Sphera Control of Work vs Zentri comes down to whose process the permit follows. Sphera, an established process safety vendor, joins permits, isolations and overlapping work in one view, on a template you can adjust. Zentri's Permit to Work module is built to your SOP and records each permit live. You get your own permit sections, a crew you can see signed on, and evidence as an export. Zentri is stronger on SOP fit and the crew-level record.
- Choose Sphera if you want control of work inside one process safety suite, on a ready-made best-practice template.
- Choose Zentri if you want permits built to your process, to see who is working under each one without walking the site, and evidence ready before anyone asks. Permit to Work is sold on its own.
See it with your own procedure: Book your Zentri demo today
Already have a Sphera demo booked? Skip to the six questions to ask Sphera.
Sphera Control of Work vs Zentri at a glance
| Feature | Sphera | Zentri |
|---|---|---|
| Permit validity and reassessment | No | Yes, rules set per template |
| Crew sign-on and standby | Partly. Permits accepted for contractors | Yes, on the permit |
| Override on the record | Partly. Alerts on non-compliant isolations | Yes, with a written reason |
| Audit trail with export | Partly. Audit trail and permit records | Yes, never edited, exports to PDF |
| Permit built from your own sections | Partly. Risk assessments, checklists, PPE lists | Yes, any permit your SOP defines |
| Process safety and operational risk suite | Yes. Safety barriers, shift logbook, emergency response | Partly. Risk assessment built into permits |
| Permit linked to the lockout | Yes. Blocked until isolations confirmed | Yes, live link to the lockout |
| Live map of overlapping work | Yes. Conflict alerts and a planner | Yes, LiveSite add-on, your floor plans |
| Configurable to your SOP | Yes. Template adjustable in-house | Yes, built to your own SOP |
| Pricing | Not published | Quote, per module |
What is Sphera Control of Work?
Sphera Control of Work is part of the Sphera Process Safety Suite, covering permits, isolations and overlapping work, with editions for mining, pipelines and LNG. Funds managed by Blackstone have owned Sphera since September 2021. Its strength is process isolation: teams build isolation plans on their own piping diagrams, from a personal lockout to a large multi-phase isolation (Sphera).
Where they differ
Permits built to your process
Sphera gives you a best-practice template. Zentri starts from your own SOP. Sphera's template draws on 25 years of industry experience, and your administrators can change workflows in-house (Sphera). Zentri builds each permit from your own sections, phases and approvers, with a risk assessment on your scales and a gas test. Crews sign on, sign off and stand by from their phones, with required training checked. Your issuers work the permit your SOP describes, and supervisors see who is on it.
Digitally linked to the lockout
Both link the permit to its isolations. Zentri records every exception. Sphera's mining case study describes permit issue blocked until the referenced isolations are confirmed in place (Sphera). Zentri Lockout Tagout is sold separately, and with both in use the permit is digitally linked to the lockout, showing each isolation's status live. Signing over one that isn't ready is recorded as an override with a written reason. The contractor crew starts when the isolation is confirmed, and the auditor sees every exception.
Seeing overlapping work
Both show overlapping work live. Zentri adds a headcount on your own floor plans. Sphera gives a live view of ongoing work that flags potential conflicts with automated alerts, and a built-in planner exposes scheduling clashes. Zentri's LiveSite add-on draws every active, held and upcoming permit and lockout on your floor plans, with a count of the people signed on to each. Supervisors get the intelligence to see, detect and stop a conflict before approving the next permit there.
Proof at audit time
Sphera keeps a full audit trail. Zentri adds each permit's own timeline, ready to export. Its records of permits, isolations and hazards are kept ready for audit, with performance dashboards. Each Zentri permit keeps a timeline of who requested, approved, signed on, signed off and closed it, with any reason given. The audit trail stamps every change on server time, is never edited or deleted, and exports to PDF. When the auditor arrives, the evidence is an export, not a week pulling sheets.
When Sphera is the better fit
- You are standardising on one process safety suite and want control of work inside it.
- Your isolations are large multi-phase plans that your engineers build on the plant's piping diagrams.
When Zentri is the better fit
- You want one comprehensive permit-to-work solution that actively tracks the work as it happens, from the first sign-on to close-out.
- Contractor crews work under your permits and you need to see who is on each one, right now.
- You want evidence that holds up on the bad day: an OSHA inspection or an incident investigation.
Questions to ask Sphera in your demo
- Can you configure this to our SOP, or do we change our SOP to fit your product?
- Show a permit's crew: who is signed on or on standby, and is their training checked?
- Is blocking a permit until isolations are confirmed standard, and how are exceptions recorded?
- Where do we set a permit's validity, reassessment and reissue rules?
- Can we add our own gas test, photos and risk scales to a permit?
- Export one permit's history: who did what, when, and can any entry be edited?
Ask us the same six questions: Book your Zentri demo today
Switching from Sphera to Zentri
Your permit types are rebuilt as Zentri permit templates, with your own phases and approvers. If you add Lockout Tagout, your procedures, equipment and isolation points come through a guided import workbook. We configure Zentri to your SOP, integrate the systems you already run, and train your team. A pilot site typically goes live in 4 to 8 weeks.
Sphera Control of Work alternatives
- Zentri: records each permit live, built to your SOP.
- Prometheus ePAS: permits and isolations inside Prometheus Group's maintenance suite.
- Enablon Control of Work: permits and isolations in Wolters Kluwer's EHS and ESG platform.
- Octave Tempo Control of Work (formerly j5): permits and isolations beside operator logbooks.
Bring one of your Sphera permits. In your demo we'll build it in Zentri live, to your SOP, so you see what your supervisor, crew and auditor each get. Book your Zentri demo today
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