ISSOW: risk assessment, permit, isolation and work order in one system
In an integrated safe system of work (ISSOW), the safety elements of a job are not separate papers but one connected process. In OPEREX the risk assessment, the permit, the isolations, the certificates, the gas tests and the maintenance work order live in one system — and leave one trail.
In short
- ISSOW is an approach, not a single regulation: the risk assessment, the permit, the isolation and the maintenance work build on each other and use each other’s data.
- In OPEREX the optional upfront risk assessment pre-fills the permit; isolation points, certificates and gas tests live on the permit; the maintenance work-order checkpoint looks at the permit.
- Every step is a signature or an audit-log entry, and the permit’s signature chain is hash-chained.
- What it is not: an ISSOW certificate, a risk rating, automatic work-order creation from the permit.
What is ISSOW?
ISSOW (integrated safe system of work) names an approach used in hazardous industries: the safety of non-routine work comes not from any single document but from the links between them. The risk assessment says what is hazardous; the permit says who may work where and when; isolation and measurements say whether the equipment really is safe; the work order says what is done to the equipment.
When these live on separate papers or in separate systems, a person holds the links in their head — and they get lost at shift changes and handovers. The point of ISSOW is that the system keeps the links. OPEREX follows this approach; it does not claim an ISSOW certificate or compliance with a named standard, because no such certificate exists for the product.
ISSOW in OPEREX: one process, five steps
The steps follow the path of the job. The first is optional, switched on by the organisation’s policy.
Upfront risk assessment
Following the organisation’s own question set and rules, the system states which permit(s) are needed, which items are required, and which conditions and prep tasks come with them. At approval the content is frozen.
Permit
From the approved assessment, permit drafts are created in one step, pre-filled. The permit moves through a 12-state lifecycle; every step is a signature in the chain.
Isolation, certificates, gas tests
On the same permit: isolation points (who applied, who restored), certificates (isolation, fire, entry, area handover…) and gas testing.
Maintenance work order
The maintenance policy checkpoint looks at the permit: work that requires a permit cannot start without an active one, and the work order cannot be closed while a permit is open.
Hand-back and closing
It warns about isolations still in place; once the permit is closed, the whole trail stays retrievable.
In OPEREX ISSOW is not a separate screen or switch: the steps above are parts of the module, and together they make the integrated process.
What lives where
On the same permit, without separate views.
- Risk assessment
- Optional, switched on by policy; cannot be changed after approval and gets a digital fingerprint. It gives no risk rating (high / medium / low) today.
- Permit and signatures
- Policy decides which steps and signatures are required and how strict (block, warn, off). The signature chain is hash-chained.
- Isolation
- Per point: method, what, on-site reference, who applied and who restored, and when. Details: the isolation and LOTO article.
- Certificates and gas tests
- The template says which certificates and measured gases are required; the policy decides whether a gap blocks or warns at issue.
- Maintenance work order
- The work order and the permit can be linked; the checkpoint warns or blocks, according to the policy.
Maintenance and permit, connected
- The work-order checkpoint in the maintenance policy (warn or block): work that requires a permit cannot start without an active permit, and the work order cannot be closed while an open permit belongs to it. For an emergency work order the start check does not run; the closing check does.
- Without the maintenance module there is no work-order checkpoint; the permit can be used on its own. The shift diary can record the permit against an event but does not call a permit.
Trail and paper
- Every step carries a name and a time in the permit’s signature chain or the audit log; the chain cannot be rewritten unnoticed.
- A printed and PDF permit that includes the isolations, certificates and measurements; a paper fallback process.
- Permit report export, down to isolation level.
What it does not do today
So you know what to expect: OPEREX supports the ISSOW approach, it does not replace the organisation’s responsibility.
- There is no ISSOW certificate, and the software does not by itself certify compliance; judging compliance is up to the organisation and the certifier.
- The risk assessment is optional, gives no risk rating, and makes no AI suggestions.
- The work order is not created automatically from the permit; the link works through the checkpoint.
- There is no site-wide isolation register across permits. (Gating the issue on the isolation points and second-person verification can be switched on; both are off by default.)
- There is no separate ISSOW dashboard: the trail lives on the permit, in the report and in the audit log.
If something is missing for you, tell us — the development order follows real plant needs.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
What does ISSOW stand for?
Integrated safe system of work: risk assessment, permit to work, isolation and maintenance work as one connected process, tracked in one system.
Is OPEREX ISSOW-certified?
No, and no such certificate exists for the product. OPEREX supports the ISSOW approach with an auditable trail; judging compliance is up to the organisation and the certifier.
Is an upfront risk assessment mandatory?
No. It is optional, switched on by the organisation’s policy. When on, the approved assessment creates pre-filled permit drafts.
How does the maintenance work order connect to the permit?
Through the checkpoint in the maintenance policy: work that requires a permit cannot start without an active permit, and the work order cannot be closed with an open permit. The checkpoint warns or blocks, depending on the setting.
Is the work order created automatically from the permit?
No. The link works through the checkpoint; the work order is created in the maintenance module.
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