Notes

What is an SWMS or Safe Work Method Statement?
What is an SWMS?

An SWMS is a record that sets out the high-risk building and construction work tasks to be lugged out at a workplace, the dangers developing from these tasks and the procedures to be placed in position to regulate the risks.

One SWMS can be used for job that involves several high-risk construction job activities, for instance, a job task that calls for making use of a powered mobile plant, working at heights of more than 2 metres and also working beside a roadway made use of by traffic apart from pedestrians.

An SWMS is classed as an administrative control and also is utilised to support higher-order controls to eliminate or minimise threats to health and wellness, for instance, design controls.

An SWMS is typically various from other documents that focus on details jobs or processes, such as a Task Safety Evaluation or a Safe Operating Procedure. An SWMS is not meant to be a procedure-- rather it is a tool to assist managers as well as employees validate and also check the control procedures required at the office.

What do I require to do?

A PCBU should prepare an SWMS-- or make certain an SWMS has actually been prepared-- for high-risk building and construction job tasks. An SWMS should be prepared before this work starts. For all other building activities, an SWMS is not needed.

However, a PCBU has to take care of threats to health and safety by eliminating or reducing threats until now as is fairly achievable.

A major contractor needs to also acquire the SWMS before risky building and construction work with a construction task begins.

Who should prepare an SWMS?

The individual responsible for executing the risky construction work is ideal put to prepare the SWMS in consultation with employees that will certainly be straight engaged in the work. Typically, this means an SWMS is prepared by the building contractor for their workers, or by the subcontractor for their workers
as well as themselves.

The major contractor, building contractor and also subcontractors need to talk to each other to establish who remains in the very best placement to prepare the SWMS.

Supervisors, contractors, leading hands and also employees ought to all be associated with establishing an SWMS. Consulting employees is essential so they recognise the detail of the SWMS as well as what they are required to do to implement as well as keep threat controls. Sharing info and using the expertise and experience of workers will certainly assist make sure the work is executed in accordance with the SWMS.

If there is a Health And Wellness Rep at the work environment, they ought to additionally be gotten in touch with when developing an SWMS.

What is the role of the principal professional?

Under the WHS Regulations each 'building and construction task'-- that is a job that includes construction job where the price of the construction work is $250 000 or even more-- must have a 'major contractor'.

A major contractor needs to take all sensible steps to obtain an SWMS from any contractor executing high-risk construction work prior to the work begins. If there is no SWMS the principal contractor should make setups for an SWMS to be prepared, for example by the contractor. A primary contractor should established arrangements to ensure the high-risk building work is performed safely according to the SWMS. This can be done by keeping an eye on the implementation of the SWMS 'on the ground'.

The WHS Rules need that the major service providers' WHS management plan consists of certain plans for gathering, assessing, keeping an eye on and also reviewing the SWMS.

What details must be included in an SWMS?

An SWMS must:

- Recognise the job that is high-risk construction work.

- Specify dangers associating with the risky building work and also the threats to health
and also safety and security.

- Explain the actions to be carried out to regulate the threats, and

- Explain exactly how the control actions are to be executed, checked and also reviewed.

An SWMS ought to be short as well as focus on defining the specific threats recognised for the high risk building and construction work to be undertaken as well as the control gauges to be established so the job is carried out safely.

A prolonged, overly in-depth SWMS can be hard to understand, apply at the office, monitor or review.

An SWMS should be conveniently comprehended by employees, including those from non-English talking backgrounds. For example, pictures or diagrams might be a much more effective means of connecting details.

While there are various other legislative needs to ensure health and safety-- for example, to control exposure to sound and hands-on task threats-- these risks and risk controls do not require to be included in an SWMS.

If the SWMS is based upon a workplace-specific danger evaluation, evidence of the threat assessment may be needed by the regulator or for auditing functions however does not require to be detailed in the SWMS.

SWMS design template

This layout details the info which must be included in an SWMS. The design template also includes various other information which needs to be consisted of as best method, for example, who was sought advice from to prepare the SWMS. Nonetheless, when adding more information to the SWMS take into consideration the value and also importance of the information as well as whether it will certainly include unnecessary size or complexity to the paper.

Can a common SWMS be utilised?
It is important for an SWMS to mirror the particular circumstances of the workplace in which it will certainly operate-- that is the workplace where the high-risk building job is to be executed, the work environment and the workers accomplishing the job.

A common SWMS made use of at various offices might not satisfy the needs of the WHS laws unless it has first been assessed to take into account the hazards as well as dangers at the details work environment as well as modified as essential. One SWMS can be prepared to cover a selection of jobs if it considers the changing nature of the work environment.

Alternatively, a different SWMS can be prepared for each high-risk construction job activity. In this situation think about circumstances where various activities affect each other, for example utilising powered mobile plant during the building of a passage.
Applying and assessing an SWMS High-risk building and construction job need to be performed based on the SWMS. The PCBU has to implemented setups to make certain the SWMS is being abided by, for instance, office gos to.

If job is not being carried out in accordance with the SWMS then it need to stop quickly or as soon as it is risk-free to do so. In these cases, the SWMS must be assessed and if necessary modified to reflect the best means to carry out the job that is sensibly achievable. Work should not return to until the job can be carried out based on the SWMS.

A PCBU must also guarantee an SWMS is assessed and also as needed revised if the measures implemented to manage dangers to health and safety are revised.

Where do I keep an SWMS?

The SWMS should be maintained the office where the risky building work will be brought out. If this is not feasible after that an SWMS needs to be kept at a place where it can be delivered to the workplace quickly. An SWMS can likewise be maintained electronically.

More info
Even more info can be discovered in the Code of Practice: Construction service the Safe Work Australia site (www.swa.gov.au).
Workplace safety for janitors

Homepage: https://www.occupational-safety.com.au/collections/swms