Four roles, and what each one can do.
The separation is the point. Nobody grants their own competence, nobody authorises their own work, and nobody verifies their own handback. The system will not let them.
Responsible Engineer
Before any permit existsGrants competence. The certificate is read, the expiry checked, and the record signed. Nobody appears as an option on a permit until that has happened — and nobody can grant their own.
Permit Controller
While the work runsSees every permit in flight, what has stopped, and what is waiting on somebody. This role does not authorise — it holds the operational picture and the conflict check between permits at the same location.
Authorising Engineer
On site, at the permitPrepares it with the Competent Person, attends the site, authorises and issues it there, briefs the Competent Person, and takes it back at the end. GL/6 5.3.4 puts the authorisation on site, and the system holds to that.
Competent Person
On the jobRaises the permit, accepts it after the briefing, briefs the team, confirms each control at the place it applies, initials each day, and certifies the work complete. Nobody verifies their own handback.
The activities that require a permit.
Eighteen activities across three categories — the work a principal contractor and their crews actually raise a permit for. Raising one starts by saying which. The activity determines the competence required, the documents that must be attached, and whether a specialist method statement is needed.
Overhead electricity, excavation near MP, IP or HP pipelines, lifting over live plant, stub ends, major civils, demolition
Test at 3 bar or above, anchorage, directional drilling, winching, micro tunnelling, pipe jacking
Deep or unstable excavation, confined space entry, hazardous atmosphere, work at height with fall arrest, hot works, non-routine work on plant that has contained gas
Appendix 3 also covers electrical equipment at gas operational sites, odorant handling, and a catch-all for anything else a risk assessment identifies. Those are the network operator’s work rather than a contractor’s, and they sit outside this.
Six questions, and what paper says to each.
Every one of these is a question somebody in that job has been asked and has had to go and find out. They are not features — each is answered by how the record is built.
What is live right now, across every site?
A permit board, read from the record. Paper is in a van, a site box and somebody’s cab. To answer this today you telephone people.
State is derived on read — there is no field that could be staleIs anybody working under an expired permit?
A permit past its period shows as expired the moment it is looked at. On paper the date is a line somebody wrote, and nothing checks it.
The period is a date, not a signatureHas anybody worked a day without the daily check?
GL/6 5.5.7 asks for an initial at the start of each working day. On paper a missing initial and a day nobody worked look identical.
The system knows which days the work ranCould somebody work today whose ticket lapsed last week?
No. Competence is read from the register when the permit is raised, not remembered from when the card was last seen.
A person without the unit is not an option on the screenTwo crews at one location — does either know about the other?
The conflict check runs across every permit at the same place. Two paper permits in two vans have no way of knowing about each other.
HSG250: interacting work identified before it startsIf there were an incident this morning, what could you produce by noon?
The record. Who did what, when, in what order, with the clause behind each act and the photographs attached. Not a folder somebody has to assemble.
Nothing is edited after the factWhere it refuses.
Clause 5 allows no stage to be skipped or taken out of order. At 09:12 the Authorising Engineer opened the permit and tried to authorise it — prepared, RAMS referenced, period set. He was in the office.
Authorised and issued has not been completed. Clause 5 allows no stage to be skipped or taken out of order.
GL/6 5.3.4 puts authorisation and issue on site. He arrived at 09:25 and authorised at 09:34.
The box is signed. The signature does not say where the person was, and nothing on the sheet could ever have said otherwise.
The act is refused until the record shows they arrived. What is recorded is what happened, not what somebody wrote down.
The sequence, as it ran.
PtW-0001, raised at 07:12 and closed at 17:12. GL/6 Section 5 sets this order and the system holds to it. Every time below is the moment the act was recorded.
- 07:12 The permit is raisedGL/6 5.1 — by the Competent Person, for the activity and the plant affected
- 07:18 Circulated and acknowledgedGL/6 5.2 — everyone named on it before it goes further
- 08:05 Prepared jointlyGL/6 5.1.1 — the plant, the risk assessment, the competence, the controls, the emergency plan, the handover and the equipment
- 08:20 Risk assessment and method statement referencedGL/6 5.1.1 — by reference, not reproduced
- 09:25 The Engineer arrives on siteGL/6 5.3.4 — authorisation and issue happen on site, not at a desk
- 09:34 Authorised and issuedGL/6 5.3 — and not one minute before arriving
- 09:38 The Engineer briefs the Competent PersonGL/6 5.5.3
- 09:46 The Competent Person signsGL/6 5.5.4 — after the briefing, never before it
- 09:55 The team is briefedGL/6 5.5.5 — everyone attending, and their competence satisfied
- 10:12 Preliminaries reportedGL/6 5.4.1
- 10:18 The Engineer agrees the work may proceedGL/6 5.4.2
- 10:25 Daily check — the permit is liveGL/6 5.5.7 — an initial at the start of each working day
- 10:47 A deviation is raisedGL/6 5.5.8 — a new hazard, and the work stops
- 14:38 Reauthorised after the deviationGL/6 5.5.8 — the same sequence again, on site
- 16:40 Handed backGL/6 5.7 — the Competent Person certifies the work complete
- 17:05 Verified by the EngineerGL/6 5.7.1 — nobody verifies their own handback
- 17:12 ClosedThe record is complete and cannot change
Seventeen acts, in the order the record holds them. The Engineer arrived at 09:25 and authorised at 09:34. The other way round is not possible.
The permit it produces.
Sections A to G, lettered as IGEM/GL/6 Appendix 5 letters them. Every field is read from the record; none is typed onto the document.
Excavation 2, Junction of Mill Lane and Victoria Way
| Activity | Tick if applicable to this permit to work | Controls to be applied, and where each was confirmed | Additional documentation required to be attached to this permit to work | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working Near Other Plant | Considered. No activity in this category applies to this permit. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mains and Service Construction | Considered. No activity in this category applies to this permit. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hazardous Activity | Deep or unstable excavation | ✓ |
|
Risk assessment, method statement and permitRA/REP24118/07 rev D MS/REP24118/07 rev CPermission to proceed NC/SOE15229/0114 |
|||||||||||||||
| Entry into a confined space | |||||||||||||||||||
| Work in an asphyxiating or hazardous (toxic) atmosphere | |||||||||||||||||||
| Working at height where fall arrest systems are employed as part of a risk assessment | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hot works — burning, welding or grinding on live or decommissioned plant | |||||||||||||||||||
| Non-routine work on plant or pipe components containing, or which have contained, toxic or flammable material, or on contaminated land | |||||||||||||||||||
| Condition | Applies | Detail | Excavation 1 | Excavation 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Render safe sources of ignition within ──── of the workExcept as specified for permitted hot work. | ✓ | 10 m | Confirmed | — |
| 2 | The following protective equipment to be available and worn: ──── | ✓ | Flame retardant clothing, gloves, high visibility clothing, head protection, gas monitor | Confirmed | — |
| 3 | Breathing apparatus to be worn or available | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 4 | Fire fighting equipment to be available | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 5 | Hand excavation only | N/A | |||
| 6 | Work to be carried out in the presence of ──── | N/A | |||
| 7 | Contractors carrying out work covered by this permit to be fully briefed, and their method statements, risk assessments and other relevant documentation to be inspected before they commence work | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 8 | Notify the gas or distribution network control centre before commencement and on completion of each day’s work, quoting the permit number: ──── | ✓ | 0800 111 999 | Confirmed | — |
| 9 | Live gas area to be fenced off to the satisfaction of the Authorising Engineer | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 10 | All excavations to comply with company procedures | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 11 | No pipework to be used for the support of trestles, scaffolding or anything else | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 12 | The following warning signs to be displayed: ──── | ✓ | Deep excavation, and no entry without a permit | Confirmed | — |
| 13 | Resuscitation equipment to be available | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 14 | Lifelines and harness to be worn or available | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 15 | Continuity bond to be used | N/A | |||
| 16 | Voltstick to be used | ✓ | — | Confirmed | — |
| 17 | Other | N/A |
| Substance | Test required | Initial test | Re-test period | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | ||||
| General atmosphere The Authorising Engineer or their representative may carry out the test (A5.1 a). | Natural gas | No | |||
| OtherSpecify | No | ||||
| Within plant, excavation or confined space A suitably trained and assessed person must carry out the test (A5.1 b). | Natural gas | No | |||
| OtherSpecify | No | ||||
| Competent Person in charge of work | I have read this permit, understand the work to be carried out and will comply with the conditions to be observed and the attachments. |
Signature
Name
A. Whitfield
Contact number
07700 900418
Date and time
29 Aug 2026 09:46
|
| Authorising Engineer | I am satisfied that the work specified may be carried out subject to compliance with the above conditions and satisfactory test results; that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has been carried out and is referenced above; and that where appropriate permission to proceed has been obtained from the Network Controller. |
Signature
Name
M. Ashworth
Contact number
07700 900421
Date and time
29 Aug 2026 09:34
|
| Change 1 | Change 2 | Change 3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand Over Complete? | (y/n) | (y/n) | (y/n) | |
| Competent Person in charge of work | Name | |||
| Signature | ||||
| Designation / Company | ||||
| Date & Time | ||||
| Contact number | ||||
| Hand Over Complete? | (y/n) | (y/n) | (y/n) | |
| Authorising Engineer | Name | |||
| Signature | ||||
| Designation | ||||
| Date & Time | ||||
| Contact number | ||||
| Work may continue until | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Signature of Authorising Engineer |
| Not applicable — no extension has been granted. The permit runs to 05 Sept 2026 as authorised. | ||
| Competent Person in charge of work | I have inspected the work covered by this permit and certify that the work has been completed | Signature | |
| Date | 29 Aug 2026 16:40 | ||
| On completion this Permit to Work must be returned to the Authorising Engineer | |||
| Authorising Engineer | Signature | ||
| Date | 29 Aug 2026 17:05 | ||
The competency register.
Cover by role and by unit. A number is how many hold that unit today; amber is how many lapse within ninety days; a dash means the role does not need it.
| Role | Held | SCO-CORE | AUTH-CP | AUTH-AE | EXC-SUP | HOT-WORK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permit Controller | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
| Authorising Engineer | 2 | 2 | — | 2 | — | 11 expiring |
| Competent Person | 2 | 2 | 21 expiring | — | 1 | — |
What it does not do.
Said first, because the rest is easier to judge once this is clear.
It is a permit to work, and only that
GL/6 sets out four documents for the safe control of operations: the permit to work, the non-routine operation, the routine operation and the form of authority. This handles the permit to work. The other three are outside it.
The risk assessment stays yours
The method statement, the controls and the competency evidence are the contractor’s. The system records the references, tracks where each control was confirmed, and refuses to proceed without them. It does not write them.
It is not a substitute for a safe system of work
It records and enforces one. The duty holder’s obligations are unchanged.
What is not finished.
Nobody has used it on a live job yet
Every screen is a model of a Competent Person built from the standard and from watching the work described. Until somebody has used one in the rain with gloves on, that is an assumption.
The demonstration data is invented
Permit numbers, addresses, reference numbers and the control wording are illustrative. The excavation pictures are drawn and labelled as drawings — fabricating something that looks like site evidence is the one thing a permit system must never do.
It is not deployed
It runs, it is tested, and it holds up under a morning’s load. Hosting, sign-in hardening, backups and payments are the work between here and a service.
Run it alongside your current system for two weeks.
On real permits, with the paper still the permit. No charge, and nothing to install. The only question worth asking at the end is where it stopped somebody doing something they needed to do.
Arrange a trial