Every 24/7 site has a shift handover. Not many have written down what a good one looks like. So it varies with whoever is on, and with how the last hour of the shift went.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) sets out clear guidance on effective shift handover, and splits it into three stages. None of it is complicated. Doing it properly at 06:00, with the radio going, is harder.
Three stages of an effective shift handover
HSE breaks effective handover down into three parts: preparation by the person going off shift, the exchange of information between both teams, and cross-checking by the incoming team as they take over.
Any of the three can fail on its own.
Preparation fails when the outgoing operator starts thinking about handover at 05:45. Whatever gets written then comes from memory, and memory at the end of a twelve-hour night shift isn’t great. The events, changes and open jobs should have been recorded as they happened, so the last half hour is for checking, not remembering.
The handover itself fails when it turns into one person reading out notes while the other nods. HSE says it should be face-to-face and two-way, with both people sharing responsibility, and use both spoken and written communication. The written record gives it shape. The conversation is where “which pump?” gets asked.
Then there’s the incoming operator who signs and sits down. They should look at the displays, the registers and the permits, and make sure what they were told matches what they can see. Then they take over.
What good handovers have in common
They use the same headings every time. If a defeated trip only gets mentioned when someone remembers, sooner or later someone won’t. Base the headings on what the incoming person needs to know, and work that out properly, once, for each position. They also get enough time: HSE says handover should get as much time and resource as it needs. If the shift pattern leaves no overlap, handover gets squeezed into the car park. That’s a rota decision, and rotas can change.
The incoming operator asks questions and repeats back the bits that matter. They don’t just listen. There’s a written record, so that tomorrow’s day shift can see what was handed over tonight, and when. And there’s a clear moment when responsibility changes hands, with a record of who handed over, who accepted and at what time.
When shift handover carries greater risk
HSE’s first principle is to identify the higher-risk handovers. Some situations need more time and a lot more detail.
HSE and Energy Institute guidance give examples, including maintenance continuing across a shift change, safety systems overridden, unusual running such as a start-up, unscheduled maintenance, and safety-critical work carried out under an existing permit to work.
HSE also notes that most accidents caused by handover failures have involved planned maintenance work.
Take an override put in at 02:00 so a faulty level switch could be worked on. By 06:00 the job is half done, the fitter has gone home and the permit is still open. The day operator needs to know all three things, and needs to see them written down, not just hear them on the way to the kettle.
Agree in advance what extra checks those cases need, and when the shift manager gets involved. Deciding at 05:55 is too late.
Where it usually goes wrong
The problems in HSE and Energy Institute guidance will be familiar to anyone who has worked shifts. Nobody has defined who is responsible for what, or what information has to be passed on. There’s little training on how to hand over. Handovers get rushed or interrupted by the radio. Nobody looks back at whether handovers were any good. And maintenance status or plant status gets passed on wrongly.
You won’t fix any of those by buying something. They need a clearer procedure, and enough time to follow it.
A checklist helps
Guidance is easier to follow when it’s sitting in front of you. A checklist tells the outgoing operator what to prepare, and gives both people the same headings to go through. It also makes acceptance a definite step rather than a nod.
Our free shift handover checklist covers preparation, plant status, permits, isolations, outstanding work, safety-critical information and the checks needed before the incoming shift takes responsibility.
It’s based on HSE and industry guidance and can be used online or downloaded as a two-page PDF. You can adapt it to your own site.
How software can support a better handover
Nothing replaces the two people talking it through. What software can do is stop the outgoing operator rebuilding the shift from memory at 05:45.
With Opralog, operators record events, readings and instructions as they happen throughout the shift. They can then bring the relevant entries into the handover without having to write everything again.
The incoming team can see what’s changed, which equipment is unavailable, what instructions still apply, what’s still outstanding and who’s following it up. If something needs discussing in more detail, they can refer back to the original logbook entry.
You can build your own handover checklist into it. Handovers can also require the incoming shift’s acceptance: the outgoing person locks the handover, the incoming person signs it off, and both names and times are recorded.
There’s more on our shift handover software page.
But start by agreeing what a good handover looks like on your own site.
General guidance only. It doesn’t replace your site’s own procedures, permit-to-work requirements or risk assessments.
Sources: Health and Safety Executive: Shift handover; Energy Institute: Human factors briefing note no. 10