SWMS

SWMS stands for Safe Work Method Statement. It is the document that explains, in plain terms, how a high risk task will be done safely on a particular site.

Under the model Work Health and Safety Regulations, a SWMS is required before any high risk construction work (HRCW) starts. The model regulations list 18 types of HRCW. The ones that come up most on commercial sites are:

• Work at height. Any work where a person could fall more than 2 metres.

• Excavation. Work in or near a shaft or trench deeper than 1.5 metres, or a tunnel.

• Demolition and structural work. Demolishing load-bearing elements, or alterations that need temporary support.

• Asbestos. Work likely to involve disturbing asbestos.

• Confined spaces. Any work in or near a confined space.

• Tilt-up and precast. Work on or near tilt-up or precast concrete elements.

• Plant and traffic. Work where powered mobile plant moves, or next to a road or rail corridor in use.

• Energised services. Work on or near energised electrical installations, pressurised gas mains or chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines.

The rest cover telecommunication towers, explosives, contaminated or flammable atmospheres, artificial extremes of temperature, work near water with a drowning risk, and diving work. Some jurisdictions vary the list or the fall height, so check your state regulator.

For a deeper look, read What Is a SWMS? Safe Work Method Statements, Explained.

A compliant SWMS must identify the high risk construction work, state the hazards and risks that work creates, and describe the control measures and how they will be put in place, monitored and reviewed. It has to be set out and expressed in a way that is readily accessible and understandable to the people who use it.

In practice, a good SWMS also names the job, the location, the PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) responsible, the plant and permits needed, and the sign-on of every worker who has been taken through it. Safe Work Australia publishes a SWMS template and an interactive SWMS tool that many builders use as a starting point.

The controls should follow the hierarchy of controls. A SWMS that relies mostly on PPE and "be careful" statements, when elimination, isolation or engineering controls are available, is a weak SWMS.

The PCBU doing the high risk work prepares the SWMS, in consultation with the workers who will do it. On a commercial project that is usually the subcontractor.

The principal contractor must take reasonable steps to obtain the SWMS before the work starts, and should review it against the site's conditions, construction management plan and other trades working nearby. The work then has to be done in line with the SWMS. If it can't be, the work must stop and the SWMS must be reviewed and updated before it starts again.

The SWMS must also be reviewed when control measures change or are found not to work, and kept until the high risk work is finished. If a notifiable incident happens during the work, it must be kept for at least 2 years after that incident.

Victoria is not under the model WHS laws. The duty to prepare a SWMS sits in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and applies to employers and self-employed persons rather than PCBUs.

The purpose and content are much the same, but WorkSafe Victoria sets out its own list of high risk construction work, which has 19 items rather than 18. If you work across states, check the Victorian list and template rather than assuming the model version applies.

• Generic documents. A SWMS copied from the last job, with the wrong address and controls that don't match the site.

• Too long to use. A 40-page SWMS nobody reads on site gives little protection. Keep it focused on the actual task.

• No sign-on. Workers must be taken through the SWMS before they start. A missing signature is usually the first thing an inspector asks about.

• Not updated when the job changes. A new method, new plant or a near miss should trigger a review, not just a toolbox talk.