What RAVS reviews, in ISN's own words
ISN says documents submitted in ISNetworld are reviewed by its Review and Verification Services (RAVS) team against regulatory and hiring client requirements, and that the documents reviewed include insurance certificates, written programs and training documentation (isnetworld.com). The same page says you can see each connected hiring client's requirements in your account, and that those clients send updates about new or changing requirements. ISN's FAQ lists the collection and review of health, safety, environmental and quality written programs among the subscription services, and says contractors pay an annual subscription and a one-time setup fee per country, based on the number of employees averaged over three years (isnetworld.com/en/faqs).
Hiring clients describe it the same way. Alliant Energy tells its contractors that ISN RAVS will review the written program for conformance with applicable regulatory and Alliant Energy standards (alliantenergy.com). Kinder Morgan says RAVS will review your written health and safety programs, and that a separate I-RAVS review checks your certificate of insurance against its requirements (kindermorgan.com).
What RAVS is not
ISN's RAVS usage terms are plain about the limits. RAVS results are not meant to ensure conformance with regulations or hiring client requirements, and they are not a substitute for professional advice. The hiring client keeps the responsibility for deciding whether a contractor conforms, and the contractor is responsible for meeting the hiring client's requirements (isnetworld.com/en/ravs-disclaimers). An accepted program means the reviewer found what the checklist asked for. It does not mean OSHA would agree, and it is not a promise of work.
Some clients add a second step. ISN describes RAVS 360 as an assessment that gathers evidence your written programs are being carried out: an interview specific to your scope of work, based on your written program requirements, plus training and supporting documents (insights.isnetworld.com). Write what you actually do. The same words may be read back to you in an interview.
Which written programs come up
ISN does not publish one list for everyone, because there isn't one. Your list is built from each connected hiring client's requirements and the work you say you do, and it changes when a client changes its requirements or you take on new work. The programs that come up again and again are the ones OSHA itself requires in writing when the hazard is present, which is why they belong in nearly every contractor's binder:
| Program | When OSHA requires it in writing | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard communication | Hazardous chemicals in the workplace: a written program with the chemical list, labels, safety data sheets and training. | 1910.1200(e)(1); construction uses the same rule (1926.59) |
| Lockout/tagout | Servicing and maintenance where unexpected start-up or release of energy could hurt someone: documented energy control procedures. | 1910.147(c)(4)(i) |
| Respiratory protection | Respirators are required: a written program with worksite-specific procedures, run by a trained administrator. | 1910.134(c) |
| Emergency action plan | When an OSHA standard requires one: in writing, though an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate it orally. | 1910.38(b); 1926.35(a) |
| Permit-required confined spaces | Your employees will enter permit spaces: a written permit space program. | 1910.146(c)(4); 1926.1203(d) |
| Respirable crystalline silica | Construction exposure covered by the standard: a written exposure control plan. | 1926.1153(g)(1) |
| Bloodborne pathogens | Employees with occupational exposure: a written exposure control plan. | 1910.1030(c)(1)(i) |
| PPE hazard assessment | General industry: a written certification that the hazard assessment was done. | 1910.132(d)(2) |
| Fall protection training | Construction: a written certification record for each trained employee. | 1926.503(b)(1) |
Clients add programs no OSHA rule requires in writing: drug and alcohol, subcontractor management, incident investigation, new or short-service employees, driving. General contractors' forms show the same pattern. McGough's sample questionnaire asks whether you have a written field safety program and a substance abuse policy (mcgough.com), and SOLV Energy's application asks for a substance abuse policy and a background screening program (solvenergy.com). For the full OSHA list by rule, see which written safety programs OSHA actually requires.
Answer the scope questions carefully. Every work type and piece of equipment you say yes to can add a program you then have to write, keep current and train to.
Make every answer easy to find: the page reference
A reviewer reads your program next to a list of items for that topic. If item 6 asks how you retrain employees after a change in the workplace, the reviewer has to find that sentence, in your file. A program that covers everything but buries it in long paragraphs reads, to a reviewer working through a stack, like a program with gaps.
The fix is a page reference: for every item on the list, you can point to the exact page and section where your program answers it. Some platforms ask for this outright. Highwire's help center, for one, asks for the file name and the page numbers when you dispute a finding (help.highwire.com). Where nobody asks, building it this way still makes the review faster and the corrections shorter.
- One file per topic, named the way the account names it. If the requirement is a hazard communication program, the file is your hazard communication program, with that title on page one. A reviewer should never have to hunt for it inside a 200-page manual.
- Number the pages and the sections. Page numbers in the footer (Page 4 of 12) and numbered headings (4.2 Training). Section numbers stay put when you add a paragraph; page numbers move. Give both.
- Use the rule's own elements as your headings, in the rule's order. 1926.1153(g)(1) lists what a silica plan must describe: the tasks with exposure, the controls for each task, the housekeeping measures, and the procedures that restrict access. Make those your headings, and a reviewer checking for each element finds it at a glance.
- Keep a cross-reference sheet. A simple table: the item in the list's words, your section number, your page number and the heading. When the account asks where something is covered, or a reviewer says an item was not found, you answer from the sheet in a minute.
- Use the list's words in your text. If the item says periodic inspection, say periodic inspection, not yearly check. A reviewer comparing your text with the item finds it faster when the words match.
- Re-check the sheet every time you revise. Add a paragraph on page 3 and every page reference after it can shift. Update the sheet, the revision date and the page numbers together.
One row of a cross-reference sheet: Training: employees retrained when job duties change. Section 6.3, page 7, heading "6.3 Retraining." The same row works for the reviewer, for whoever takes over your account, and for you at next year's update.
What makes a program read as yours
- Your company name exactly as it is on the account, on page one and in the footer. Avetta lists a company name that doesn't match the account among its common rejection reasons, and another company's name left in the file is worse.
- A responsible person by title, an approval date, a revision date and a signature.
- Your equipment, your chemicals, your work. Delete sections for hazards you do not have. A template written for a plant does not fit a roofing crew.
- Training: who, on what, when and how often, with the frequency the rule sets where it sets one.
- The rule you work under. Construction work cites 1926 where it applies; general industry cites 1910. If you work in a state with its own OSHA plan, check the state rule too (see federal OSHA or a state plan).
The order of work
- Print the list. Every written program topic in your account, with every item under each topic.
- Collect what you already have. Sort it into one file per topic.
- Write or fix each program. Use the rule's headings and your company's details.
- Build the cross-reference sheet as you go. Item by item, as each program is written.
- Number the pages, date and sign. Save as PDF and upload each file to its topic.
- Answer the comments. Fix the named item, update the sheet and the revision date, and upload again. Keep every version you uploaded.
- Put a yearly review on the calendar. Re-check the account whenever a client sends a new or changed requirement.
Rather have the 29Safety safety team write it? The Bid and prequal packet, $795:
- Your company safety manual
- Up to 8 written programs from your GC's list
- A site-specific safety plan for one job
- English and Spanish, as separate copies
Written from the list your general contractor or platform gives you, filled in with your company. What passes is still the reviewer's decision. See what's in the Bid and prequal packet.
More on prequalification
- Written programs for ISNetworld, Avetta, Veriforce and GC prequalification
- Avetta safety manual audit: what it reviews and why documents come back
- Highwire safety assessment: the documents, the score and how to clear a discrepancy
- Subcontractor prequalification packet: what general contractors ask for
- OSHA 300A for prequalification: three years, exempt companies and numbers that match
- EMR for prequalification: what the experience mod means and where the letter comes from
- TRIR and DART for prequalification: the formula and the mistakes reviewers catch
Programs written to the paragraph the reviewer checks
29Safety's construction edition writes the programs a prequal list asks for, each cited to the paragraph and filled in with your company name, your responsible person and the answers you give to its questions. It builds a one-click prequal packet too: your written programs, training records, 300A summaries and insurance documents in one PDF, in the order a prequal questionnaire asks for them. It does not upload to ISNetworld for you, and it cannot promise acceptance or a grade; what passes is the hiring client's decision.
See exactly what you'd get
The JHA plus a toolbox talk record, an inspection and more, in one PDF: five documents for a jobsite crew, or three for a plant. No watermark.
Plans from $199 a month. No per-person fees. 14 days free.
Rather have us write it? Two written programs ($295)
Need the whole packet? Bid and prequal packet ($795)
Questions we get
Does a RAVS review mean our programs meet OSHA rules?
No. ISN's RAVS usage terms say the results are not meant to ensure conformance with regulations or hiring client requirements and are not a substitute for professional advice, and that the hiring client keeps the responsibility for deciding whether a contractor conforms. The review checks your file against a list. Whether the program fits your work and is followed in the field is still on you.
Can we upload our whole safety manual instead of separate programs?
You can keep a manual, but give the reviewer what each requirement asks for. A program that stands alone, titled the way the account names the topic, with page and section numbers, is the easiest to review and the easiest to fix: you change one file, not the whole manual. Bind the same files behind a table of contents and you have the manual a general contractor asks for.
The reviewer says an item was not found, but it is in our program. What now?
Usually the sentence is there but not where the reviewer looked, or it uses different words. Move it under a heading that uses the list's own words, add the page and section to your cross-reference sheet, and resubmit. If the item asks for something no regulation requires, it is the hiring client's requirement: add it, or ask the client's safety contact through the channel your account gives you.
Which programs will our account ask for?
Only your account can say. ISN builds the list from each connected hiring client's requirements and your answers about your work, and clients change their requirements. The ones that come up most are the programs OSHA requires in writing when the hazard is there, such as hazard communication, lockout/tagout, respiratory protection, emergency action, permit spaces, silica and bloodborne pathogens, plus client programs such as drug and alcohol.
Does 29Safety upload to ISNetworld or promise a grade?
No. 29Safety is not affiliated with ISN. It writes your programs, cited to the paragraph and filled in with your company, and builds your prequal packet; you upload to your own account. What passes is the hiring client's decision.
Not sure how this applies to your work? in the chat, or email safetyteam@29safety.com.
Sources
Checked November 5, 2026. Platforms, owners and general contractors set their own requirements and change them; the list in your account or on your form is the one that counts.
- Simplifying the Qualification Process for Contractors and Suppliers, ISN
- Frequently Asked Questions, ISN
- RAVS usage terms, ISN
- RAVS 360, ISN
- ISNetworld, Alliant Energy
- Contractor safety requirements, Kinder Morgan
- Sample prequalification application questionnaire (May 2025), McGough
- Prequalification application (December 2023), SOLV Energy
- Safety Manual FAQs, Highwire
- 29 CFR sections linked in the text: eCFR, the official text