What this is
What is a pre-work meeting record?
What is a pre-work meeting record?
It is the record of a face-to-face meeting held with a contractor immediately before a job mobilises, covering the scope, the method and risk assessment already reviewed, the hazards on both sides, and the practical arrangements for access, welfare and emergencies. It captures who attended and what was agreed, not whether the paperwork exists.
When should the meeting be held?
Immediately before the crew starts work, close enough to the planned start that nothing material has changed since. A meeting held days in advance, or reconstructed from memory after the job has already started, does not achieve what a pre-work meeting is for.
Who has to attend?
The contract owner, the contractor's supervisor, and the area owner for wherever the work is happening, at minimum. Whether the crew doing the job itself needs to be present depends on risk, but a meeting held only with a supervisor who then relays it secondhand is a weaker control than the record will suggest.
Scope
When is a pre-work meeting record required?
This meeting happens after the paperwork has already been checked. Using it to review a method statement that has not yet been accepted turns a briefing into a negotiation, on site, under time pressure.
Use this template when
- A contractor's method statement and risk assessment have already been reviewed and accepted, and mobilisation is imminent
- Work is about to start in an area with other activity running, and simultaneous operations need to be agreed face to face
- A new work package is beginning for a contractor already approved and onboarded
- A previous pre-work meeting's arrangements need to be re-confirmed because the start date has slipped materially
- A linked record needs this one to exist: links vendor, job
Do not use it for
- Contractor Method Statement Review, which is the desk-based check of the written method that happens earlier and decides whether there is an adequate document to brief in the first place
- Contractor Site Induction, which covers general site rules, hazards and permit requirements rather than the specific work package
- Contractor Competency Verification, which checks individual workers' tickets and training, not the day's coordination arrangements
- A permit to work, which is the specific, time-bound authorisation for a hazardous task identified during this meeting, issued separately
- Contractor Toolbox Talk Record, which covers the ongoing daily briefings during a multi-day job, distinct from the one-off meeting held before mobilisation
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 45001 requires the organisation to coordinate with contractors and to communicate hazards to workers, but it does not name a pre-work meeting specifically. The meeting is where those two duties happen at the same time, in person, before work starts.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4.2 | Hazard identification and risk control for contracted work must be coordinated with the organisation's own arrangements before the work affects its workers | Work and hazards |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.4 | Relevant OH&S information must be communicated internally and with contractors and other interested parties, in a manner that is understood | Attendance |
| ISO 45001 cl.5.4 | Consultation and participation of non-managerial workers in matters affecting their health and safety | Attendance |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.2 | Emergency preparedness and response arrangements must be established, tested and understood by those who may be affected | Arrangements |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.1 | Operational controls must be established, including for conditions that could impact conformity, such as access, hours and coordination arrangements | Arrangements |
| ISO 45001 cl.6.1.2.1 | Hazard identification must be proactive and consider situations arising from work organisation and interactions between activities, including simultaneous operations | Work and hazards |
| ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | The organisation must monitor and evaluate the extent to which planned arrangements have actually been implemented | Close |
What it does not cover
- Contractor Method Statement Review, which is the desk-based check that happens earlier and determines whether there is an adequate written method to brief in the first place.
- Contractor Site Induction, which covers general site rules, hazards and permit requirements rather than the specific work package being mobilised.
- Permit to work, the specific, time-bound authorisation for a hazardous task identified during the meeting, issued as its own record.
- Contractor Competency Verification, which verifies that named individuals hold the tickets and training their work requires, not what was coordinated on the day.
- Contractor Toolbox Talk Record, the ongoing daily briefing used during a multi-day job, as distinct from the one-off meeting held immediately before mobilisation.
Global
Pre-Work Meeting Record requirements by country
No jurisdiction mandates a pre-work meeting by that name. The duty comes from cooperation and communication obligations between employers sharing a workplace, which the meeting turns into a specific, attended event.
OSHA multi-employer worksite doctrine; General Duty Clause
No standard requires a pre-work meeting, but a host employer that knew of a hazard affecting a contractor's crew and did not communicate it can be cited as the controlling or exposing employer.
A documented meeting where hazards were exchanged both directions is direct evidence against a failure-to-communicate citation after an incident.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, reg.11-12
Employers sharing a workplace must cooperate, coordinate their measures, and inform each other's employees of the risks arising from their work.
The meeting is the practical mechanism for meeting reg.11's cooperation duty and reg.12's duty to inform, and its absence leaves both duties unevidenced.
ISO 45001 cl.7.4 and cl.8.1.4.2
Management system requirement to communicate OH&S information to contractors and to coordinate hazard control with them before work proceeds.
Certification auditors look for evidence the coordination was a genuine two-way exchange, not a one-sided handout at the gate.
How to complete it
How to complete a pre-work meeting record, step by step
The template prompts for a list of topics agreed. It does not prompt for the four judgement calls that decide whether the meeting actually reduced risk.
Contract owner present, contractor supervisor present, area owner present and workers doing the job present are separate fields for a reason: each missing attendee removes a specific piece of coordination. An area owner absent means nobody in the room knows what else is running nearby, and a crew absent means the briefing has to be relayed rather than heard.
Our hazards explained to them and their hazards explained to us are asked as two questions because they are two different failures. A contractor's hot work affects the organisation's own people just as the organisation's forklift traffic affects the contractor's crew, and a meeting that only covers one direction has coordinated half the job.
Stop work trigger agreed and communication method agreed record that something was discussed, but the value is in what was actually named: who can stop the job, on what signal, and how they reach the other party. A generic yes to both fields, without the specifics living somewhere, leaves the crew to invent the mechanism mid-task.
Cleared to start offers conditionally as an option, and it is the field most likely to be selected without substance behind it. A conditional clearance needs the condition named in anything unresolved, and a mechanism for confirming the condition is met before the crew actually mobilises, or the clearance is functionally a yes with an asterisk nobody follows up.
What auditors find
Most common pre-work meeting record findings
Pre-work meeting findings almost never concern whether a meeting happened. They concern who was actually in the room and whether what was agreed survived contact with the job.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting held with the contractor's supervisor only; the workers doing the job were not present. | ISO 45001 cl.5.4 | Require workers doing the job present as yes, all before the meeting is recorded as complete for higher-risk work. |
| Method statement or risk assessment marked reviewed with no reference back to the review record. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4.2 | Populate the method statement ID field from the completed Contractor Method Statement Review before the meeting is closed. |
| Simultaneous operations marked not considered despite other known activity in the same area. | ISO 45001 cl.6.1.2.1 | Require the area owner's attendance specifically so simultaneous operations can be answered from knowledge, not assumption. |
| Stop work trigger and communication method agreed in principle, with no detail recorded anywhere on how either works. | ISO 45001 cl.8.2 | Capture the actual trigger and contact method in a linked note or the attendees field, not just a yes. |
| Cleared to start recorded as conditionally, with anything unresolved left blank. | ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | Do not accept conditionally without a named condition in anything unresolved and an owner for closing it. |
| Meeting date and time recorded after the planned start, indicating it was reconstructed rather than held before mobilisation. | ISO 45001 cl.7.4 | Compare date and time against planned start on submission and flag any record where the meeting followed the work. |
Case in point
Case in point: the meeting that briefed the wrong hazard
A cleaning contractor was mobilising for a deep clean of a processing area while a mechanical contractor was already isolating equipment two bays away for planned maintenance. The pre-work meeting was held with the cleaning contractor's supervisor and the contract owner, covered scope, method statement review and welfare facilities thoroughly, and recorded simultaneous operations as none, because nobody present was aware the mechanical crew had started that morning.
The area owner had not been invited, having been treated as optional for a cleaning job assessed as low risk. A cleaning operative walked into the isolated bay to access a floor drain and found live pneumatic lines still under pressure from equipment the mechanical crew had not yet finished isolating. No injury resulted, but the near miss investigation found that the one attendee who would have known about the other crew's presence, the area owner, had never been in the room.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
5 sections
- Reference
- CON-011
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- PWM-2026-000
- Scoring
- Not scored
- Direction
- n/a
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4
- Links
- Links Vendor, Job
- Tags
- Contractor, Coordination
- Sections
- 5
- Fields
- 49
- Follow up fields
- 0
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 3
Header
15 fieldsMeeting ID*
Auto sequence. Format PWM-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Contractor*
Vendor ID*
Format VEN-0000.
Links to FDN-005 Vendor ID
Work Category*
Mechanical, electrical, refrigeration, civil, cleaning, catering, transport, IT or professional services.
Risk Tier*
Set by the work they do, not by how big the company is.
- Low3 pts
- Medium2 pts
- High1 pt
- Very high0 pts
Contract Owner*
Fifteen Minutes That Prevents Most Problems
Sit down before the job starts and agree who is doing what, what could go wrong and who stops it. Almost every contractor incident traces back to a conversation that did not happen.
Work Package*
Planned Start*
Planned Duration*
Attendance
6 fieldsContract Owner Present*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Contractor Supervisor Present*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Area Owner Present*
The person responsible for the area where the work happens. They know what else is running.
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Workers Doing The Job Present*
- Yes, all3 pts
- Some1 pt
- None0 pts
Safety Representative Present
- Yes3 pts
- No1 pt
Attendees*
Work and hazards
9 fieldsScope Confirmed And Understood*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Method Statement Reviewed*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Method Statement ID
Links to CON-012 Review ID
Risk Assessment Reviewed*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Permits Required Identified
Isolation Requirements Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- Not required3 pts
- No0 pts
Our Hazards Explained To Them*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Their Hazards Explained To Us*
Both directions. Their welding fumes affect our people as much as our forklifts affect theirs.
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Simultaneous Operations Identified*
- Yes3 pts
- None3 pts
- Not considered0 pts
Arrangements
12 fieldsExclusion Zones Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- Not needed3 pts
- No0 pts
Access And Egress Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Welfare Facilities Explained*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Working Hours Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Out Of Hours Arrangements
- Robust3 pts
- Basic1 pt
- None0 pts
Waste Disposal Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Food Safety Controls Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Screening And Product Protection Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- Not required3 pts
- No0 pts
Post Work Sanitation Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- Not required3 pts
- No0 pts
Emergency Arrangements Confirmed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Stop Work Trigger Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Communication Method Agreed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Close
7 fieldsQuestions Raised And Answered*
- Yes3 pts
- No questions2 pts
- Left unanswered0 pts
Anything Unresolved
Cleared To Start*
- Yes3 pts
- Conditionally1 pt
- No0 pts
Contract Owner*
Signature*
Contractor Supervisor*
Second Signature*
CON-011 · record IDs look like PWM-2026-000 · Links Vendor, Job
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The meeting itself is a conversation. What fails afterwards is coordination that depended on someone remembering it, and a clearance that was conditional on nothing that got tracked.
Holds the pre-work meeting against the job and the accepted method statement, and blocks mobilisation records until attendance and clearance are both confirmed.
Cross-checks simultaneous operations against other live permits and jobs in the same area, and flags meetings that missed a known conflict.
Tracks conditional clearances to a named condition and owner, and raises anything left unresolved before the planned start arrives.
This template lives in KnowContractor — contractor management. Prequalification, approval, induction, permits and performance.
Meet KnowContractor→Glossary
Pre-Work Meeting Record definitions and key terms
- Pre-work meeting
- The face-to-face briefing held with a contractor immediately before mobilisation, confirming scope, hazards and coordination arrangements already reviewed on paper.
- Simultaneous operations
- Two or more activities running in the same area or affecting the same equipment at the same time, each of which can be a hazard to the other.
- Exclusion zone
- An area from which people not involved in the task are kept out for the duration of the work, agreed and communicated before work starts.
- Stop work trigger
- The named condition or observation that authorises anyone present to halt the task, and the mechanism by which they signal it.
- Cleared to start
- The formal decision that mobilisation may proceed, which can be unconditional, conditional on a named item being resolved, or refused.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about pre-work meeting record
How is this different from the method statement review?+
The review is a desk-based check of the contractor's written method and risk assessment, carried out before this meeting and capable of rejecting the document outright. This meeting is the face-to-face briefing that follows an accepted method statement, confirming it with the people actually doing the work rather than reassessing whether it is adequate.
Does the crew doing the job need to attend in person?+
For higher-risk work, yes. A meeting held only with the supervisor relies on a secondhand relay that loses detail and removes the chance for the crew to ask questions before they start. Lower-risk, routine work may tolerate representation, but the record should show that as a deliberate choice, not a default.
What belongs in the attendees field versus the named attendance questions?+
The named questions, contract owner present, contractor supervisor present, area owner present and so on, confirm the roles that matter for coordination were covered. Attendees captures who specifically, by name, which matters if the meeting is ever reconstructed during an investigation.
What if simultaneous operations are discovered after the meeting?+
The meeting's clearance to start no longer reflects reality, and the work should stop until the new activity is coordinated, ideally through a fresh check with the area owner rather than an informal conversation in the corridor. This is exactly the gap a missing area owner leaves in the original record.
Can the meeting be held remotely?+
It can, but the coordination value drops. A remote meeting cannot verify who is physically present the way an in-person one can, and hazards that are easier to point at than describe, an exclusion zone boundary, a live line, are harder to communicate reliably over a call.
What does conditionally cleared actually authorise?+
Nothing on its own. It authorises mobilisation only once the specific condition named in anything unresolved is met, and the record should show who confirmed that before work actually started, not just that the box was ticked at the meeting.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Contractor Onboarding and Management
Contractor Prequalification Questionnaire
Collects a contractor's safety, insurance, training and performance information before they are approved
Contractor Safety Statistics Review
Reviews a contractor's injury rates, citations and experience modifier over recent years
Contractor Risk Classification
Classifies a contractor by the risk of the work they do, from low risk services to high risk construction
Contractor Approval Record
Records the decision to approve a contractor to work on site
Contractor Safety Program Review
Reviews the contractor's own written safety programme against your requirements
Subcontractor Declaration
Records any subcontractors a contractor intends to use
More in Site Induction
Contractor Site Induction
Introduces a contractor to your site rules, hazards, emergency arrangements and permit requirements
Contractor Worker Register
Lists every individual contractor worker on site, with their induction and certification status
Contractor Competency Verification
Verifies that contractor workers hold the tickets and training their work requires
Contractor Method Statement Review
Reviews the contractor's proposed method of work and its risk assessment
Site Access Authorization
Authorises a contractor worker to enter the site for a defined period and area
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 45001:2018 clauses 8.1.4, 7.4, 5.4 and 8.2
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulations 11 and 12 (GB)
- OSHA multi-employer worksite doctrine, CPL 02-00-124 (US)
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.