Taking Care of Business: From Permit to Work to Control of Work - How Safety Fits into Operational Effectiveness

Permit to Work (PTW) is an integral part of managing work activities that have inherently higher risks or are unique situations that could lead to a higher level of risk than routine or daily work activities. Once owned mostly by EHS and sometimes maintenance, PTW is evolving into a more robust business management process called Control of Work (COW). While the need to protect the workers still exists, there is a need to ensure work efficiencies that improve interactions between operational divisions to drive an efficient and safe production process.