personnel e-permits
breaches your Health & Safety policy or site rules, then it will be helpful to be able to quickly inform them of non- compliance. That way you know that the limitations and requirements of your policy and site rules are being enforced consistently on every permit. With a high number of permits or a
large portfolio of buildings, it is helpful if any potentially dangerous clashes are highlighted. If it appears that two parties are planning work at the same location on the same service, then an Accredited Professional can make a decision as to whether to reject one or allow both to proceed, albeit with a warning to both parties. When a request is rejected it would be helpful to let the contractor know why this has happened and what is needed for their permit to be acceptable. Many different organisations have
submissions, high volume of permits, tight deadlines, unavailability of Accredited Professionals and varied building types in a large portfolio. Any of these threats could seriously compromise safety on site during a project, refurbishment or shut down. Web-based permit systems are management information tools providing critical information when it is needed and thus ensuring that the safest decisions are
E-permits convey a range of benefits that help to improve Health & Safety. An Accredited Professional will be involved in each scenario, and the appropriate Accredited Professional will be approving risks that their competence and authority covers.
made. e-permits help to ensure that the right people with the correct skills and proper Method Statements and Risk Assessments are in the right place at the right time, with critical information available to the appropriate people when they need it so they can make the safest decisions. Essentially you need to know that sub-
contractors coming to site have been approved and that they have current adequate insurance cover. You should also be able to inform them if their proposed team lacks appropriate competencies, language skills, training or inductions. The team on site need to plan their
method of work knowing about existing hazards such as asbestos, chemical storage and HV equipment etc. They can then bring the appropriate personnel, equipment and PPE and ensure the correct method of work. Isolated working, hot working, working
Benefits of using e-permits
• Makes existing processes more effective • Ensures adherence to rules and policies • Prevents possibility of dangerous task clashes • Ensures appropriate competencies • Building specific Risk Assessments and Method Statements • High risk permits are only ever issued and closed in sequence • Cost savings
at height or in confined spaces all need high risk permits. These high risk permits need to be linked, cross referenced and all be held in one place. This means that if a high risk permit is rejected or cancelled then they all are and that they can only be issued or closed in sequence. Being able to review Risk Assessments
and Method Statements on a regular basis is clearly a benefit. It is also good to know that these Risk Assessments and Method Statements are building specific and have been approved by an Accredited Professional have not been superseded by a later version and will be reviewed on a regular basis. If work proposed by a sub-contractor
22 l Property Management Select l july/august 2010 l
www.pm-select.co.uk
benefitted from the use of e-permits. Data Centres and Prisons have a constantly high-risk profile, and there is understandably a big emphasis on business continuity and security as well as safety. The disparate nature of large retailers presents a real challenge for permits. Using e-permits, standards of communication, visibility control and safety can be raised and maintained throughout a network of outlets. Canary Wharf faced the problem of co-ordinating separate activities of multiple tenants and itself as landlord. Using an e-permit system, it was able to detect and manage potential clashes, protecting everyone involved.
In addition to potentially saving you
money, e-permits convey a range of other benefits that help to improve Health & Safety. An Accredited Professional will be involved in each scenario, and the appropriate Accredited Professional will be approving risks that their competence and authority covers. Using web access, both Accredited Professionals and Sub- Contractors will be able track progress of a submission as well as seeing when and why a Risk Assessment or Method Statement or permit has been rejected or approved. Activities can be monitored across various sites or projects and any non-compliance can be sorted out quickly. The Health and Safety Executive has always stressed that permit systems should be simple to operate, so it is paramount when choosing an e-permit system that it does not deliver secondary benefits at the expense of usability. Finally with e-permits, there is an audit
trail with a record of every key action, date and user stamped in case of an incident.
About the author
Bernard Crouch is a director at workplace consultant Gunnersbury Consult.
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