Notes

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

An SWMS is a file that sets out the risky building job activities to be carried out at a workplace, the risks occurring from these activities as well as the steps to be placed in place to control the risks.

One SWMS can be used for work that involves numerous risky building and construction work tasks, for instance, a work task that requires utilising a powered mobile plant, operating at heights of more than 2 metres and working adjacent to a road made use of by website traffic other than pedestrians.

An SWMS is classed as an administrative control and is utilised to support higher-order controls to eliminate or reduce dangers to health and wellness, for instance, engineering controls.

An SWMS is generally various from various other documents that focus on particular tasks or procedures, such as a Task Security Analysis or a Safe Operating Procedure. An SWMS is not intended to be a treatment-- rather it is a device to help managers and employees verify as well as keep track of the control actions needed at the office.

What do I need to do?

A PCBU has to prepare an SWMS-- or make sure an SWMS has actually been prepared-- for risky building and construction work tasks. An SWMS should be prepared before this job begins. For all other building tasks, an SWMS is not called for.

However, a PCBU has to manage risks to health and safety by removing or reducing dangers so far as is fairly practicable.

A major contractor needs to additionally obtain the SWMS before high-risk building deal with a construction job begins.

Who should prepare an SWMS?

The individual responsible for executing the risky building and construction work is ideal put to prepare the SWMS in assessment with workers who will be directly participated in the work. Normally, this means an SWMS is prepared by the building contractor for their employees, or by the subcontractor for their employees
and themselves.

The major service provider, builder and subcontractors must consult with each other to establish who remains in the very best position to prepare the SWMS.

Supervisors, professionals, leading hands and also employees need to all be involved in creating an SWMS. Consulting employees is very important so they recognise the detail of the SWMS as well as what they are called for to do to implement and also preserve danger controls. Sharing details and also using the knowledge and experience of workers will certainly help see to it the work is executed based on the SWMS.

If there is a Health And Wellness Rep at the work environment, they need to additionally be consulted when creating an SWMS.

What is the duty of the major service provider?

Under the WHS Laws each 'building and construction task'-- that is a task that involves building job where the price of the building work is $250 000 or even more-- need to have a 'principal contractor'.

A primary professional should take all practical actions to obtain an SWMS from any type of specialist carrying out risky building and construction work prior to the work starts. If there is no SWMS the major specialist need to make arrangements for an SWMS to be prepared, as an example by the contractor. A primary specialist must established plans to make certain the risky building work is performed safely in accordance with the SWMS. This can be done by keeping an eye on the implementation of the SWMS 'on the ground'.

The WHS Regulations need that the major specialists' WHS monitoring plan consists of details arrangements for collecting, examining, keeping an eye on and examining the SWMS.

What details must be included in an SWMS?

An SWMS should:

- Recognise the job that is risky construction job.

- Specify hazards connecting to the high-risk building job and the risks to health and wellness
and also security.

- Describe the actions to be executed to regulate the dangers, and

- Define how the control actions are to be implemented, monitored and examined.

An SWMS needs to be short and also concentrate on describing the specific hazards recognised for the high danger building and construction work to be undertaken as well as the control measures to be put in place so the job is performed securely.

A prolonged, excessively thorough SWMS can be hard to comprehend, apply at the workplace, screen or evaluation.

An SWMS should be easily understood by workers, consisting of those from non-English speaking histories. For instance, photos or layouts may be an extra reliable method of connecting details.

While there are other legal demands to ensure health and wellness-- for instance, to manage exposure to sound as well as manual job hazards-- these hazards and also risk controls do not need to be consisted of in an SWMS.

If the SWMS is based on a workplace-specific threat analysis, evidence of the risk analysis may be required by the regulator or for auditing purposes yet does not require to be detailed in the SWMS.

SWMS template

This template lays out the information which has to be consisted of in an SWMS. The template likewise includes various other info which must be included as best method, as an example, that was sought advice from to prepare the SWMS. Nevertheless, when adding even more details to the SWMS consider the relevance as well as significance of the info and whether it will certainly add unnecessary length or complexity to the file.

Can a common SWMS be made use of?
It is necessary for an SWMS to mirror the specific conditions of the workplace in which it will operate-- that is the work environment where the risky building job is to be carried out, the work environment as well as the workers executing the job.

A common SWMS used at different workplaces might not meet the demands of the WHS laws unless it has actually initially been assessed to consider the dangers and dangers at the particular office and changed as essential. One SWMS can be prepared to cover a selection of tasks if it takes into account the changing nature of the workplace.

Additionally, a separate SWMS can be prepared for each high-risk building and construction job activity. In this instance take into consideration circumstances where various tasks influence each other, for example utilising powered mobile plant during the building and construction of a tunnel.
Applying and evaluating an SWMS Risky building work must be executed according to the SWMS. The PCBU needs to put in place plans to ensure the SWMS is being adhered to, as an example, workplace brows through.

If work is not being performed according to the SWMS then it need to quit promptly or as soon as it is secure to do so. In these instances, the SWMS ought to be examined as well as if required modified to reflect the most safe way to execute the job that is fairly possible. Job should not resume till the job can be carried out in accordance with the SWMS.

A PCBU needs to likewise ensure an SWMS is assessed and as essential revised if the actions implemented to regulate dangers to health and safety are modified.

Where do I keep an SWMS?

The SWMS ought to be kept at the workplace where the high-risk building and construction job will certainly be lugged out. If this is not feasible after that an SWMS must be maintained a place where it can be supplied to the office quickly. An SWMS can also be maintained electronically.

Additional info
More information can be discovered in the Code of Practice: Building and construction work with the Safe Work Australia internet site (www.swa.gov.au).
Workplace Safety

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