Permit to work and risk analysis as an element of safety management systems applied on oil and gas installations

Purpose: To present the Permit to Work procedures used as a part of safety management systems applied on offshore oil and gas installations. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis of Permit to Work systems and the Task Risk Assessments/Safety Job Analysis based on the current international regulations and guidance. Findings: Permit to Work system is a process requiring continuous development and contribution from all parties involved in the activities carried out on the offshore oil and gas installations. Research limitations/implications: Legal regulations and guidance only give a framework for development of the Permit to Work System thus there is no uniformity between the systems applied by various oil and gas operators. Practical implications: International Safety Watchdogs could provide better guidance for development of the Permit to Work Systems. This would allow uniformity between different oil and gas companies. Social implications: PTW systems allows elimination or at least mitigation of risk associated with potentially dangerous activities carried out on the offshore installations. Originality/value: Recommendation to uniform Permit to Work Systems and to implement Dynamic Risk Assessment into Permit to Work Systems.