Guide to Media Release Forms [+Templates]

Posted on January 7, 2022July 28, 2025 by GoCanvas Team

Guide to Media Release Forms [+Templates]

Business Operations | Project Management

Many industries rely on release forms to protect their businesses from legal liabilities. Being on the wrong end of a legal suit can be costly and a huge distraction for a business. Release forms are widely used by the professional services industry to help protect the company’s interests in case of a dispute. This article covers what you need to know about media release forms for photography, video, and other forms of media. We will cover how you can manage these legal documents digitally using mobile forms and templates to get you started.

What Is a Media Release Form?

Also known as a general release, a media release form is a legal document that shields you from legal liability when undertaking a given project. It’s written consent or formal acknowledgment that the person signing it relinquishes their legal rights to the project’s materials. A release binds the releasee to the terms outlined within an agreement, giving you the creative latitude you need with your business project.

A release ensures that an actor, model, or a participant may not require you not to use footage after a change of heart. Or someone asking you to remove an image or a scene they’re featured in because it’s not flattering enough. Or the location where you shot a project decides they don’t want to be in it anymore.

What Types of Organizations Need Media Release Forms?

Release forms are a standard fixture in the creative sector. They’re by photography, film, music, documentary, and radio companies to ensure they wholly own the rights to any content they capture. It’s a bulletproof way to ensure the people taking part in a project don’t lay a legal claim to some of the material.

What is the Purpose of a Media Release Form?

Release forms help you avoid legal troubles that could result if a subject in your project were to withdraw their consent to use some material in your project. Without a release form, someone in your photos, footage, or audio clip could change their mind and forbid you from using that part of the footage.

If that were to happen, you’d need to restructure your entire project to accommodate their demand. That could often delay or derail your project, leading you to incur huge inconveniences or expenses. For instance, using a subject’s image or likeness could trigger legal proceedings and land you in hot water.

When Do You Need a Media Release Form?

You need a release form if any image, footage, or audio clip in your project is likely to be used commercially. In this context, commercial intent implies money-generating activities. These could include creating sales or promoting a product, idea, or event.

If there’s a remote chance of monetizing the content of your project, you’re better off getting the participants and the subjects to sign a media release form. It’s better to have a signed document and not need it than to need one, but you can’t trace the people in the picture or video footage.

You may not need a signed release form when capturing images or footage for editorial purposes. That is when they accompany a journalism piece or a news article. However, the distinction between editorial and commercial use can get blurry. Hence, you must distinguish the limits when licensing a project. For instance, an image with a group of people is fair game for a fashion magazine covering an event from a journalistic perspective.

However, if the magazine used the same image to advertise the venue hosting the event, or the company hosting the event, that’d amount to commercial use. With a signed media release form, you could monetize the image or footage, and both you and the people involved could make some money.

You also need to consider if the people or the property appearing in the image or footage are identifiable. Although what’s identifiable is a grey area, you can drill it down to a simple question. Can someone familiar with the property or person in your project identify them? If so, you should get the subject or property owner to sign a release form.

How Do You Write a Media Release Form?

There are many digital templates available online that you can use for media release forms. These templates can be used as a starting point for your business and you can customize them based on your needs or the advice of a lawyer. Consulting an attorney can help you ensure that your release form covers all bases.

For a release form to successfully protect your business, it must be legally enforceable in court if it comes down to it. Some of the crucial information in a release includes:

Name of the parties involved, i.e., releasor and releasee
Detailed information about the project
Explicit information of the permissions granted
Any special considerations, including payment obligations or credit, if any.
A space for all parties to sign

Get Started with GoCanvas Media Release Form Templates

Looking for a digital template to use as your media release form? GoCanvas can help you manage all of your release form documentation online through our secure cloud-based platform. Share documents, collect signatures, and manage the entire process using a mobile device or tablet – even without internet connection.

Designed with the professional services industry in mind, we offer a waiver and release app that is made specifically for professional photographers and photography studios. This app template outlines the conditions of the release, including the legal rights for usage and reproduction rights for images, voice, and videos. You can customize the form based on your unique business needs using our easy-to-use software for mobile forms.

If you’re looking for a different type of release form, GoCanvas has thousands of additional templates you can find in our online app store. Contact our team for more information or sign up today for a free trial.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers.

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

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Free Equipment Checkout Form Templates

Posted on January 3, 2022July 28, 2025 by GoCanvas Team

Free Equipment Checkout Form Templates

Business Operations | Forms | Inspections

Construction job sites require workers to use heavy equipment, tools, and other important assets. Keeping track of your equipment is an essential part of the job and having processes in place helps ensure equipment is well managed.

Some companies choose to manage this process with simple equipment checkout forms on site using paper. But paper forms are not always ideal for growing businesses that need to establish documented processes for tracking equipment and inventory checkout. Instead of relying on paper forms, construction firms can use mobile apps and forms for easier management and visibility into job site operations.

Continue reading this article to learn how mobile forms can be used for managing the equipment checkout process.

Why do you need a digital equipment checkout form?

Printable checkout forms using paper have a few disadvantages. Here are some of the top reasons to consider going paperless:

Paper forms can be easily lost or corrupted

Unfortunately it can be very easy to misplace or lose important forms when using paper. When managing assets like equipment, issues with paper work can lead to valuable things potentially becoming lost or misplaced.

Companies looking to simplify inventory management and asset tracking have gone the way of digital apps that make it easy to keep track of checkout and equipment forms. Since records are stored digitally to the cloud (even without an internet connection), you can be sure that forms are never lost and are easily accessible from anywhere.

The other downside with paper forms is that sometimes information is not filled out entirely, leaving off important details on the form. This can require you to track down the information later on or deal with incomplete data. Mobile apps help to ensure that data is filled out correctly every time, with required fields, drop-down lists, GPS tracking, and other features that promote standardized data.

Printable forms provide limited visibility in real-time

Digital apps also provide a better system to work between job site and office. While paper forms tend to become siloed, information stored to the cloud is easy to report on and track from anywhere.

For equipment management, this means your team has greater visibility across multiple job sites and information can be tracked in real-time. This can save time for everyone involved and provide a better solution for documenting and reporting on equipment being used for construction projects. Bringing information online can help to streamline tasks and improve workflows between disparate teams and locations.

GoCanvas Equipment Checkout Form Templates – Start Your Free Trial

GoCanvas is a leader provider of mobile apps for the construction industry, helping contractors worldwide to streamline their operations. Our mobile forms are completely customizable to your business needs, providing an easy-to-use platform for managing how work gets done. GoCanvas offers many pre-built form templates for the construction industry, like our equipment checkout form.

Key benefits of this app:

Equipment log that is designed to keep track of tools and other assets securely from a centralized platform for contractors
Ensure you know where heavy equipment and rentals are being used, helping to avoid lost tools and costly replacements
Customize what information is collected, from name of the tool, serial number, date and time, condition of the equipment, and more.
Collect digital signatures to provide an electronic record
Sync to analytics and reporting tools to easily run reports or export them to PDFs to share via email.

Sign up for a free trial to see how mobile forms can simplify tasks like equipment checkout, inspections, work orders, and much more. Looking for something else? Search thousands of pre-built form templates on the GoCanvas App Store.

About GoCanvas

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

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Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

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Understanding Workplace Safety Hazards: What Employers Need to Know

Posted on December 17, 2021July 28, 2025 by GoCanvas Team

Understanding Workplace Safety Hazards: What Employers Need to Know

Compliance and Safety | Business Operations | Disaster Preparation

While the pandemic has brought mainstream attention to worker safety issues, workers and employers in many industries, such as construction, field services, manufacturing, and transportation/logistics, have long grappled with common workplace hazards. Not only do firms have a vested interest in keeping their employees safe from worksite risks, but the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) also requires them to do so.

However, despite OSHA being the law of the land for more than 50 years, some employers still lack comprehensive safety management plans that address and mitigate the risk of common workplace hazards. Without such a plan, workers (and potentially customers) may be at risk of illness or injury. Further, their employers face potentially stiff financial, legal, and reputational consequences.

What are workplace hazards?

A workplace hazard is a workplace activity or condition that creates the potential for mental or physical harm. Employers are responsible for remediating workplace hazards that they know about or should have known about and keeping a log of all workplace injuries and illnesses that have occurred at the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Agency is tasked with inspecting worksites to ensure that employers provide workplaces free of hazards, and it takes enforcement actions when they are not.

What are the different types of hazards?

While the Act covers specific and detailed General Industry safety standards (as well as those for the Agriculture, Maritime, and Construction industries), OSHA’s general duty clause is broader. It requires employers to ensure their worksites are “which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” While the list of hazards the Act covers is significant, they can generally be divided into the following categories:

Safety hazards

Safety hazards are workplace activities or conditions that can result in accidents or cause injuries. The list of possible safety hazards is considerable, but common examples include employees:

Being provided with broken mechanical or electrical equipment
Navigating slippery or cluttered floors
Working on insecure scaffolding or not having appropriate fall protection equipment
Working inside buildings with a single entrance/exit or blocked fire exits
Working schedules that are impossible to fulfill without cutting corners, among others

Biological hazards

These workplace safety hazards can stem from exposure to dangerous materials, such as healthcare and lab workers’ exposure to infectious diseases, or a food processing employee’s exposure to animal materials, in a day’s work. However, biological hazards can also result in all workplaces from neglect, such as in mold occurrences.

Chemical hazards

Chemical hazards can also result from exposure to dangerous substances and compounds as part of a worker’s routine duties. Employers must ensure that equipment is in working order, employees are provided personal protective equipment (PPE), and that chemicals are handled in well-ventilated places, among other safety measures, to mitigate the risk of injury/illness from a worker’s exposure to chemicals. Employers are required to provide Safety Data Sheets for anyone that manages chemicals in the workplace.

Physical hazards

Workers in certain industries often face a variety of physical hazards. Construction workers may deal with excessive noise, while manufacturing workers may face elevated temperatures. Or an employee at a nuclear plant may deal with radiation exposure. Employers must minimize the risk of employee injury from these and other types of physical hazards.

Ergonomic risk factors

Another type of hazard concerns physical activities that may result in injury. For example, a worker who must repeatedly perform heavy lifting puts themselves at risk for musculoskeletal injury, as would an employee who performs repetitive injuries. Employers should examine processes and workflows that create this type of risk and provide tools, or even automation, to minimize ergonomic risks.

How to identify hazards in the workplace

Safety-conscious employers can identify workplace hazards through regular inspections of their worksites, equipment, and operations. It’s best to document these inspections to help ensure the appropriate remediation takes place.

It’s also recommended that employers speak with frontline workers about workplace safety hazards, as they will likely identify some that managers miss. Among other areas of potential danger, employers should examine:

Clutter
Use of electrical, chemical, or biological materials and equipment
Equipment maintenance and operation
PPE inventory and suitability
Work scheduling and processes
Emergency plans and evacuation procedures
Fire safety measures

These areas are just a sampling of workplace elements where hazardous conditions may be found. In addition to seeking input from workers, it’s also often advisable for employers to use services from third-party safety experts to help identify all potential workplace safety hazards.

How to prevent hazards in the workplace

Performing regular workplace safety inspections is one way to prevent hazardous conditions. Another tool is training. Employers should ensure that workers at all levels have the fundamental training they need to perform their duties safely and receive regular refresher training that helps keep their skills up-to-date. Further, workers should also be well-versed in their employer’s internal safety practices and procedures to help prevent hazards.

Employers should also encourage a safety-oriented workplace culture. Workers should not only have an outlet to provide health and safety-related feedback, but they should also be actively encouraged to do so. In unionized environments, formal mechanisms, such as labor-management health and safety committees, may be established by contract or past practice. However, all workplaces, union and non-union alike, should establish a mechanism for workers to identify potential hazards without fear of retaliation.

Another way to prevent workplace hazards is by establishing a workplace health and safety management plan.

The benefits of a health and safety management plan

When employers develop a comprehensive health and safety management plan, employers can greatly mitigate the risk of worksite illnesses, injuries, and deaths. They can also save themselves considerable money in the process. When a safety incident occurs at work, the company may be liable for damages from the victim/family or, if the incident stemmed from an OSHA violation, from the Agency. Employers lose the services of an employee, reducing overall productivity. And their insurance premiums may also go up as a result.

But by drafting a plan that includes provisions for workplace hazard prevention, assessment, and remediation and employee training (from leadership on down), employers can avoid high financial costs, productivity reductions, legal consequences, and bad press.

Using GoCanvas to identify hazards and ensure a safe workplace

When incorporating GoCanvas into their workplace health and safety plans, employers don’t need to rely on expensive third-party consultants for periodic assessments. Instead, they enjoy continuous access to a robust safety application that helps employers and employees collaboratively identify workplace safety hazards and incidents in real-time, reducing paperwork and saving time and money in the process. GoCanvas’ robust platform allows you to take advantage of pre-formatted forms for specific industries and use cases or build your own, tailored to your unique business.

Interested in learning more? Try GoCanvas for free or contact us for more information today.

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A Guide to Stop Work Orders for Contractors

Posted on December 10, 2021July 28, 2025 by GoCanvas Team

A Guide to Stop Work Orders for Contractors

Field Operations | Task and Issue Management | Workflow Management

Dealing with paper-thin margins and tight schedules is not the only nightmare for a contractor on a project. A minor violation of the building code can force a stop work order, leading to extended timelines, expensive penalties, and more customer frustrations. This article covers what you should know about stop work orders and we share how easy-to-use construction jobsite management software can better manage contracts and work orders.

What Is a Stop Work Order in Construction?

A stop work order (SWO) is a legally binding instruction given to a contractor, asking them to suspend all work on a project. The order may be given by word of mouth, but it’s only enforceable when confirmed in writing. Stop work orders may apply in any project with a written contract, but they’re more common in the construction industry. When issued, the contractor should cease all project-related activities immediately.

What Are Common Reasons for a Stop Work Order?

When a project fails to comply with the building code, the authorities can issue a stop work order. The orders also help to solve payment disputes, and they can help reduce the extent of damage in breach of contract. Here are more reasons why you would get served with one:

Failure to comply with workers’ compensation regulations
Using unlicensed contractors
Violating environmental protection laws or use of hazardous materials at the construction site
Failure to follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act
Any other activity considered illegal according to the regulations

Who Can Issue a Stop Work Order?

The authorities and anyone who’s part of the contract can request a stoppage. Government agencies will recommend a work stoppage for noncompliance with the regulations. Sometimes a project may move according to plan, but the requirements change midway, forcing modifications that might need government approval. A stop work order can also help when a client or contractor disputes when one party changes the agreed terms and substantially alters the final product. Workers can also ask for suspension of operations to resolve a payment dispute.

What’s Included in a Stop Work Order?

A stop work order will describe everything that needs to be suspended and provide clear instructions on fixing it. Here is what you can expect to find in the document:

Details of the activities suspended. It could be a section of the works or the entire project.
Clear instructions on the corrections needed. For example, the authorities can order a contractor to obtain a permit for renovation work before continuing with the project.
- Resolution: The SWO should provide the steps for work resumption should the contractor make corrections that meet the requirements.
- Termination: If it seems like no amount of rectifying will resolve the problem, like when the project owner and contractor have irreconcilable differences, the stop order should outline the steps for termination.
The SWO should also explain the penalties for non-compliance. They could include consequences like prosecution, civil fines, termination of the contract, and others.

What Types of Stop Work Orders Exist?

Not all stop work orders require you to abandon the construction site completely. The authorities might issue a full or partial stoppage depending on the potential impact of the issue at hand.

In partial SWO, you will halt some activities and continue with the rest of the work. For example, a partial PWA can be issued to make you address the safety issues of a section of your construction as you continue working on other sites.
A full SWO stops the entire operation. It’s usually used when it’s found that you need to address serious issues affecting your entire project, like a change in technical specifications or non-compliance with regulations.

What Should You Do When You Receive One?

A stop work order may cause unnecessary delays and possible prison time for legal noncompliance. You also don’t want to spend your time fighting legal battles for money that could have been more useful in your project.

Here’s what you need to do when you get an order to halt operations:

Stop working immediately, or you could face serious penalties from the authorities.
Contact the issuing authority to seek further clarification if you need to.
Review the issues raised to confirm any violations. Contact your lawyer if you feel the order was raised unfairly.
Determine the cost and extent of the work needed to make corrections. You can decide whether termination makes more sense than continuing the project.
Create a work plan and fix the issues.
Start the process of having the order by requesting an inspection of the work done. Sometimes the SWOs are lifted by the expiration of time.
Pay the fines if you have to and resume your project.

What Are the Penalties for Not Following a Stop Work Order?

You should brace yourself for heavy fines and penalties from the authorities if you decide to ignore a stop work order for noncompliance. Across many states in the US, civil penalties start to accumulate from the first day you violate the SWO, building up to a hefty sum that you might struggle to pay. Noncompliance may also bring criminal charges, not forgetting the time spent sitting in courts or dispute resolution sessions.

What is an Example of a Stop Work Order?

A stop work order will be very specific to the violations in your project. State departments and city authorities can issue stop orders for many reasons. For example:

Failure to Comply With City Zoning Regulations

Unsafe activities at a job site, for example, a tunneling project with extremely loose soil above ground
Extreme modifications going against what was previously approved for a project

A project owner who wishes to have similar powers to halt operations should ensure that they include a stop work order clause in the contract.

How Do You Resume Work?

Stop work orders are costly to the project, and contractors should prioritize resuming normal operations as fast as possible. Work may start again when the order is canceled, expires, or the authorities send a written notice to continue working.

Here’s what you need to do if you want to lift the order quickly:

Handle the corrections immediately. The best solution is to clean up your mess as soon as possible to avoid penalties and further delays.
Request for re-inspection from the issuing authority. It’s going to be thorough, so ensure that you’ve done a pretty neat job this time.
Pay the applicable fines.

Preventing Stop Work Orders From Disrupting Your Construction

Running a construction project is a tough job, and it would be regrettable if a stoppage should get in the way of meeting your schedules. It is always a good idea to comply with all the building codes and environmental regulations in your area. Try to maintain good relations with all of the stakeholders in your project.

Ensure that you document everything, and it might help in your defense should you run into legal troubles. However, all this is easier said than done, and you may benefit from having construction management software to keep up with all the requirements.

What is Construction Management Software?

Construction management software is designed to integrate with different aspects of construction work like contract management, threat analysis, stock management, cost management, client management, task management, and much more.

Construction management software can help contractors at different levels to keep tabs on every part of the project, helping them with compliance, avoiding contract disputes, and curbing illegal or substandard work.

Benefits Managing Construction Contracts and Work Orders With Software

As a contractor or project manager, you will have a much easier time navigating SWO-related issues when you have software to help manage work orders, contracts, inspections, and similar workflows between the field and office.

For example, you will have all your contracts in one place where they’re easily accessible, and you can track and avoid changes that might cause a stop work order. Here are some of the benefits of using software for construction:

Planning. It’s much easier to staff your project and equip them with the right tools when you have effective planning software. Having the right people doing the work with equipment that serves them sufficiently lowers the chances of doing substandard work and accidental injuries caused by insufficient tools.
Communication. Effective stakeholder engagement is one of the most critical roles for any project manager. However, poor communication is one of the biggest hindrances, and it causes many contractual disputes. The major challenge is how to process the tons of information coming in from different sections and share it effectively with the owners, the workers, and the authorities. The software provides timely alerts and useful communication tools like reports and analytics that you share with the stakeholders as needed.
Documentation. Imagine being unable to trace your safety reports or having a hard time accessing your building permits. Document management can be one of the hardest things to do, and software keeps everything in one place so you can focus on your deadlines instead of paperwork.
Safety. Incorporating software into your construction project brings more awareness to safety-related issues. They can help you identify possible risks and plan for safety guidelines to minimize worksite injuries and stop work orders.
Monitoring. Construction management software gives you more eyes over the project, making it easy to keep everyone accountable for their work and monitor your operations from anywhere. Greater visibility into your field operations can allow you to spot issues, trends, and other information that can be difficult to report on without the help of digital technology.

Software To Manage Contracts & Work Orders

GoCanvas provides an easy-to-use platform for managing your contracts, work orders, inspections, safety programs, quality control, and much more. Contact our team to schedule your demo.

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Guide to PPE for Construction Safety

Posted on December 7, 2021July 28, 2025 by GoCanvas Team

Guide to PPE for Construction Safety

Compliance and Safety | Business Operations | Disaster Preparation

Though it’s almost impossible to remove all hazards on a construction site, one effective way to keep employees safe is the use of PPE. PPE is essential on construction job sites when there is no other way to remove the risk or hazard. Continue reading to learn more about PPE and what types of risks workers exist for workers on construction sites. The article will explain an introduction to PPE and workplace hazards, and we will explain how software can help manage construction safety programs and inspections.

What is PPE?

PPE is short for Personal Protective Equipment. It includes all devices that employees use to prevent risks in the workplace. PPE protects against injuries to the eyes, head, skin, lungs, and ears.

Some examples of Personal Protective Equipment for construction safety include:

Gloves
Shoes
Safety glasses
Earmuffs
Vests
Coveralls
Full bodysuits
Respirators
Hard hats

Why is PPE important?

PPE becomes essential after exhausting other measures of risk prevention. Personal Protective Equipment limits exposure to objects or chemicals that can cause harm to workers on the construction site. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) requires employees to wear PPE whenever necessary.

What hazards exist in the workplace?

A workplace hazard creates room for potential harm to the workers. Though employers are responsible for removing these hazards, employees should have a keen understanding of workplace safety hazards. OSHA agents may carry out routine inspections of construction sites to ensure site managers comply with safety requirements.

While construction safety is non-negotiable, common hazards in the workplace include:

Safety hazards
Biological hazards
Chemical hazards
Physical and ergonomic hazards