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SWMS generator: safe work method statements

Build a compliant safe work method statement for any trade and any state. Covers all eighteen categories of high risk construction work, with controls ordered by the hierarchy of control.

1. Trade or activity

2. High risk construction work

A SWMS is legally required if the work falls into any of these eighteen categories. Tick every one that applies: each adds its hazards and controls below.

Nothing ticked. If none of these categories apply, a SWMS is not legally required for this work, though a principal contractor may still ask for one under the contract.

3. Company, site and jurisdiction

Company

ABN

Site / project

Prepared by

Position

State or territory

SafeWork NSW, Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW); Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 (NSW)

hazards identified

high or extreme before controls

still high after controls

4. Hazards and control measures

Every field is editable. Controls are labelled by hierarchy level, the higher up the hierarchy a control sits, the more reliable it is.

Job step

Hazard

Initial risk

Control measures

Residual

Responsible

Extreme

Elimination

Isolation

Administrative

PPE

High

Substitution

Engineering

Administrative

Medium

High

Elimination

Engineering

Administrative

PPE

High

Extreme

Engineering

Administrative

High

Isolation

Administrative

PPE

Medium

Worker consultation

A SWMS must be developed in consultation with the workers who will do the work, not written at a desk and handed over. Both downloads include a sign-on sheet for that purpose. An unsigned SWMS is one of the most common reasons a principal contractor rejects a submission.

This generated SWMS is a template, not a compliant site document. It must be reviewed, made specific to your site and task, and developed in consultation with the workers carrying out the work before use. It does not by itself discharge your duties under work health and safety law. Legislation and high risk construction work categories vary between jurisdictions. Confirm the requirements with the regulator in the state or territory where the work is being done.

What is a safe work method statement?

A SWMS is a document that sets out the high risk construction work being carried out, the hazards that work creates, the control measures that will be used, and how those controls will be implemented, monitored and reviewed.

It is not a risk assessment, a job safety analysis or a method statement, though it borrows from all three. It is a specific instrument created by the model Work Health and Safety Regulations, and it is required by law for a defined list of activities.

A SWMS must be prepared before the work starts, kept available on site while the work is carried out, and reviewed whenever the work or the conditions change. It must also be developed in consultation with the workers who will actually do the job, the step most templates quietly omit.

When a SWMS is legally required

A SWMS is mandatory for eighteen categories of high risk construction work. These include work at height where a person could fall more than two metres, work on or near energised electrical installations, work in or near a confined space, demolition, asbestos disturbance, structural alterations requiring temporary support, work in or near a trench deeper than 1.5 metres, tilt-up and precast concrete, work on or adjacent to a road or railway, work in an area with movement of powered mobile plant, diving work, work in areas with contaminated or flammable atmospheres, and work involving pressurised gas mains, chemical or fuel lines.

If the work falls into any one of those categories, a SWMS is required regardless of how routine the task feels or how experienced the crew is. If it does not, a SWMS is not legally required, though a principal contractor may still ask for one contractually.

Exact wording and a small number of jurisdictional variations apply. Western Australia and Victoria in particular have their own regulatory histories, so check the regulator in the state where the work is happening.

The hierarchy of control is the whole point

Controls must be selected in order: eliminate the hazard first; if it cannot be eliminated, substitute something less hazardous, isolate the hazard, or use engineering controls; then administrative controls; and personal protective equipment last.

The most common failure in a SWMS is a controls column that jumps straight to “wear a hard hat and high-vis” and “be careful”. PPE is the last line of defence, not a control strategy, and a SWMS built on PPE and vigilance will not survive scrutiny after an incident.

Each hazard should carry a risk rating before controls and a residual rating after them. If the residual rating never moves, the controls are not doing anything.

What principal contractors actually check

On a commercial site the head contractor reviews and accepts every subcontractor SWMS before the work starts. The reviewer is typically looking for four things: that the document is site-specific rather than a generic template with a new logo, that the listed HRCW categories match the work actually being done, that controls follow the hierarchy, and that workers have signed on to say they were consulted.

A generic SWMS downloaded and submitted unchanged is the most frequent rejection reason, and it costs the subcontractor a day on site. Site-specific detail (the actual access route, the actual plant, the actual adjacent trades) is what gets a SWMS accepted.

Plexa’s Site & HSEQ module runs SWMS submission, review and approval against the project, so the current approved version is the one on site rather than a PDF in an inbox.

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