November 12, 2024

SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENTS AREN’T JUST FOR HIGH-RISK BUILDING WORK.

There requires to be more clearness around SWMS documents and their usage, and we want to offer that. Whether you utilize them in high-risk building and construction or elsewhere, they can be one of your most effective and efficient control procedures, and when you do SWMSs well, almost whatever else you do will tend to follow.

Let’s rapidly take a look at the following:

What they are.
Why are they central to your WHS or OH&S system.
How they are different from a J.S.A. and S.O.P
. What must an SWMS consist of?
Who is responsible?
Making use of SWMSs in high-risk construction.
When they’re asked for somewhere else.
Some market plan and system options.
WHAT IS A SWMS?
A Safe Work Technique Statement (SWMS) is a file that discusses how particular office activities are to be performed. The file recognizes:

The actions being satisfied.
Associated risks,
The risks they produce, and
How to control those risks.
WHY ARE SWMS CENTRAL TO YOUR WHS SYSTEM?
There are two reasons why SWMS documents are central to your system. In certain instances, they are required. Second of all, they work, effective and useful in their application.

An SWMS is needed whenever high-risk building work is performed (as defined by the WHS. Act, which we’ll discuss quickly). This means the Person Carrying out an Organization or Endeavor (the PCBU) should make sure the preparation, following, and retention of these SWMS and their regular and systematic review.

SWMSs are also one of the most effective of all control procedures. They are the most typical and prominent of administrative controls. When their use becomes a work-culture centrepiece, they can powerfully enable and proof your responsibility of care observance and due diligence compliance.

Enabling yourself a little imaginative imagination, believe about how you manage risks as being like strapping on a bulletproof vest. Your Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are like those velcro straps that hold the vest easily and successfully in location.

However they can be exaggerated. More on that soon.

HOW IS A SWMS DIFFERENT FROM A J.S.A. OR S.O.P.?
A Job Security Analysis (J.S.A.) and a Safe Operating Procedure (S.O.P.) are more focused than a SWMS. They focus on isolated tasks and procedures. An SWMS is various since:

It is more comprehensive in its treatment of activities,
It is highly concentrated on determining and keeping an eye on control steps.
It can cover both particular activities along with mix and complex activities (which most high-risk construction work activities are).
WHAT MUST AN SWMS INCLUDE?
Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are simply among different offered danger control procedures. That said, they are likewise (arguably) the centrepiece. When utilized successfully, they bring structure and stability to other WHS. and OH&S activities.

Like straps on a bulletproof vest, they help other controls work and empower the people who use them. A safe work technique statement does this by offering the needed info, directions, and a means of tape-recording actions in a foreseeable and fuss-free format.

Determine the High-Risk Construction Work (HRCW) function – if it is one.
Identify risks and hazardous work practices.
Detail the best control procedures, in addition to backup controls.
Explain what goes into the application of danger management strategies.
Detail the individual or organization doing the work and the individual responsible.
At a building project, detail the primary professional, worksite address, the date of preparation and when supplied to the principal contractor.
List the names of workers spoken with, the dates and the signatures.
Show any evaluation date and sum up any changes made.
SWMS danger control strategies, as per the hierarchy of control, usually seek to:.

Get rid of hazards (maybe by using engineering controls),.
Lower them (for example, by developing traffic passages),.
Administratively minimise them (e.g. by SWMS) and/or.
Suggest Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
A well-designed SWMS design template is simple to prepare, simple for pertinent workers to implement, and will make it possible for an efficient and efficient evaluation procedure. That is what our SWMS templates do.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
When a safe work approach statement is needed, the PCBU must prepare it; where there is more than one PBCU, or the work costs $250,000 or more, a Principal Contractor (PC) is designated. This person is then responsible for gathering, evaluating, keeping an eye on and evaluating any SWMS in place.

A PC and PCBU can hand over processes and work activities, BUT the obligation for SWMS quality and implementation remains with them.

The Principal Contractor (or PCBU where there is not a P.C.) is responsible for:.

Preparing SWMS files before work starts,.
Guaranteeing anyones involved fulfil their duties consistently,.
Determining and controlling threats and threats as per the document, and.
Reviewing and changing the SWMS for continuous effectiveness gradually (Note: employees should be sought advice from – consisting of specialists and subcontractors).
SAFE WORK APPROACH STATEMENTS AND HIGH-RISK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION WORK (HRCW).
Both Australia’s Work Health and Safety Regulations (2011) and the Model WHS Laws (last upgraded in 2022) need using SWMS documents for a variety of high-risk building work activities. Specifically, Regulation 291 information 19 High-Risk Classification activities and an SWMS must be prepared before any such work is carried out.

You can follow the Guideline 291 link to see the specific list, but for ease of understanding, we’ll summarise them as follows.

WHAT ACTIVITIES ARE CONSIDERED HIGH-RISK BUILDING WORK?
There are 19 activities categorized as high-risk building and construction work (HRCW), and they all include dangers and dangers with substantial capacity for significant harm. For clarity, we minimize this 19-item list into 5 danger groupings. They are activities that:.

It might lead to falling,.
May develop due to proximity (or being close to something/someone),.
Result from the use of a powered mobile plant, particular devices or materials,.
Prevail when dealing with specific structures and services, and.
Take place in a variety of environmental specifics.
To break this down more particularly, these 5 activity groups include the following circumstances: an SWMS is required in such scenarios:.

When there is a danger of a person falling more than two metres or falling into a trench or shaft of excavated depth greater than 1.5 m.
If somebody could drown by falling into a liquid, a structural collapse or as a result of diving work.
Where structural alterations are used to prevent a collapse.
Wherever a tunnel is included.
When powered mobile plant work is being done or the plant is being moved.
If rail traffic or nearby roadway users could be harmed.
Whenever asbestos is being disrupted or removed.
If tilt-up or precast concrete work is being done.
Wherever explosives are used or demolition work is being conducted.
When work happens on or near chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines, energised electrical services, pressurised gas circulation mains, piping or telecom towers.
If a work area might have an infected or flammable environment, synthetic temperature level extremes or a restricted space.
A safe work technique declaration must be maintained in these recommended scenarios. The SWMS can be specific to each high-risk building work item or encompass many products in a single SWMS. The most essential thing to bear in mind is that these risks are identified, and the threats are controlled.

If you wish to see the detailed list, follow this Regulation 291 link.

WHAT IF YOU’RE REQUESTED FOR A SWMS FOR ANOTHER ACTIVITY?
It’s not unusual for customers to state different SWMS that go beyond the legal minimums for building tasks – and it doesn’t matter whether the tender process is open, worked out, selective or staged. These remarkable expectations can include requests for safe work approach declarations beyond the stated high-risk construction work activities. We know from conversations with our clients that this is progressively occurring and that there requires to be more clearness around the issue.

These expectations and confusion aren’t helped by SWMS design template suppliers that do not inform you their additional offerings are not required or who oversell with needless SWMS documents. Both are practices we do not do.

We constantly tell our consumers that there are 2 types of compliance; what is legally required and what your customers expect. Both are very real and relevant to win work!

WHEN CLIENTS REQUEST FOR MORE.
They’re paying for the work, so they can specify whatever control measures they desire. Theoretically, they can even require a SWMS for taking a dump (and no, we’re not talking about rubbish removal).

When the market needs extra SWMS or market control measures modification, we generally quickly deal with the need. Sometimes we also establish specific services for particular clients. At other times we have helped them utilize a generic SWMS design template to meet the need. Ultimately, we aim to be as handy as we can pay for to be.

There have likewise been times when we have coached our customers on challenging the tender requirement, and sometimes, changes result. Often it is an honest mistake by an overzealous tender writer, and when the proposed procedures are nicely questioned, they are withdrawn. Numerous do not understand the regulations and know there are less tiresome approaches of handling risks to health and safety.

Here, as constantly, we advise you talk with us. Call 1800 304 336 to take pleasure in greater clarity and effectiveness in your purchase journey.

An SWMS is required whenever high-risk construction work is carried out (as defined by the WHS. Safe Work Approach Statements (SWMS) are just one of various available risk control procedures. Like straps on a bulletproof vest, they help other controls work and empower the individuals who use them. The SWMS can be specific to each high-risk building work item or incorporate lots of products in a single SWMS. These remarkable expectations can consist of demands for safe work technique declarations beyond the stated high-risk building and construction work activities.
For more information, contact:Occupational Safety SolutionsLevel 3/55 Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Pyrmont NSW 20091800 304 336www.occupational-safety.com.au