---
title: "Permits to work"
url: "https://docs.4hse.com/permit-to-work"
description: "What a permit to work is, and how 4HSE builds one out of a procedure, its forms and a certificate."
---

# Permits to work

A **permit to work** is a formal, temporary and traceable authorisation: it allows a person or a team to carry out a **specific activity**, in a given **place**, for a precise **window of time**.

It is central to operational safety in high-risk work — hot work, confined spaces, electrical work, work at height — in complex industrial environments, and on sites where several contractors operate at once. In those settings safety is not _being compliant_: it is **being authorised right now**. That is the question a permit answers.

## In 4HSE it is not a separate object

[Section titled “In 4HSE it is not a separate object”](#in-4hse-it-is-not-a-separate-object)

A permit to work is a **certificate**, issued at the end of a [procedure](/procedures/), enriched with what an operational authorisation needs. 4HSE builds it out of things you already use, without introducing a parallel flow.

A certificate acting as a permit carries:

-   the **type of activity** authorised;
-   the **place** — site, area;
-   the **worker or the team** authorised;
-   the **start and end** of validity, to the hour if needed;
-   a **status**;
-   the **completed forms** — checklists, authorisations, assessments — which become part of it.

## What it is made of

[Section titled “What it is made of”](#what-it-is-made-of)

The permit runs across features documented elsewhere. This is the chain:

Piece

Role

Where

**Procedure**

defines what is being authorised

[Procedures](/procedures/)

**Linked forms**

the checks to complete, marked as required

[Configure a form on an action](/forms/configure-a-form)

**Certificate**

the authorisation itself

[Issue a certificate](/prevention-and-protection/issue-a-certificate)

**Scheduler**

where it is issued from and monitored

[Scheduler and notifications](/scheduler-and-notifications/)

**Public page**

where anyone can verify it

[Public verification](/permit-to-work/public-verification)

The **required** flag on a form is the mechanism that makes the whole thing work: the certificate cannot be created until those forms have been completed. Without it, a permit would be a certificate with a nice name.

## What makes it different from a paper permit

[Section titled “What makes it different from a paper permit”](#what-makes-it-different-from-a-paper-permit)

A paper permit says it was valid when it was printed. A permit in 4HSE recalculates its status every time someone looks at it: scanning its QR code answers the only question that matters on site — _is this permit valid right now?_

To see the whole flow, follow [Issue a hot work permit](/permit-to-work/issue-a-hot-work-permit).

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