Shift logs and shift handover: what to record, the structured handover, and getting the log to feed the systems that act on it
What a shift log should record and what it should not, the sections of a structured shift handover, paper, spreadsheet and electronic logs compared, where each kind of entry should end up beyond the log, and what an electronic shift log needs to do to be worth having. With a drawing of a day of entries and handovers.
Key takeaways
- A shift log records what changed on the plant, what was found and what was decided, so the next shift and the office can act on it. It is not a diary of everything that happened.
- A shift handover is a structured conversation backed by the written log, covering the same sections in the same order every time: safety, isolations, plant status, work in progress, defects, production and instructions.
- Most handover failures are about plant state that was known to one shift and not passed on: an isolation carried over, equipment on manual, a job half finished.
- The log is a source of data, not an end point. Defects belong in the CMMS as work requests, stops in the downtime record, and isolations in the permit system.
- An electronic shift log pays for itself when it enforces the handover sections and sends entries to the systems that act on them. A digital copy of the paper book does not.
A night shift operator finds a lube oil pump stopped and isolated, with no note on the panel. The day crew had isolated it for a filter change that was waiting on parts and mentioned it at handover, but the night shift supervisor had been called away for the first ten minutes. The operator calls out the electrician to find out why the pump will not start. Nothing went wrong, but two hours and a call-out were spent finding something that one line in the log would have said.
This guide covers shift logs and shift handover on industrial sites: what a log entry should record, the sections of a structured handover, paper and electronic formats compared, and where each kind of entry should end up so the log feeds the systems that act on it. It sits beside operator rounds, which cover what operators check, and the 24/7 software article, which covers building the systems that run around the clock.
A shift, its log and its handovers
A log is made during the shift and read at its end. Each entry records something that changed, was found or was decided, with the time, the equipment tag and who made it. At the change of shift the log becomes the backbone of the handover, which runs through the same sections every time so that nothing depends on the outgoing person remembering it.
The handover is two things together: a conversation and a record. The conversation, at the panel or on a walk of the plant, is where questions get asked. The record is what the incoming shift and the office can come back to. A handover that is only spoken is lost by lunchtime. A handover that is only written is skimmed.
The log is not a diary. Every entry should be something the next shift, the planner or the office would act on.
What goes in the log
Good entries are short, timed and tied to a piece of equipment by its tag. They say what happened and what was done about it. Six kinds of entry cover almost everything worth recording, and an electronic log can offer them as types so the entry is structured from the start.
| Entry | What to record | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plant status change | What started, stopped or changed mode, when and why | 04:10 CV-003 stopped on belt drift switch, reset after splice check, running 04:35 |
| Defect found | The equipment, what was seen, and whether a work request was raised | 02:40 PU-112 seal weeping, drip tray placed, work request raised |
| Isolation or permit | What is isolated or under permit, by whom, and whether it carries over | Mill 2 lube pump isolated for filter change, permit open, carries to day shift |
| Alarm or trip | The alarm or trip, the response, and whether it repeated | Three high bearing temperature alarms on the tail pulley, checked locally, normal |
| Production | Tonnes or units, rate, and the reason for any loss | Night shift 8,420 t, two hours lost to the CV-003 stop |
| Instruction | A change to how the plant is to be run, who gave it, and until when | Run thickener rake on manual until the torque probe is replaced |
The structured handover
A structured handover covers fixed sections in a fixed order. Safety and isolations come first, because they are the items that hurt someone if they are missed. Plant status follows, with particular care for anything abnormal: bypassed, on manual, running degraded or waiting on parts. Work in progress, defects, production and instructions complete it.
The UK Health and Safety Executive's guidance on shift handover makes the same points that sites learn the hard way: make it face to face where possible, give it enough time, use a structured written record, and have the incoming person confirm their understanding. Handovers between crews that rarely meet, such as at the start of a swing on a fly in fly out roster, need the most structure, because the incoming crew has been away for a week or more.
Paper, spreadsheet or electronic
Most sites start with a book or a whiteboard, move to a shared spreadsheet, and then look for something better when the spreadsheet becomes unreadable. The choice is less about technology than about whether the log can enforce the handover and send entries where they need to go.
| Format | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Paper book or whiteboard | Quick and familiar, needs no system | Cannot be searched, read remotely or reported on. Defects and stops stay on the page |
| Shared spreadsheet or document | Searchable, readable from the office, cheap to start | No structure enforced, versions collide, nothing links to the CMMS or the downtime record |
| Electronic shift log | Structured entries, required sections at handover, search and reports, links to other systems | Needs the fields kept short, and a device where the operator actually works |
Where the entries should end up
The log is where information is captured, not where it should stay. A defect written in the log and never raised as a work request is never planned. A stop described in free text cannot be added up in the downtime record. An electronic log earns its place by sending each entry to the system that acts on it, with the tag and time already filled in, so the operator writes it once.
| Entry | Where it belongs | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Defect found | A work request in the CMMS | Defects that stay in the log are never planned or tracked |
| Stop or slowdown | The downtime record, with its cause code | Losses described in free text cannot be added up |
| Alarm or trip | The alarm system review and the historian event record | Repeated alarms show up as bad actors only when they are counted |
| Isolation or permit | The permit system, which stays the record | The log points to the permit. It never replaces it |
| Instruction | A standing instruction or a change request if it lasts | Instructions that live only in the log are lost after a week |
What an electronic shift log should do
An electronic shift log is a small system, and the useful ones are deliberately plain. The test is whether an operator can make an entry in a few seconds at the panel or in the field, and whether the handover can be closed without each section being covered.
- Entry types with a few required fields, and free text only where it adds something.
- Equipment picked from the asset register by tag, not typed.
- Handover sections that must be completed, with entries from the shift filling them in.
- Defects sent to the CMMS as work requests, and stops to the downtime record with a cause code.
- Search by equipment, date and entry type, so the history of a machine is one query.
- A record that cannot be edited after the handover closes, with corrections added as new entries.
- Works on a tablet in the field and keeps working when the network drops.
Where shift logs go wrong
- Long free text entries that record everything and are read by nobody.
- Isolations and bypasses known to one shift and not carried over in the log.
- Handovers cut to a minute at the end of a twelve hour shift.
- Defects written in the log and never raised as work requests.
- Different crews keeping different books, so the plant has no single record.
- An electronic log that copies the paper book and links to nothing.
Common questions
What is a shift log?
A shift log is the running record kept by operators or maintainers during a shift of what happened on the plant: equipment started, stopped or changed mode, defects found, alarms and trips, isolations and permits, production, and instructions received. Each entry carries a time, the equipment it concerns and who made it. It is the written half of the shift handover, and the record the office reads to find out what happened overnight.
What should be included in a shift handover?
A good handover covers the same sections in the same order every time: safety events and hazards, isolations and permits that carry over, the plant status including anything bypassed or on manual, work in progress and who has it, new defects and the work requests raised, production against plan, and instructions for the next shift. It is done face to face where possible, with the written log as the record, and the incoming person confirms they have understood.
Why do shift handovers fail?
Usually because something known to the outgoing shift is not passed on: a pump left isolated, a controller on manual, a job half done, an instruction given by phone. The causes are unstructured handovers that rely on memory, handovers cut short at the end of a long shift, logs written as free text that nobody reads, and no check that the incoming shift has understood.
Is there a shift handover template?
A template is simply the handover sections laid out with space for each, so nothing is skipped: safety, isolations, plant status, work in progress, defects, production and instructions. On paper it is a printed sheet. In an electronic shift log the sections are required before the handover can be closed, and entries made during the shift fill them in automatically.
Should a shift log be paper or electronic?
Paper is quick and needs no system, but it cannot be searched, read remotely or reported on, and the defects and stops written in it go no further. An electronic shift log can enforce the handover sections, be read from anywhere, and send defects to the CMMS and stops to the downtime record. It is worth it when the entries are short and structured and the operators have a device where they work.
Key terms
Plain-language definitions from our glossary for the concepts this article leans on.
Standards and further reading
Related case studies and tools
- Automated operations reporting (case study)
Related reading
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