations
processes provides our frontline personnel
with better, more easily accessible,
and more up to date information.”
Field Operations Manager
2
SAFE SYSTEMS OF WORK
Several moving parts need to be accounted for when
issuing work permits for hazardous work in the field: Safe System of Work: A formal system
of reviewing work and their hazards,
• Drafting and authorizing the permit when those hazards cannot be
• Understanding other work dependencies from completely eliminated.
existing planning e.g. Shutdowns/Turnarounds
• Risk Assessments/JHA for high-risk work
• Ensuring isolations are correctly executed As increasingly more evidence has identified human
factors as the cause of major incidents in hazardous
Organizations that produce, store or transport plants, organizations have made it a priority to
large quantities of hazardous substances, including improve safety systems to prevent human error-
flammable and toxic materials, are routinely related incidents. Official investigations, audits
presented with the potential for incidents with serious and reports have influenced safety legislation and
consequences. It is therefore essential that such regulations that govern hazardous industries. In
hazards be managed through the use of Safe Systems turn, companies have needed to update process and
of Work, to ensure the safety of staff, the facility and personnel safety procedures to comply with these
the environment. updated regulations.
3
PERMIT TO WORK
The permit to work (PTW) system is an integral part complex process. Today, many companies still try to
of a Safe System of Work. A formal record-keeping manage this on hard-copy forms.
process, PTW is used to plan and control work which
is deemed as potentially hazardous and involves Maintaining safety through a complex PTW system
input from all levels, including senior management of hard-copy forms can quickly evolve into a chaotic
and contractors. In practice, organizations face the process. As a result, staff may trivialize a standard PTW
challenge of balancing the implementation of a PTW system, particularly for repetitive jobs. Losing focus
system with maintaining a cost-effective business. of the task, failure to assess hazards correctly and
loss of control in the Safe System of Work process can
Several PTW solutions exist in industry, but major turn into a critical situation as the risk of incidents
incidents continue to occur. Why? Stakeholders of increases. Organizations still struggle with selecting
these solutions systematically deviate from the new and implementing an appropriate PTW solution to
safety protocols for a variety of reasons: ignorance, achieve a safe, profitable and compliant operation
complacency, work stress or purposeful violation. within their industry sectors.
When maintenance work is performed, a permit form Two essential aspects of a Safe System of Work are
has to be issued before the work can be carried out. typically overlooked in paper-based PTW systems: Risk
These forms are authorized only when the necessary Assessments and Isolation Management.
safety precautions have been taken, which can be a
4
RISK ASSESSMENTS ISOLATION MANAGEMENT
Due to the nature of hazardous operations, the The oil and gas, mining, power, and chemical
majority of work activities require risk assessments. industries, and other similarly hazardous industries,
In the case of low risk, routine activities, implementing employ production plants that are characterized
a risk assessment can be a straightforward process. by long periods of continuously welded pipework.
But for higher risk activities or where major hazards These pipelines connect process vessels, plants and
may be present, more care and attention must be installations. The contents of these pipelines are often
taken to correctly identify, evaluate and control risk. hazardous substances, which may be flammable and/
In any case, the risk assessment should be carried out or toxic and often exist at hot temperatures and/or
by experienced and competent staff within a reliable pressures. This, coupled with the presence of electrical
framework of guidelines. current, presents a real-time danger to operators and
the neighboring population.
Over the years, the risk assessment process has
been over-simplified, wherein a hard-copy permit Any activity on these pipelines could cause hazardous
integrates a “tick-the-box” risk assessment, or, and flammable substances to escape and get
in blatant defiance of risk control measures, a into contact with electrical current. As such, the
copy of an assessment from an entirely different implementation of adequate isolation practices is
permit is attached to the paper permit. Although critical to avoiding incidents.
these shortcuts buy the organization time, they
unfortunately turn out to be costly. An isolation is the separation of plant and equipment
from every source of energy (chemical, electrical
and mechanical) in such a way that the separation
is secure. All isolators have a responsibility to follow
Performing sloppy risk assessments or omitting risk relevant processes to facilitate this separation within
assessment processes causes expensive and fatal their respective disciplines (chemical, electrical
incidents to occur, due to poor hazard identification or mechanical), to ensure safe operation and
and a loss of risk control. maintenance processes.
Isolation schemes typically fail due to human error
or plant failure, giving rise to harmful incidents. As
In general, effective risk assessments are not about a result, safety protocols and safety measures have
the number of hazards and controls identified but, evolved to meet increasingly stringent legislative
rather, about selecting the correct hazards and requirements and guidelines to minimize human error
controls to identify the correct level of risk, an and improve maintenance programs to minimize plant
indication of the work task’s complexity and rigor. failure.
A busy workplace and tight schedules sometimes These evolving protocols have sometimes led to
means task risk assessments are completed as a complex and sometimes confusing hard-copy isolation
desktop exercise during the permit creation process. processes. Hard-copy isolation processes carry the
This, again, leads to poor hazards identification added risk that the entire isolation process gets
because the risk assessor does not visit the site detached from the permit process. Meanwhile, inter-
in person to correctly assess the as-is situation departmental communications are vulnerable to
in the field. breaking down as these processes change, leading to
poor work planning and execution.
5
MOVING AWAY FROM PAPER:
INTEGRATED E-PTW
Enablon has improved upon this paper-based PTW manually create digital permits or use a pre-approved
process and digitalized as easy-to-use software. template to automate the permit drafting process.
The solution helps maintain safety standards on The pre-approved templates help improve operational
potentially hazardous work sites by integrating three efficiency by reducing the time required to draft
critical safety systems – e-PTW, task risk assessments a permit and improve safety outcomes by restricting
(TRA) and isolation management (LOTO) – into one the work activity to a framework of pre-defined
efficient, robust and easy-to-use safety management working behaviors.
system.
In practice, this means that the user can select
Acronyms pre-defined working activities to define the initial
• HoTT: Hands on Tool Time work scope of the permit and then add additional
• ICC: Isolation Confirmation Certificate information when necessary to refine the scope
• LOTO: Lockout/Tagout, of work. This reduces error and drafting time by
also known as Isolation Management eliminating the need to outline the scope of work
• PTW: Permit to work in an unstructured manner each time a permit needs
• SSoW: Safe System of Work to be drafted.
• TRA: Task Risk Assessment
Standard descriptions and a structured approach
The digitalization of hard-copy forms eases the stimulate standardization of communication
organization’s administrative burden and transfers the throughout the organization. Employees know exactly
administrative burden to the digital system. Users can what is expected from them.
Draft Verify Authorise Issue Live Suspended Complete
This example shows the work permit going through a controlled authorization workflow, to ensure required disciplines and
area authorities are in alignment. When work must also be suspended before completion, the e-PTW system can also ensure
the suspended status is recorded and saved. e-PTW is configurable to each business’s unique authorization workflows.
6
Integrated e-PTW brings clarity to the working floor Finally, it is mandatory to specify the isolation
by combining the permit and risk assessment with requirements during the drafting process. Isolations
isolation management into one system, with an require formal documentation of the completed
approval workflow that adapts to internal business isolation work on the Isolation Confirmation Certificate
policies. The digital system simplifies an authorization (ICC). This ICC must be attached to the relevant
process that ensures the Task Risk Assessment and permit(s) before work is allowed to be performed
LOTO is completed, as required. on the equipment that has been powered down
and disconnected from any incoming mechanical,
The Task Risk Assessment (TRA) is aimed at reducing chemical or electrical energy. As a result, maintenance
the likelihood of accidents at work. Electronic PTW work on the permit cannot begin until the isolations
is designed to seamlessly integrate the cumulative are confirmed as being in place. Furthermore, the
risk assessment with the permit to guarantee that de-isolation cannot be performed until the work is
the risk level is decreased to as low as is reasonably confirmed and signed off as complete. These are safety
practicable. controls that are built into the system.
ALARP: As Low As Reasonably Practicable. DIGITAL USER EXPERIENCE
In operational risk management, ALARP is the
principle that residual risk must be reduced • Users can manage permits by creating, modifying,
to as low as reasonably possible in practice. deleting and copying
• Leverage questionnaire to automatically
The electronic system guides the user through the and accurately determine permit type and risk level
specific risk assessment process and attaches the
TRA to the related permit. This ensures that the user • Search for permits via multiple dimensions, such
complies with safety procedures and is fully aware as current state and corresponding location
of the task’s associated hazards and appropriate
control measures. All work tasks must be subject • In case of emergency, all permits can be
to an evaluation, to identify the hazards and their suspended with one button-click
associated hazards, identify the controls, recognize
and understand the barriers and precautions required • Manage hazards and control before as part of the
and demonstrate that the risks have been reduced to isolation/de-isolation/work preparation process
an acceptable level. Safety cases are no longer static
documents but are integrated into an operational
safety environment allowing for real-time barrier
analysis and cumulative risk assessment.
7
THE BENEFITS
DECREASED WAITING TIMES
The integrated, electronic PTW system delivers a host Work sites strive to increase their Hands on Tool Time
of benefits, the most noticeable of which is increased (HoTT) by actively minimizing the main drivers of the
productivity. shift’s indirect productive hours. Among these are:
• Delay due to travel of man and material
• Operational discussions
• Data gathering and registration results
• Lack of permit
Indirect Productive Hours
Other, 7%
Safety meetings, 2%
Delay travel Daily necessary activities, 10%
man & material,
31%
Delay lack of equipment, 2%
Planned waiting time, 3%
Delay lack of material, 4%
Delay operational
sequence, 6%
Operational
discussions,
16%
Delay lack
of Permit, 8%
Data
gathering &
registrations
result, 12%
To be influenced Not to be influenced
Almost a third of the shift’s indirect productive hours center on delays of man and material to the work site. Source: Arcadis
Nearly 80% of indirect hours can be influenced by By conservative estimates, with a capacity of 300,000
digital permit to work systems. By decreasing the wait hours worked at a fee of $80/hour, an increase in 3%
times for the permit and ensuring that all activities of Indirect Productive Hours reduces costs by appro-
are pre-arranged by the planned start time, e-PTW ximately $750,000 on an annual basis. In practice, the
already significantly reduces the largest contributor to cost savings and efficiency gains are larger when le-
indirect productive hours: Delay of man and material veraging the capabilities of the e-PTW system. A large
to the worksite. driver of HoTT is permit templates and permit copying,
which eliminates repetitive permit preparation.
8CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Annual Revenue $178.5 billion (2020) Annual Revenue $180.5 billion (2020)
• Reduced Manual Permits & Processing by 60% • Reduced non-productive time in the permit
creation process by 80%
• 30 minutes time saving per 30% of permits
• Reduced inefficiency in the permitting process
• Worker waiting time reduced by 30 minutes and significantly increased HoTT
• Dramatic improvement in HoTT efficiencies • Reduced permits created from scratch
and improved planning from 90% to 5% each day
• Significant year after year cost savings >23.5M/Year • All others from a pre-approved ‘template’
or starting from a pre-built ‘master’ permit
created by an SME
REDUCED INCIDENTS
Frontline operators are exposed to extreme Enablon customers have reduced incidents by as
physical and mental challenges in the hazardous much as 94% in one year through e-PTW. Across
worksite. Meanwhile, increasingly more health and several global sites, PTW-related incidents have
safety regulatory standards have evolved, making gradually decreased by 32%, saving time on incident
organizations vulnerable to costly penalties and investigations and meeting and exceeding safety
damaging publicity to reputation. standards.
The integrated e-PTW system is a formal, compliant
system that ensures basic personal protective
equipment (PPE) is used, risks are properly managed
“Replacing disparate procedures with
and personnel are sufficiently authorized to perform
Enablon’s Control of Work solution led to
their tasks in the field. With pre-defined equipment
a 32% decrease in Control of Work related
lists and built-in business rules, field teams are
incidents across 71 assets.”
prevented from accidentally working on the incorrect
Global Enablon client
equipment or spending too much time on a specific
work permit.
9STANDARDIZATION
Many sites have different ways of working, making Electronic permit to work is a necessary step for
it difficult for teams to share best practices and improving productivity, safety and efficiency in
contribute to overall operational excellence frontline operations. Hazardous industries are
objectives. When PTW systems are untraceable and rapidly adopting digital plant technologies, resulting
unclear, auditors and other team members cannot in significant benefits from even incremental
reliably prove that permits were soundly authorized or improvements. When the digital plant truly embraces
if risk assessments were thoroughly completed. and employs permit to work, the results and benefits
are transformational.
Electronic PTW is flexible enough to support different
types of manufacturing operations to meet the global
company’s greater business requirements. This
means different sites can meet their local routine CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
requirements while allowng them to follow a greater Annual Revenue $183.5 billion (2020)
PTW workflow across the global group. Teams can
exchange best practices using a common set of • From 6,000 pages of procedures
terminology while still supporting regional and site- to 1 procedure
level requirements. • From 6 tools & 2 paper systems to 1 tool
• Standardization as result of Enablon
led to more than $30M in savings annually
enablon®
Our Offices:
• Paris • London • The Hague
• Chicago • Houston • Al Khobar
• Doha • Sydney • Melbourne
• Dubai • Singapore
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info.enablon@wolterskluwer.com Copyright © 2021 Enablon – All rights reserved for all countries.
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