Safe working practices, communication and documentation
This domain tests the everyday controls that keep a compliant entry safe after the permit is signed: communication, hot work, housekeeping, shift handover and records.
Day-to-day controls
Keep the number of entrants and the time inside to a minimum. Use barriers, signs and a clear exit route. Prohibit smoking and naked flames. Use intrinsically safe lighting, tools and radios. Tether tools, control manual handling, and manage heat stress and fatigue. Hot work needs a separate permit, gas testing, a fire watch and extinguishing equipment.
Communication and documentation
Agree communication methods and intervals before entry: voice, intrinsically safe radio or rope signals. Test them at the start and at intervals, and agree an emergency signal. Hearing protection and background noise can break communication, so check it in practice. Document the risk assessment, permit, gas test results, entry log, training and certification, equipment inspection and maintenance, rescue drills and incidents. Records should be legible, accessible and handed over at shift change.
Worked example
The morning shift tests a tank at 08:00 and records acceptable readings. The afternoon shift starts at 14:00 and relies on that record. The correct response is to re-test, revalidate the permit and document the handover, because conditions change and the morning result is not evidence for the afternoon. If the handover is only verbal, there is no auditable link between the test and the entry. The reasoning is that a gas test is a snapshot, not a certificate for the day.
Traps that cost marks
- Relying on an old gas test or an expired permit.
- A verbal handover with no signature or revalidation.
- Using a mobile phone or non-intrinsically-safe equipment near a flammable atmosphere.
- Blocking the exit with tools or hoses.
- Not reporting near misses or equipment defects.
- Records that cannot be produced or do not match the entry log.