This article explains how the Approval Workflow (the configurable process in Assure by which records are reviewed, submitted, approved, rejected, or archived) works in Assure. It describes each Record Status (the label assigned to a record indicating its current position in the approval lifecycle) and the follow-up actions available at each stage. Whether the approval workflow is used is controlled at the customer level and can be configured per module. This article applies across all Assure Modules (functional components designed to manage a specific area of health, safety, and risk processes), with full approval processes most commonly used in modules such as Incident Record and Risk Assessment.
Record Statuses in Assure
Each record in Assure is assigned a status. This dictates its position in the workflow, and the options that are available to a user to take next.
A record can have the following statuses:
- In Progress
- Submitted
- Approved
- Rejected
- Archived
- Assigned / Auto-Assigned*
* Assign means a user manually chooses who a record is given to, whereas auto‑assign means the system automatically assigns it to a predefined user based on configuration and workflow rules. Auto-Assign can be set in Settings > Organisational Configuration > Organisational Units. Auto-Assign can be set per Org Unit by clicking the cog wheel and selecting edit. Default Assigned will determine the Auto-Assignee.
Viewing Record Status
On the record overview, a user can quickly see the status of a record. The following examples are taken from the Incident Overview.
Examples:
The first record has been created either on Assure or AssureGO+ and is "In Progress". This means it has been assigned to a user for review and is awaiting submission for approval to an approver. It could also be archived at this stage.
The second record is also assigned. It had previously been submitted for approval but has been rejected, so it is now awaiting review and resubmission for approval. It can also be archived at this stage.
Approval process overview
Not all modules in Assure will require the full approval process. Whether the approval process is used for a specific module may be controlled through ‘module setup settings’.
Check out this article on how to configure approval setting per module.
The graphic below provides an overview of the approval steps if you go through all the stages, like for example for an incident record or risk assessment. This may be simplified for other modules.
Approval Stages
Stage-by-Stage Reference Table
The following table provides a detailed description of each stage and the follow-up steps available to a user at each point in the workflow.
* Options available to a user depend on their permissions.
Check out this article about Role Permissions.
Colour Coding in the Approval Manager
The Approval Manager as seen on the right side of a record in the module list view, uses default colour coding to display record status at a glance:
- In Progress -- Orange
- Submitted -- Blue
- Approved -- Green
- Rejected -- Red
- Archived – Grey
Viewing Approval History on a Record
To view the approval status of a record, there are three methods available.
Firstly, on the browse page/list view of a module, each individual record displays a panel of icons representing the current approval stage of the record.
Secondly, a user can click the menu cog on the desired record and select Approvals to view all approval stages the record has passed through.
Third, when in the record, scroll down to supporting items and select Approvals.
It is also from within the record that you can change the status of the record if you have the correct permissions to do so.
AI Metadata
- Product Area: Workflow Management, Approval Process, Record Management
- User Role: All Assure users involved in submitting, approving, rejecting, or archiving records; Assure Administrators configuring approval settings
- Tags: Record Status, Approval Workflow, In Progress, Submitted, Approved, Rejected, Archived, Assigned, Auto-Assigned, Module Setup, Approval Process
- Version/Region: All Assure versions; all regions
- Important Synonyms: Approval Workflow = Approval Process; Record Status = Workflow Stage; Module Setup Settings = Module Configuration; Assigned = Auto-Assigned; Approval Manager = Approvals screen
- Suggested Embedding Keywords: Assure record status, approval workflow Assure, record in progress Assure, submitted for approval Assure, approved record Assure, rejected record Assure, archived record Assure, Assure approval stages, module approval settings, Assure record lifecycle
- Relevant Modules and Cross-Module Implications: The approval workflow is a platform-wide feature in Assure. It applies across all modules, including Incident Record, Risk Assessment, Audit, Equipment Register, and others. Whether the full approval process is active for a specific module is controlled individually through module setup settings. The workflow is not cross-module in operation; each record follows its approval lifecycle within its own module. However, the Approval Manager aggregates records from all modules into a single centralised view.
Check out other related articles:
Configuring approval settings per module
How to approve a submitted record
How to reject a record from the approval process