HSE / EHS software
HSE software that lives inside your maintenance system
Most maintenance accidents do not start with missing paperwork. They start with paperwork kept somewhere else: a hot work permit signed in a binder while the job runs in the CMMS, a lockout nobody can check from the work order, an incident whose corrective action never became a job. FreeMaint keeps permits, lockouts, incidents and safety inspections on the same work orders and assets your team already uses every day.
Free your maintenance · Free Core tier, unlimited users, no credit card.
In short
HSE software (also called EHS software) records how a site controls health, safety and environmental risk: work permits, lockout/tagout, incidents, corrective actions and safety inspections. In a maintenance team it works best inside the CMMS, so a permit is tied to the work order it authorises. FreeMaint does this: its HSE module is part of the Starter plan at $29 per month per company.
Updated September 27, 2026
What the safety layer records, and where it lives
Work permits linked to the job
Seven permit types: general, hot work, confined space, working at height, electrical, excavation and chemical. Each type can carry its own pre-work and post-work checklist and a multi-step approval chain. The permit sits on the work order, and a job whose tasks require a permit cannot start until one of the right type is approved.
Included in StarterLockout recorded on the work order
Record each isolation on the job itself: energy type (mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic), single or group lockout, padlock numbers and notes. The work order cannot be completed while the equipment is still locked out, so nobody closes a job before the machine is released.
Included in StarterIncidents with corrective actions
Log injuries, near misses and environmental events with photos, export each incident as a PDF, and assign corrective actions with an owner and a due date. A corrective action can become a work order in one step, so the fix is tracked like any other job. US sites also get an OSHA 300-style log view.
Included in StarterRecurring safety inspections
Build a checklist once and schedule it daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or every few years. Inspectors record pass or fail, readings and photos, and a failed point can raise a work order. The monthly grid shows at a glance which equipment was checked and which was missed.
Included in StarterCertificates with expiry alerts
Store statutory test certificates on the asset: load tests on lifting gear, pressure vessel tests, periodic electrical tests. Admins and managers are alerted 30, 15 and 7 days before a certificate expires.
Included in StarterA maintenance base that costs nothing
Work orders, assets, requests, time-based preventive maintenance, QR codes, the offline mobile app and basic LOTO are on the free Core tier, with unlimited users. The safety layer is added on top of data you already keep.
Included in Core (free)Signatures where they count
On the Business plan, e-signatures capture who confirmed a job or an inspection, with the name and time stored against the record.
Included in BusinessWhy safety paperwork outside the CMMS lets accidents through
On most sites, maintenance and safety run on two systems. Work orders live in the CMMS. Permits, lockout sheets and incident reports live in binders, shared drives or a separate EHS tool that technicians rarely open. Each system is correct on its own. The risk sits in the gap between them.
When an HSE manager or an auditor asks a simple question — was this job done under a valid permit, and was the energy isolated? — someone has to reconcile two sets of records by hand. If the honest answer is “we think so”, the control did not work. These are the gaps we see most often:
- A hot work permit is signed, but the work order it covers is never referenced, so nobody can say which job it authorised.
- The job starts before the permit is approved, because the technician only sees the work order.
- A lockout is applied but not recorded, and the work order is closed while the machine is still isolated.
- An incident report lists a corrective action that never becomes a job, and the same failure happens again.
- A lifting certificate expires and the crane stays in service because nobody was reminded.
Permits to work that follow the job from start to closure
In FreeMaint a permit is a record linked to a work order, not a separate form. When a work order is created with tasks flagged as requiring a permit, a draft permit of the required type is created automatically. The work order shows the permit, and Start Work stays blocked until a permit of that type is approved or active.
Each permit type can have its own pre-work checklist, opened when the permit is submitted, and its own post-work checklist, opened when the work is declared finished. A required item that fails blocks the next signature. The approval chain is set in the workflow settings — for example a safety review followed by the area manager before activation, and the same pair again before closure. Each approver is notified when it is their turn. Routing a different chain to each permit type is a Business plan option.
Permits can be exported for audits, and sub-permits can be attached to a parent permit, which cannot be approved until every sub-permit is.
Incidents, corrective actions and the injury log
An incident record holds what happened, where and when, who was involved and the photos taken on the spot. Each incident can be exported as a PDF for the safety committee or the case file.
Corrective actions are listed on the incident with an owner, a due date and a status. When the fix needs maintenance work — a guard to refit, a leak to repair — the action becomes a work order linked back to the incident, so the closed loop is visible from both sides.
For US sites that keep an OSHA 300 log, FreeMaint provides a log view with stable case numbers and a PDF export. On the Enterprise plan, confidential injury fields can be restricted to the people allowed to see them.
What FreeMaint records, and what stays your responsibility
Regulations shape how sites use these records. Plants subject to OSHA 1910.147 use lockout records to show that hazardous energy was isolated; organisations working towards ISO 45001 use permits, inspections and corrective actions as evidence of their controls. FreeMaint stores that evidence and links it to the work. It does not certify a site, and it does not replace the competent person who assesses the hazard and signs the permit.
The data model is deliberately plain: a permit, a lockout, an incident or an inspection is always attached to an asset, a location or a work order. That is what lets a maintenance manager answer safety questions from the same screen used to plan the week.
Setting up HSE in FreeMaint
- 1
Turn on the HSE module
An admin enables HSE under Settings, Modules. It is included from the Starter plan.
- 2
Write your checklist templates
Create the pre-work and post-work checklists for each permit type you use, and the templates for routine safety inspections. Keep your own questions and wording.
- 3
Define who signs, and in which order
Set the approval chain for activation and for closure, with roles or named people at each step.
- 4
Flag the tasks that need a permit
Mark work order tasks that require a permit and choose the permit type. The permit is drafted automatically and the job waits for its approval.
- 5
Review and close the loop
Use the HSE dashboard, the incident log and inspection results to see where controls fail, and turn each finding into a work order.
FreeMaint compared with the usual alternatives
| Criterion | FreeMaint | Paper or spreadsheets | Standalone EHS suite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permit linked to the work order | Yes, on the same record | Reference written by hand, if at all | Usually a separate record in another system |
| Job blocked until the permit is approved | Yes, when a task requires a permit | No | Rarely, as the EHS tool cannot see the work order |
| Lockout on the job | Recorded on the work order, blocks completion | Paper tags and a logbook | Often a separate module |
| Corrective action that needs a repair | Becomes a linked work order | Emailed, then often forgotten | Needs an integration or re-keying |
| Certificate expiry reminders | 30, 15 and 7 days before expiry | Calendar reminders set by hand | Usually available |
| Pricing model | Free Core tier; HSE from $29 per month per company, any number of users | No licence cost, high admin time | Often priced per user or per module |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HSE and EHS software?
None in practice. HSE (health, safety and environment) is the usual term in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; EHS is more common in North America. Both describe software that records permits, lockout, incidents, inspections and corrective actions. The difference that matters is whether that software can see the maintenance work it is meant to control.
Is the HSE module free?
The free Core tier includes work orders, assets, requests, time-based preventive maintenance, the offline mobile app and basic LOTO, with unlimited users. The HSE module (permits, incidents, safety inspections) and advanced lockout records are part of the Starter plan at $29 per month for the whole company, not per user.
Which types of work permit does FreeMaint support?
Seven: general, hot work, confined space, working at height, electrical, excavation and chemical. Each type can have its own pre-work and post-work checklist. The type is locked once the permit is submitted, so nobody can bypass an approval chain by switching type halfway.
Can a technician start a job before the permit is approved?
Not when the work order has a task flagged as requiring a permit. Start Work stays blocked, with a message explaining why, until a permit of the required type is approved or active. Work orders without that flag behave exactly as before.
Does FreeMaint make us compliant with OSHA or ISO 45001?
No software can do that on its own. FreeMaint keeps the records these frameworks expect you to hold — permits, lockouts, inspections, incidents and corrective actions — and links them to the work. Compliance still depends on your procedures, your risk assessments and the people who apply them.
Can injury details be kept confidential?
On the Enterprise plan, confidential injury fields and attachments can be restricted so that only authorised users see them; other users only see that the information exists. On every plan, access to HSE records is controlled by role permissions.
Can we keep our existing paper permit forms?
Yes. Rebuild each form as a checklist template in FreeMaint with your own questions and wording. An inspection can also be printed as a checklist with empty boxes, filled in by hand at the machine and then recorded.
Related pages
Put safety records on the work they control
Start on the free Core tier with unlimited users, then add the HSE module when you are ready to move permits, lockouts and incidents off paper.
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