Workflow & Approval

Phase Plan Workflow & Approval

Every phase plan follows a five-stage workflow that governs editing permissions, PDF generation, and document distribution. Understanding this workflow is essential for managing phase plans efficiently from creation through to project completion.

Five-Stage Workflow

1. Draft — the initial state after creation, fully editable by all permitted users
2. Under Review — submitted for approval, awaiting a reviewer's decision
3. Approved — locked for editing, the final PDF is generated automatically
4. Active — the plan is in use for a live project, crew inductions are being collected
5. Completed — the project has finished and the plan is archived for record-keeping

Submit for Review

When a draft phase plan is ready, the author submits it for review. This changes the status from draft to under_review. Only plans in draft status can be submitted — attempting to submit a plan in any other status will result in an error.

Approval Process

A designated reviewer examines the phase plan and approves it. Upon approval, the following actions occur automatically:

• The status changes to approved
• The final PDF document is generated using Browsershot
• The approved_by_id field is set to the approving user
• The approved_at timestamp is recorded

Business Rules

Rule	Detail
Editing restrictions	Approved plans cannot be edited by non-admin users; only CoreAdmins may make changes
Deletion restrictions	Approved plans cannot be deleted under any circumstances
Version numbering	The version number increments automatically on every update to the document
Issue date	The issue date resets to the current date on every update, reflecting the latest revision

Show Page Information

The phase plan Show page displays the full approval chain with timestamps:

• Prepared By — the user who created the phase plan, with creation date
• Reviewed By — the user who reviewed the document, with review date
• Approved By — the user who granted final approval, with approval date

Active Status

Once the project begins, the phase plan transitions to active status. During this stage, the plan is in use on site and crew inductions are being collected via QR code scanning. The active status indicates that the document is the current reference for all site safety procedures.

Completed Status

When the project finishes, the phase plan moves to completed status. The document is archived and remains accessible for audit purposes, compliance reviews, and future reference. Completed plans cannot be reactivated.

Events and Notifications

The workflow triggers events at key stages:

• PhasePlanCreated — fired on creation, broadcasts via WebSocket to the tenant and project channels
• PhasePlanApproved — fired on approval, broadcasts via WebSocket to the tenant and project channels

Automatic notifications are sent to relevant users on both creation and approval, ensuring all stakeholders are informed of document progress.

Duplicate to Project

Any phase plan can be duplicated to another project. The duplication copies all fields, selected hazards, safe systems, risk assessments, and project management sections. The duplicated plan is created in draft status with a new document number, allowing it to be edited independently of the original.

Tips

• Always submit for review before the project start date to allow adequate time for approval
• Ensure the approval chain is complete — plans without an approved status should never be used on site
• Use the duplicate function to save time when running similar projects, then adjust the details for the new event
• Monitor version numbers to track how many revisions a plan has undergone during the drafting process