A permit to work is a safeguard for the highest-risk jobs on any site: hot work near combustibles, entry into a confined space, isolation of electrical equipment, work at height. The permit forces a competent person to authorise the task, confirm the controls, and record that they were in place before anyone starts. When it goes wrong, it is usually because the permit was a formality: signed in a hurry, filed in a book nobody reads, or written up after the job. So the real question about a permit to work app is not how many fields it has. It is whether it makes the checks happen in order, and whether the record proves they did.
Guide · Compliance
Permit to work system and audit app for the UK.
How to run and audit permits for high-risk work, from paper permit books and spreadsheets to a WhatsApp workflow your supervisors and permit holders already know. For hot work, confined space, electrical isolation and work at height.
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The point
The permit is not the control. It is the evidence of the control.
A permit to work does not make hot work safe; the isolation, the fire watch and the competent authoriser do. What the permit does is record that those controls were checked before the job started. A good system means the checks happen in the right order, and the record proves they did if anyone ever asks.
High-risk work under control
Where permits apply.
Hot work
Fire watch and isolation
Welding, cutting and grinding near combustibles. The permit records the fire watch, isolation and post-work checks before and after the task.
Confined spaceThe 1997 Regulations
Entry controlled under the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997: atmosphere tested, rescue plan in place, entrant and attendant named on the permit.
Electrical and heightIsolation and access
Electrical isolation with proving dead, and work at height under the 2005 Regulations, authorised and recorded before access is granted.
The friction
Paper permit books go missing. Spreadsheets are filled in later.
A permit that lives in a book in a site cabin cannot be seen by the office, and a supervisor rebuilding a permit log at the end of the week is not recording the checks that actually happened. The permit you complete as the job is authorised beats the one reconstructed from memory, every time.
Run permits on WhatsApp
No app install. No training.
Supervisors and permit holders use the phone they already have. Text, voice note or photo. The permit generates itself and lands on a live dashboard the office can see. Setup to first live workflow usually takes under a week.
The short version
- A permit to work controls high-risk tasks: hot work, confined space, electrical isolation and work at height.
- Confined space entry is governed by the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997; work at height by the Work at Height Regulations 2005; both sit under the general duty in the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
- The permit is the evidence that controls were checked before work started and reinstated on completion, not the control itself.
- Paper permit books and spreadsheets are invisible to the office and are often filled in after the fact.
- Quickler captures the permit and its checks as the job is authorised, and puts the live status on a dashboard. It does not replace the competent authoriser or the risk assessment.
The point
What a permit to work is for
A permit to work is a formal, documented procedure that authorises specific high-risk work to be carried out under defined controls. It names the task, the location, the hazards, the precautions taken, the people involved and the time window. A competent person authorises it before the work starts, and it is closed out and the area handed back when the work is done.
The permit is not the control. The isolation, the atmosphere test, the fire watch and the competent authoriser are the controls. The permit is the evidence that those controls were in place before the job started, and that the area was made safe again afterwards. A good permit system makes the checks happen in the right order, and holds a record that proves they did if an HSE inspector, an insurer or a coroner ever asks. This is not legal advice; check the current standards and take your own competent advice.
Confined space
The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997
Entry into a confined space is controlled under the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997. The duty is to avoid entry where reasonably practicable, and where entry is unavoidable, to work to a safe system of work with adequate emergency arrangements. The permit records the atmosphere test, the isolation of inflows, the ventilation, the rescue plan, and the named entrant and attendant.
Quickler captures each of those as the permit is raised, with photos of the isolation and the gas readings the entrant reads off a calibrated monitor. It is not itself a gas detector or an atmosphere assessment, and it does not authorise entry; a competent person does. The record it holds is the evidence that the safe system was followed.
Hot work, electrical, height
The other high-risk permits
Hot work. Welding, cutting, grinding and other spark-producing work near combustible material needs a fire watch, isolation of fuel sources, and a post-work check of the area before the watch stands down. The permit records the fire watch duration and the final check.
Electrical isolation. Work on or near electrical equipment needs safe isolation, proving dead, and locking off. The permit records who isolated, the proving, and the lock-off, so the person working knows the circuit is dead and stays dead.
Work at height. Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005 the duty is to plan, use competent people, and select the right access equipment. The permit records the access method, the inspection of that equipment, and the fall-protection in place.
Auditing the system
A live permit register the office can see
The value of a permit system is not just the individual permit; it is the register. A compliance manager needs to know, at any moment, which permits are live, which are overdue for close-out, and whether any high-risk work is happening without one. A paper book in a site cabin cannot answer that. A spreadsheet updated weekly answers it a week late.
Quickler puts every permit on a live cross-site dashboard as it is raised and closed, so the office sees open permits, overdue close-outs and the full history without visiting the cabin. That register is also what an auditor reviews: a defensible trail of who authorised what, when, with the checks attached. Quickler is the capture and evidence layer here; the competent authoriser and the risk assessment carry the safety judgement.
Pricing
Per report, not per seat
Most permit and audit tools charge per seat. On a busy site that is the wrong shape: every supervisor, subcontractor and permit holder who needs to raise or hold a permit costs more, and the office staff who only review the register pay the same as the people in the field.
Quickler charges per report, with unlimited users on every bundle. Bundles run from Quickler 50 at 50 pounds a month for 50 reports, up to Quickler 500 at 500 pounds a month for 500 reports. Add as many supervisors, subcontractors, permit holders and admins as you like; you pay for the permits and audits you file, not the people who could file them. Pricing is approximate and shifts, so check the current pricing page before you commit.
Questions, answered
What is a permit to work system?
It is a formal procedure that authorises specific high-risk work under defined controls: hot work, confined space entry, electrical isolation, work at height. A competent person authorises the permit before work starts, confirming the controls are in place, and closes it out on completion. The permit is the documented evidence that the safe system of work was followed.
Is a permit to work a legal requirement in the UK?
There is no single law that names a permit to work in every case, but the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 general duty, and specific regulations such as the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 and the Work at Height Regulations 2005, require a safe system of work for high-risk tasks. A permit to work is the recognised way to demonstrate and control that safe system. Check the current standards and take your own competent advice for your context; this is not legal advice.
Can I run a permit to work over WhatsApp?
Yes. Quickler's permit workflow runs over the WhatsApp Business API. The supervisor or permit holder receives each step in their existing WhatsApp chat, confirms the checks with text, a voice note or a photo, and the permit generates automatically and appears on the office dashboard as a live record. No separate app or login is required, and Quickler manages the WhatsApp Business API account on the firm's behalf.
Does the app replace the competent authoriser or gas monitor?
No. Quickler captures the permit and its checks and holds the evidence, but a competent person still authorises the work, and readings such as an atmosphere test are taken on a calibrated instrument that the app records the result of. The app does not assess risk, authorise entry, or measure the atmosphere. The competent authoriser and the calibrated instrument carry that responsibility.