Permit to Work Policy

The Director of Estates shall appoint in writing, Duty Authorised Persons (DAP). A list of the DAP disciplines can be found on the University Health & Safety Service website.

The DAP takes managerial responsibility for the implementation of the permit to work policy and associated procedures for a specific area of health and safety legislation. Training requirements are defined in the accompanying PTW guidance document.

The Duty Authorised person shall:

• Appoint Authorised Persons (AP) to act as permit issuers in the discipline they manage.
• Act as a permit issuer where suitably qualified.

A comprehensive list of the DAP roles responsibilities is given in the DAP roles and responsibilities guidance document.

Permit Issuers shall:

• Review permit requests
• Issue permits in their appointed discipline.
• Be available for the duration of work for the permits they issue.
• Close out permits they have issued.

Note: In the event that the AP is unable to be present for the duration of the activity requiring a permit, the AP should close the permit, temporarily stop the work and liaise with the DAP to facilitate the remaining work activity.

The Isolating Authority shall:

• Verify isolations are effective and work can safely commence.

The University Health and Safety Service shall:

• Monitor compliance with this policy.
• Review the policy and associated guidance.
• Provide suitable information, training, and advice on request.

Deans of Schools/ Heads of Professional Services shall:

• Ensure that suitable risk assessments and method statements are in place for work activities.
• Ensure that adequate time and resources are made available to control and manage working arrangements.

Safety Officers shall:

• Ensure that risk assessments and method statements are reviewed for work activities and provide advice on the requirements for a permit.
• Ensure that any required risk reducing measures are implemented to reduce the risk so far as reasonably practicable, including the use of the permit to work process.
• Ensure that that members of staff and students are suitably trained and experienced before undertaking any task or activity involved with the application of a permit to work.
• Report incidents and near misses to the University Health and Safety Service using the Assure incident reporting system.

The Area Owner is the person in control of the location where work is to be carried out e.g., building. / technical manager.

Area Owners shall:

• Facilitate handover of the work area.

Staff who are responsible for managing the activities carried out by staff, students or volunteers are considered supervisors. As such they have a duty to ensure the health and safety of the staff/students they supervise.

Line Managers will ensure:

• Personnel they manage are competent to complete the task and have been provided with suitable information and training, to manage the risks posed by the activity.
• People working with them understand the operation of (and the consequences of non-compliance with) the permit-to-work systems applicable to the areas in which they are responsible for work.

University Staff

University Staff and Students shall ensure:

• They comply with this policy.
• They do not start work on any job requiring a permit until one has been authorised and issued.
• They should be able to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of any permit they are working under.
• If in any doubt, or if any circumstances or conditions change, they stop work, make the work area safe and get advice immediately.

Contractors

All contractors employed by the University to work on fixed assets, gain access to certain restricted areas or work on the building fabric, must comply with this policy.

A summary of the key appointments and their roles can be seen in the table below.

All work must be properly planned with sufficient time allocated to prepare for the task, requests for all permit types must be made by the Permit Requestor, at least 5 working days prior to the activity starting. Emergency unplanned activities requiring a permit will be assessed and supported on an individual basis.

The process for permit request and issue procedure for planned activities is shown in the process flow in Appendix A.

Note: The asbestos register must be checked by the Permit Requestor prior to the submission of RAMS, and if required a management, refurbishment or demolition asbestos survey must be performed and actioned, as necessary. Relevant asbestos information must be included as part of the permit request application.

Risk assessments and method statements prepared by the operator for all Permit to Work Requests must be checked and accepted by the Permit Requestor to ensure that they are suitable and sufficient for the task by the University employee instructing the contractor prior to submission to the Permit Authoriser.

Operators are to be responsible for preparing RAMS which cover all activity and include the subcontractor RAMS, to confirm their acceptance. RAMS submitted solely by a third party will not be accepted.

Once the permit details and RAMS, asbestos register and the safe working methods have been agreed, the permit requester will formally request the permit. The appropriate duty authorised person can commence and complete the permit approval process as the permit issuer.

The appropriate nominated authorised person will be responsible for completing the permit approval process as the permit issuer. Operators will be issued with a system notification to confirm permit approval by the relevant Permit Requestor 24 hours prior to the works for planned activities. Emergency arrangements will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Once issued all individuals involved in undertaking the task must adhere to the conditions within the permit and must not deviate from the method statement.

If the work activity requires the permit to be amended, the current work must be safely terminated, and the permit closed. Risk assessments and method statements for the revised task should be agreed prior to a new permit being issued.

Before work can commence, the permit must be formally accepted by the permit acceptor.

The permit acceptor agrees to the conditions within the permit itself and any associated documentation/arrangements. The operator is then able to commence with the work under the permit.

A permit is not valid until the contractor acceptance has been completed.

Once the work/activity is complete or when the permit expires (whichever is first), the permit must be handed back to the permit issuer. Handing back provides an opportunity for the work/activity to be reviewed by the Permit requestor, Permit Issuer (Authorised Person) and the Permit Acceptor. It also provides confirmation that the work/activity has been completed and that site has been handed back in a safe condition. Any issues with the work area that need to be addressed should be recorded by this process.

Failure of the permit acceptor to return permits to the permit issuer will result in corrective action being taken, including the suspension from works for individuals or companies with multiple non-returns.

To ensure the area has been handed back in a safe condition a visual check of the work area must be completed by permit requestor and permit issuer. The permit then must be formally closed by the permit issuer.