Case studies

Management of employee rights

Paper permits vs. electronic permits

Are paper permits better than electronic ones?

A close look at the process and the drain that the use of paper permits brings to the average workday gives an idea of what progress might look like. Technology-assisted tools are now available that are completely transforming the process.

Counting costs – profits and losses – is the only way to break out of the shackles of bureaucracy. Year after year, many repetitive processes that can already be automated still remain in their original form. They shape the workday of many engineers and industry professionals. The introduction of progress is often viewed through the lens of cost. The return on such an investment should come in a short time.


Much also depends on company policies and mechanisms for implementing change.

Consider the organizational inertia and vicious cycle of task overload that bureaucracy itself generates. Maintaining a paper-based permitting process, as well as many other processes, is so deeply ingrained in the work culture that it’s hard to imagine working without them. Project interruptions are normal. All it takes is one phone call from subcontractors and you have to reprioritize and deal with printing documents, filing them, interrupting project work for others doing the process. All this to deliver a document to the site of the work in progress, which someone will have to dispose of in a few hours.


If we were to analyze the actual value that paper forms bring to a work site where the work is done by an outside company or maintenance staff, we might even find that it is negative.

The paper is often very dirty, crumpled and soaked in oil. Signatures and initials left by workers on various substrates, on tables, machines or in their laps would be difficult for a graphologist to identify. The need to identify the hazards and risks of site-specific work is analyzed in more detail only in particularly hazardous areas. Nevertheless, permits cover all work – even work that, taken together, would take less time than the entire process of organizing permits.


Communication in the process also leaves much to be desired.

Moving around the plant, one can meet many colleagues and work acquaintances. The longer it takes to move around, the more time is spent in short conversations with people you pass. The worst aspect these days is receiving dozens of phone calls during the workday. Most of these calls in an industrial environment involve communicating with people a few to tens of meters away. We over-communicate, bringing to the forefront a hot need that is important right now. The strength of this need is quite understandable – if I wait for permission, I won’t do the assigned work on time. Without a permit, no one can do any work. The work permit process therefore has a very high priority. In a typical industrial plant, such as an automotive or energy plant, it takes place several to dozens of times during the working day.

InnerWeb represents progress in a completely different direction. It allows us to take a step back and completely remodel our approach and workflow. The rapid implementation of e-permits provides savings and benefits from information that was not available before.

PAPIEROWE POZWOLENIA vs E-POZWOLENIAPAPIEROWE POZWOLENIAE-POZWOLENIA INNERWEB
1. ŚREDNI CZAS ORGANIZACJI26 MIN2 MIN
2. PRZYKŁADOWY ROCZNIK KOSZT ($+CZAS)850 TYS250 TYS
3. WIEDZA CO AKTUALNIE DZIEJE SIĘ W ZAKŁADZIEX√
4. STATYSTYKI PROWADZONYCH PRACX√
5. HISTORIA PROWADZONYCH PRACX√
6. OCHRONA PRZED-POŻAROWA 24h/7X√
7. SPOSOBY KOMUNIKACJI W PROCESIEPIESZO / TELEFONPUSH / E-MAIL
8. ZUŻYCIE PAPIERU ORAZ UTYLIZACJA ODPADÓW√X
9. SPOSÓB IDENTYFIKACJI PRACOWNIKAPODPIS PARAFKAPODPIS BIOMETRYCZNY, ZAREJ. KONTO