Advantages of Electronic Permit System

 

An electronic permit to work system can be implemented across multiple areas of operations to boost safety, maintenance and overall performance at the worksite. All such areas are backed by a software solution and oftentimes, they aren’t integrated.

The reasons behind integrating an electronic permit system with these applications are pretty impressive and there are dozens of long- and short-term benefits of doing so. Nevertheless, for successful integration, clearly defined requirement, careful assessment of a business’s need, a superb system design and impactful project management are needed. 

Keep reading to know about some of the key benefits of integrating an electronic permit system with other applications:

1.     Worksite Access Control: Integrating an electronic permit system with the site access control system facilitates the implementation of safety controls. For instance, an individual can be prevented from leaving the site if they have an active permit to sign-off or an individual may be prevented from getting inside a restricted zone unless they hold a valid health or safety permit.

From time to time, the database of the site access control system could be assessed along with data from the electronic permit system.  This could generate important insights into the teams’ productivity and identify patterns to sort out recurring issues.

2.     Competency & Training Records: All persons involved in the isolation and permit to work process need to be competent, well-trained, and approved for the tasks they are assigned with. The competency information in external systems, for both contractors and employees, can be utilised to check automatically that all the requisite training has been completed, and all the important certifications are still valid. 

3.     Project Management System: In case of small capital projects or during shutdowns, comprehensive work is planned well in advance with a project scheduling application. By integrating an electronic permit system with the scheduling tool, preparing permits ahead of time becomes easier, eventually reducing the wait time while enhancing productivity. The actual permit system data can further be used to update the schedule information in almost real-time.
 

4.     Work Order Management: Safety and maintenance are somewhat interrelated, hence it makes a lot of sense to integrate relevant information in the enterprise asset management (EAM) system with an electronic permit system. Here are a few advantages of this approach:

o   Use of a common equipment database for both maintenance and safety information

o   Better control over the safety aspects of risky maintenance tasks

o   Improved job planning

o   Better coordination between the maintenance and operations teams. 

5.    PLC-SCADA/DCS: Process control system data is utilised to verify information on the plant status, process conditions and isolations. Careful integration of the permit to work system with the process control system can enhance the visibility of the ongoing tasks to the operators, which gives early warning signs of hazardous or abnormal plant conditions while improving coordination, production and maintenance.
 

6.  Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): The IIoT offers myriad opportunities to gather and tie-in sensor information at the site. For instance, field sensors can record the movements and whereabouts of the people on site and compare the same with their permits. This can boost control as well as ensure better visibility of the work being done, thereby improving safety. Other sensors can monitor the specialised equipment and tools, required for safe work. Real-time assessment of this data can even calculate elevated safety risk in some situations, which allows for the creation of necessary steps that can be taken proactively to avoid any incident to occur.
 

7.  Contractor Onboarding & Induction Systems: When part-time or occasional contractors enter a new site, they may be unfamiliar with that place, which can up the safety risk. Site induction and medical assessment are conducted to lower the same. When issuing a health and safety permit, this induction and onboarding information can be utilised by the system to automatically confirm that the contractors can perform the required tasks, have completed proper induction, are physically fit and healthy to work, and are qualified for the tasks assigned. 

Factors to Consider to Ensure Successful Integration of an Electronic Permit System

By and large, the success of the integration hinges on the approach followed. Here are seven prime factors to consider during the integration of an electronic permit system:

• Understanding the real business need
• Identifying the business sponsor
• Developing and understanding detailed business requirements
• Ensuring data quality
• Describing the system design
• Planning a focused proof of concept (POC)
• Involving change management into the business
• Updating, supporting and maintaining on-site systems

Bottom Line

There are dozens of advantages of integrating an electronic permit system with other operational applications and systems. While the key benefits have been explained above, it is important to first determine the actual business requirement before getting started with any project. Also, following a great project methodology for interface development is critical to the project’s success.