10-minute online SWMS onsite, on your phone

If you just rolled your eyes at merely reading the words Safe Work Method Statement then don’t look away, this article is for you. I know you think online SWMS are hard or pointless and you really don’t understand them, but whinging and whining won’t help, neither will sticking your head in the sand, a $3000 fine is hard to ignore. Best online safe work method statement

Yes, I do understand, I am a tradie who avoided the SWMS subject for as long as I could, then I discovered by learning a few things SWMS become easy, and the rest of our construction paperwork fell into place. Having our Construction Industry Safety paperwork in order meant our business could grow as we could now tender for the bigger jobs with confidence. We also offersconstruction safety, JSA, Take5, safety procedure in Queensland

There are just three things you need to understand before we plough on Safe work instructions:

1. PCBU is a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking and the PCBU is responsible for preparing, keeping, complying with and reviewing a safe work method statements for work that is high risk.
2. There are only 19 High Risk Activities – for a list of all 19 click here Safe Work Method Statements are a tool for the construction industry to ensure High Risk Activities are undertaken safely. It’s ok, you don’t need a SWMS for using that nail gun you brought last month.
3. A SWMS is not compliant without consultation and co-ordination. What this means is:
   1. you need to talk to your team, including WHS reps and get their input into their safety, after all they are the ones doing the work, they know what safety is best for the job
   2. talk to the other crews that will be onsite, make sure all Safe Work Method Statements work together so you don’t collide

Let’s not make safety harder than it should be. Don’t write war and peace or reinvent the wheel. Below my lovely Wife dissects the SWMS in exactly the same way she did for me and then helps you to assemble a bright shiny new one. We all like new things right?

10 points when writing a Safe Work Method Statement for the construction industry

Written by, a Tradies Wife, creator of Projects One Safety Online, the ‘simplifier’ of all thing’s safety

1. Toss out that SWMS your brother-in-law’s best friends uncle gave you, it won’t be compliant for your job site, no matter how much he paid for it.
2. Principal Contractors often want more in their SWMS than Workplace Health and Safety, so you may need to add bits, they are a bit greedy sometimes
3. From Safe Work Australia website https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/ “A SWMS should be short and focus on describing the specific hazards identified for the high risk construction work to be undertaken and the control measures to be put in place so the work is carried out safely. A lengthy, overly detailed SWMS can be difficult to understand, apply at the workplace, monitor or review.”
4. A Risk Assessment is needed for your SWMS – Include this in your SWMS and do both at the same time
5. The Must Have’s on all SWMS
   1. The PCBU’s name, address and ABN
   2. Details of the person(s) responsible for ensuring implementation, monitoring and compliance with the SWMS
   3. The name of the principal contractor if the work is being carried out at a construction project (that’s a job over $250,000
   4. The address where the high risk construction work will be carried out
   5. The date the SWMS was prepared and the date it was provided to the principal contractor
   6. The review date (if any)
6. A SWMS may also include:

• • • the names of workers that have been consulted on the content of the SWMS
    • the date the consultation occurred
    • the signature of each worker acknowledging their participation in this consultation and the opportunity to discuss the proposed measures.
    • there should be no statements that require a decision to be made by supervisors or workers. For example, the statement ‘use appropriate PPE‘ does not detail the control measures. The control measures should be clearly specified.

7. Writing your SWMS
   1. Find a template online
   2. Write down what the high risk activity is you are doing, choose from the list of 19
   3. Write down the tasks from start to finish that make up the high risk activity you are doing. E.g. working on trestles, using an EWP
   4. Write down what can go wrong for each task, how could someone get hurt. E.g. fall from height, serious injury…
   5. Write down control measures, to prevent someone from getting hurt. E.g. double plank, plank clamps, guard rails…
   6. Write down how the control measures are to be implemented. E.g. Name the person responsible for each task, hold toolbox meetings…
   7. Write down how you will monitor the controls. E.g. regular checks, stop work immediately if controls are not being followed or not enough to keep everyone safe
   8. Review your controls, add more controls if necessary, train staff on new control measures, resign the SWMS

8. A SWMS must be easily understood by workers, including those from non-English speaking backgrounds
9. Safe Work Method Statements are even easier on Projects One Safety Online, just follow the steps!
10. Safety paperwork shouldn’t just be done in the office, it needs to be done onsite. For this very reason we have developed our online system and mobile application, Projects One Safety Online to help every tradie, quickly and easily do their Safe Work Method Statements, Toolbox Meetings and Risk Assessments, on their phone, onsite, when they need it. Check out www.projectsonesafety.online

Q&A – One question I get asked a lot is: “is a generic SWMS ok?”, “kind of”, is my answer, lets not call it generic lets call it a template that you make specific to each site for each task, keep copies of these templates in the ute and pull out a new one for each new job/task/location

Remember, every morning as you prepare for work ask yourself, what’s different about today? If something is different you need to revise your safety!

Stay safe, from the Projects One Safety Online team