Design and Validation of an Iranian Application Software for the Evaluation of the Permit-to-work System in Process Industries

Background Aims of the Study: The most important causes of accidents in process industries are related to overhaul and maintenance activities, as well as the absence or failure of a permit-to-work system. The present study aimed to design and validate an application to evaluate the permit-to-work system in the process industries. Materials and Methods: The present applied–developmental study was conducted in 2019. Initially, 25 experts determined the data elements and the necessary capacities of the application. Original idea of the application software was coded using C sharp in the Microsoft visual 2017. The design was performed in accordance with the SDLC model. Finally, the Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS) was used to evaluate the usability and user satisfaction of the final version of the application software. Results: In the designed application software, the clients can evaluate the permit-to-work system based on the defined access limit. According to the scores, the performance of the permit-to-work system is classified as poor, average, good, or excellent, which are actually the outputs of the application software. Based on the results of the QUIS, the overall score of user satisfaction with the application software was 7.71 out of 9. Conclusion: The developed application software can be used as a suitable tool for the evaluation of the performance of the permit-to-work system in process industries, such as oil and petrochemical refineries as well as other similar industries.