How do digital Live Permits transform "work orders" into a process that keeps up with reality?
In many industrial plants, work permits still function as a "handbrake" for the organization: paper, circulation of signatures, scattered information, lack of currency, and limited visibility of what is actually happening on site. The problem is not just about convenience – it concerns safety, accountability, and the ability to quickly respond to changes in working conditions.
Meanwhile, dangerous and critical work (e.g., hot work, work at height, work in hazardous zones, maintenance during installation operation) does not happen according to an "ideal plan" — it happens in a dynamic, changing space. This is precisely why traditional work orders often lose to reality: they don't update themselves, they're not consistent with who is actually where, and they don't create a single version of truth for OHS, Maintenance, and external companies.
Live Permits is an approach in which a work permit is not a document "for the archive," but a living operational process – updated in real time, linked to the location and status of activities on site. This is how we build the system at InnerWeb.
Challenge: safety vs. speed vs. operational complexity
Before we move on to technology, it's worth naming the sources of friction that practically always appear in work permit processes:
• Multi-layered responsibility: OHS, Maintenance, production, security, fire protection, supervision – each has their own piece of risk and their own "necessary minimum".
• Changing conditions: weather, media availability, parallel work, schedule changes, vehicle movement, presence of subcontractors.
• Lack of data currency: paper doesn't "know" that the crew changed location, work was delayed, or a new hazard appeared in the zone.
• Information dispersal: training, qualifications, risk assessments, instructions, lockout/LOTO, approvals – often in different systems or completely outside any system.
• Cost of bureaucracy: signatures and document circulation take time that was supposed to be dedicated to planning, supervision, and real prevention.
As a result, the organization chooses between two bad options: either the process is "tight" but slow and burdensome, or fast but risky. Live Permits are meant to resolve this conflict — through automation, consistency, and currency, not by "letting go" of safety.
Where Live Permits provide operational advantage
Below are key areas where the "live" approach genuinely changes the quality of the process.
1) Digital permit as a shared "point of truth"
The work permit becomes the central object of the process, not a form.
• One process record: scope, risks, requirements, decisions, attachments, confirmations.
• Versioning and change history – who, when, what was approved or changed.
• Mobile access for field crews and approvers.
Example: instead of a circulating piece of paper, all parties see the same permit – along with current status and conditions for starting/maintaining work.
2) Real-time updates – a process that keeps up with change
The biggest difference between an "e-permit" and a Live Permit is the fact that the permit is not static.
• Dynamic statuses: preparation → ready to start → in progress → suspended → completed → closed.
• Stop-work mechanisms when conditions change or requirements are violated.
• Communication and notifications to appropriate roles (OHS/Maintenance/supervision/security/contractor).
Example: if a new risk appears in the zone (e.g., parallel work, leak, parameter exceedance), the permit can be automatically switched to "suspended" mode until corrective actions are confirmed.
3) Location as safety context (geofencing, zones, plan compliance)
At the heart of the InnerWeb approach is linking work permits to the actual workplace.
• Assigning permits to a zone/area/workstation (virtual plant map).
• Geofencing: control of "whether work is happening where it should be happening."
• Situational view: where active work is, where crews are, where risk zones are.
Implementation example: in one of the pilot projects carried out with EU funds at the MAN Trucks plant in Niepołomice, the process included monitoring work permits, training requirements for external companies and visitors along with familiarization with current risks upon entering the plant, in parallel with the location of trucks and drivers moving around the facility – using the dense infrastructure of InnerWeb Industrial Radio Beacons (over 200 BLE transmitters on internal plant roads). This shows that a work permit can operate in the same "data language" as logistics and traffic safety at the plant.
4) Competencies and qualifications – "who can" is verified automatically
Live Permits are not just a form – they are compliance logic.
• Verification of training, qualifications, and position requirements before admission to work.
• Start checklists (PPE, tools, safeguards, zones, instructions).
• Register of persons admitted to work under a specific permit.
Example: if current training and a specific qualification are required for hot work, the system can block the start of work without meeting the conditions.
5) Particularly hazardous work: standards, LOTO, and condition control
For areas with elevated risk, repeatability and unambiguity of the standard matter.
• Permit templates (e.g., hot work, work at height, confined space entry).
• Procedure integration: risk assessment, instructions, fire protection requirements, lockout/LOTO, measurements.
• Enforcement of confirmation of critical steps (e.g., energy isolation, zone securing, fire readiness).
Example: launching a work permit in a confined space may require confirmation of atmospheric measurements and a rescue plan – without this, the "in progress" status is not possible.
6) Cooperation with security and the gate – admission and verification at entry
In practice, many problems begin at entry to the facility: incomplete documents, lack of confirmations, unclear scope.
• Quick verification: who is entering, for what purpose, to which zone, under what conditions.
• Linking entry with an active permit and the list of admitted persons.
• Resolving problems "on the spot" instead of sending the crew back and generating downtime.
Example: security can see whether a given person has active admission to specific work and zone, instead of relying on paper or declaration.
Additional functionalities that complete the picture of the plant's "operating system"
Live Permits work most effectively when they are part of a broader ecosystem: safety, maintenance, and logistics.
• Work and risk map – a view of "what is being done where" and what work is parallel.
• Alerts and escalations – including overtime exceedances, entry to a zone without authorization, work conflicts.
• Reports and audit – a complete evidence trail for inspections, audits, and incident analyses.
• Operational analytics – bottlenecks in approvals, typical causes of suspensions, supervision workload.
• Mobile mode and fieldwork – oriented toward the contractor and foreman, not just the office.
• Resource location – people, vehicles, selected tools and equipment (where it makes process sense).
Key success factors for Live Permits implementation
a) Data consistency and integrations
The less manual rewriting, the greater currency and lower error risk. In practice, integrations with HR/training, contractor registry, maintenance matter, and where justified – with security and access control areas.
b) Process design, not "paper digitization"
The most common mistake is transferring paper 1:1 to an application. Live Permits require designing roles, decisions, checkpoints, and suspension/unlock conditions.
c) Shared risk definition (OHS + Maintenance)
The greatest value comes at the moment when Maintenance and OHS stop "competing" over the process and begin to lead it together – with a clear division of responsibilities and shared situational awareness.
d) Information security and compliance
Data about work, people, and locations must be protected. At the same time, access policies, retention, roles, and responsibilities need to be planned.
Risks and considerations
• Privacy and GDPR: location and data access must be purposeful, proportionate, and well-described in process terms.
• Operational trust: the system must operate stably, and suspension rules must not generate false alarms.
• Location quality: it is worth clearly defining for which cases location is "critical" and where it is "supporting."
• Change management: without training roles and field practices, even the best system will become just another tool "on the side."
What's next: from "live" permits to predictive prevention
The next step is using data from the process (statuses, suspensions, conflicts, incidents, locations, schedules) to predict risks and eliminate them earlier:
• identification of typical scenarios in which work is suspended,
• start condition recommendations based on history and context,
• automatic detection of parallel work conflicts,
• "digital situational awareness" for supervision and safety services.
Live Permits are the foundation: if an organization has one version of truth about work in the field, it can genuinely move from reaction to prevention.
Conclusions
Live Permits are a practical answer to a problem that is an everyday reality in many plants: safety needs tightness, and operations need speed. Digital work orders with real-time updates — linked to location and requirement compliance — allow reconciling these goals without compromising on safety.
At InnerWeb, we build solutions for industrial environments where what matters is not only "compliance on paper," but real control of working conditions, transparency for stakeholders, and the ability to respond quickly. Our implementations and pilots show that this model works when it encompasses the entire ecosystem: OHS, Maintenance, contractors, security, and logistics on site.
About the company: InnerWeb
InnerWeb delivers technologies for industrial environments, focusing on safety, maintenance, and organizational efficiency. We combine software and infrastructure (including BLE) to build location and process solutions – such as Live Permits (mobile work permits) and systems supporting real-time risk control.
We carry out projects in the form of implementations and pilots, including co-financed ventures, where alongside process digitization, verification of operational value in real plant conditions is key.
Contact / demo: biuro@innerweb.pl