About Permit to Work

A permit to work is a formal process that helps ensure the safe completion of hazardous or unusual tasks. It sets out the work to be done, the risks involved, and the safety steps needed before, during, and after the job. These jobs could require handling fire, such as wielding or work that could spark fire, or being in a hazardous environment, such as confined spaces like silos or tanks.

By requiring clear planning, risk checks, and approval from the approvers, the Permit to Work feature in MaintainX® helps keep workers safe and ensures the job follows safety rules from start to finish on their work orders.

Directly from MaintainX, you can create or edit these permits, which are directly linked to the work orders that will need them, require approval or request changes before the work starts, and manage these permits directly from your organization.

Roles and Responsibilities

The permit workflow typically involves three types of users:

• Permit creator: Creates the permit and defines the permit procedures required to ensure the work can be completed safely.
• Approver: Reviews the permit to verify that all required safety measures and precautions are in place before approving the work.
• Technician or worker: Reviews and signs the approved permit before starting work. Signing the permit acknowledges that the technician or the person doing the work has reviewed the required safety procedures and unlocks the associated work order so work can begin.

tip

You can create a custom role that grants users permission to create, approve, and manage permits. For more information, see Custom Role Permissions.

Permit to Work Lifecycle

A work permit moves through several stages before work can begin and after it has been completed. This section gives a simple overview of these different stages.

Create and Submit the Permit

The permit creator creates the permit, lists the required permit procedures, assigns one or more approvers, and submits it for review. For more information, see Add a Permit to a Work Order.

Review and Approve the Permit

Assigned approvers review the permit and either approve it or request changes. Every required approver must submit a decision before the permit can be approved. For more information, see Approve a Permit to Work.

Request Changes, Suspend, or Expired Permits

If an approver requests changes, the permit creator has to update it, and it must go through the approval process again. A permit can also become Suspended or Expired, which blocks progress on the associated work order until the issue is resolved. For more information, see Request Changes for a Permit or Permit to Work Statuses.

Review and Sign the Permit

Once all required approvals have been received, the permit becomes Approved or Active, depending on its active window. Before work can begin, the technician or worker reviews and signs the active permit. Signing the permit unblocks the associated work order. For more information, see Review and Sign a Permit.

Complete and Close the Permit

After the work is complete, the permit is marked as Work Done. A user with the appropriate permissions can then administratively close the permit. For more information, see Complete a Work Order.

Limitations

The following limitations apply to permits:

• Each recurring work order requires its own permit. Permits don't carry over between recurring work order instances.

• You can't configure a work order template to require a permit.

• Because work order templates can't require permits, you also can't configure maintenance plans to require permits.

• Users can't make progress on a work order if either of the following conditions is met:

  • The work order requires a permit, but no permit is associated with it.
  • The work order has an associated permit, but the permit isn't Active or hasn't been signed by the current user.
    • This prevents users from changing the work order status or completing procedures. Users can still edit other work order details, such as parts and comments.

Permit to Work Statuses

Permits have different statuses in MaintainX depending on where they are in their journey. A permit can have the following statuses:

Status	Description
Draft	The permit has been created but hasn't yet been submitted for approval.
Pending approval	The permit has been submitted for approval and is awaiting review by an approver.
Approved	All required approvers have approved the permit. The permit is approved, but its active window hasn't started.
Active	All required approvers have approved the permit, and the permit is within its active window.
Changes requested	An approver requested changes to the permit. The permit must be updated, and you need to resubmit it for approval.
Expired	The permit was not closed or marked as Work Done before its active window ended. Expired permits block progress on the associated work order until the permit's active window is extended or another active permit is associated with the work order.
Suspended	A user with the appropriate permissions has temporarily suspended the permit. A reason is required when suspending a permit. The associated work order remains blocked until the permit is resumed.
Work Done	The associated work order has been completed, and the permit has been automatically marked as Work Done.
Closed	The permit was previously marked as Work Done and has been administratively closed by a user with the appropriate permissions.

Permit to Work and External Work Orders

You can associate work permits with externally shared work orders. External users sign permits using their unique work order link, and MaintainX uses the link ID to identify the signer. Multiple users can sign using the same external link, but only one signature is required to satisfy the signature requirement for that link.

note

Before sharing a work order externally, make sure the associated permit has been reviewed and approved, and is within its active window.

For more information, see External Work Orders.

Permit to Work and Work Requests

A Requester user can submit a work request for work that may require a permit due to safety or hazardous conditions. After the request is approved and becomes a work order, you can require a permit before work begins.

For more information, see Work Requests Requiring a Permit.