Forms

A form turns an activity into structured data: a checklist to tick, an attendance register to sign, a set of fields to fill in while the work is being done.

Forms exist to make data collection uniform. Without them, what happened during an activity survives as a note or an attached photo; with them, the same activity produces comparable records over time, filled in on the spot — including from a phone — and attached automatically to the document that proves compliance.

Two phases that must not be confused

• Configuration defines the structure: which fields, which questions, which rules. It is done once, on the action.
• Completion enters the data during the activity. Every save produces a static document linked to what was done.

Everything in this area follows this split. You configure on the action; you fill in on the session or when issuing the certificate.

Where a form appears

Forms are part of the workflow: you never go looking for them in a separate archive, the system prompts them when they are due. There are two moments:

• from the session toolbar — the case of the course attendance register, filled in while the session is running;
• when issuing a certificate — for all other types, the form opens before the certificate is finalised, and the data collected becomes an attachment to it.

A form can be marked required: in that case the certificate cannot be created until the form has been completed. This is the mechanism behind the permit to work.

Forms and widgets

4HSE has a second way to build something to fill in: the widget. It is the same editor — choosing an advanced checklist on a form opens the 4HSE Designer, which is the widget editor — but the two differ in where they live and what they produce.

	Form	Widget
Lives	attached to an action	as a file in the archive
Starts	when the system prompts it	when you open it
Produces	an attachment to the certificate	a file you save where you want

Use a form when what you collect is the evidence of an obligation. Use a widget when you need something to fill in that does not belong to an action — an inspection sheet, a survey, a report form.