Require acknowledgement for an order

On a standing order you can mark that acknowledging it is required. The order then carries a warning badge in the diary until the shift acknowledges it, and the report shows in its own column who has signed and who has not. “Did everyone get it?” stops being a matter of memory and becomes a matter of record.

Before you start

• Permission: the order-issuing right — task:issue.
• Where to find it: Shift control → Instructions, on the New standing order form (and when editing any existing order).
• Prerequisite: to acknowledge, the operator needs a started diary — without one they see this instead of the button: “Start the shift diary to acknowledge.”

It marks and tracks — but it does not block sign-in

The switch is labelled “Acknowledgement required at shift entry”, yet today’s behaviour is milder: the system does not block signing in, nor closing the diary, when the acknowledgement is missing. What you get is the warning badge in the diary and the “Required” mark in the report, where a missing signature is visible at a glance. We spell this difference out because the label promises more than the system currently enforces — tell us if you want a real entry gate.

Steps

The checkbox on the New standing order form — and in exactly the same place when editing an existing order.

1. Open Shift control → Instructions.
2. Write the order (title + body) and set the plant and the validity.
3. Tick Acknowledgement required at shift entry.
4. Issue the order. From then on it carries an “Ack required” badge in the list.
5. For an existing order it is the same: open it for editing, tick (or untick) and save.

What the operator sees

Until it is acknowledged the title carries an “Ack required” badge; afterwards it becomes “Acknowledged”, with the name and timestamp of who did it.

The operator acknowledges with the Acknowledge button in their diary. This happens per diary entry: the order gets a separate signature in every shift it applies to — which is exactly what makes it usable as handover evidence.

If it worked

The order shows an “Ack required” badge in the management list, a warning in the diary until it is acknowledged, and in the issued instructions report the Acknowledgement column reads “Required” — next to who acknowledged it and when.

Common problems

What you see	Why	What to do
No “Instructions” tab	You do not have task:issue.	Ask your admin.
The operator cannot acknowledge	They have no started diary — “Start the shift diary to acknowledge.”	Let the diary start first; then the button is active.
I ticked it, yet they can still sign in without acknowledging	The tick is not an entry gate (see the caution above).	If you need real enforcement, tell us — today it is deliberately absent.
An older order has no acknowledgement	The requirement applies to diaries created after you ticked it; it is not retroactive.	Re-issue it if needed, or ask the shift to acknowledge.
Every order became mandatory	If everything carries the badge, the badge loses its weight.	Use it only where the signature matters (HSE, a process limit, a legal duty).

Worth knowing

• Acknowledgement lives per diary entry — not “accepted once, forever”. For a long-lived order this means every shift signs separately that they know about it.
• The report is the evidence. If an audit asks “who knew about the restriction?”, the issued instructions report answers it, with names and timestamps.
• Revoked orders stay visible in the report (“both active and revoked”) — the history does not disappear with the revocation.

Related

Issue a management orderWriting the order, plant scope, validity.

Acknowledge a management orderThe operator side: how they acknowledge.

Issued instructions reportWhere you see whose signature is in.