Fillable Printable Safe Work Method Statement Procedure

Safe Work Method Statement Procedure

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RMSWHSProcedure:PN066P11

(forPolicyNo.PN066)

SafeWorkMethod

StatementProcedure

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1 of 12

Procedure: Safe Work Method Effective date: 12-12-2012

Statements

Version: 3.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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2 of 12

Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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Contents

1 Purpose...........................................................................................................................................

2 Scope ..............................................................................................................................................

3 Generalrequirements ....................................................................................................................3

4 Definitions.......................................................................................................................................

5 Responsibilities ...............................................................................................................................

6 SafeWorkMethodStatementrequirements.................................................................................

6.1 Riskmanagement...................................................................................................................

6.2 Development..........................................................................................................................

6.3 Implementation......................................................................................................................

6.4 Accessibilityanddisplay.........................................................................................................

6.5 Recordsmanagement ............................................................................................................

6.6 ReviewofSWMS ....................................................................................................................

7 Relatedinformation........................................................................................................................

AppendixA Definitions....................................................................................................................

AppendixB SWMSProforma(mustbeusedinthedevelopmentofSWMS)...............................

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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1 Purpose

Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) is committed to providing a safe and healthy

workplace for all its workers and others. A safe and healthy working environment is the

right of every worker.

The purpose of this procedure is to ensure that RMS’ managers and workers comply with

legislative requirements and adhere to its Work Health and Safety (WHS) standards.

It will also provide guidance to RMS staff in the effective development and use of Safe

Work Method Statements (SWMS).

2 Scope

This procedure covers all RMS workplaces and includes:

 RMS workers, such as employees, contractors or subcontractors, an

employee of a contractor or subcontractor, labour hire, apprentices,

trainees, work experience students and volunteers

 Other duty holders who carry out work for RMS or who are likely to be

directly affected by an RMS-related work health or safety issue

3 Generalrequirements

Managers must identify medium and high risk work activities that require the development

of a SWMS.

The purpose of a SWMS is to:

 Outline a safe method of work for a specific activity

 Provide an instructional document that staff must read and understand

before starting an activity

 Meet legal requirements (i.e., assessing and controlling workplace

hazards and risks)

 Provide evidence in auditing and inspection

 Satisfy contractual requirements under NSW Government WHS

guidelines

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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4 Definitions

Definitions related to this procedure are specified in Appendix A.

5 Responsibilities

RMS through its

managers (from the

executive down to the

front line) must:

 Ensure a safe and healthy work environment for all its staff

and others

 Make sure that WHS responsibilities are appropriately

defined

 Provide RMS managers and workers with the training and

resources they need to carry out their WHS responsibilities

competently

RMS managers

must:

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 Implement this procedure

 Ensure that SWMS are developed and maintained for

activities where there is a medium/high risk of injury

 Make sure adequate resources are available

 Ensure that SWMS are developed in consultation with

workers. Relevant frontline management must lead,

facilitate and participate in the work teams in developing

SWMS

 Ensure that all SWMS are kept on the Project File and/or

other local records

 Monitor the policy for continuous improvement and

maintain reports on its performance by ensuring that the

SWMS Policy Audit Criteria is implemented on a timely

basis

RMS workers must:

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 Comply with legislative requirements and RMS’ WHS

policies and procedures

 be instructed in the relevant SWMS

 sign a record that they have been instructed in the relevant

SWMS

 follow the procedures and controls in the SWMS

Other duty holders

(including contractors

and subcontractors)

must:

 Adhere to RMS’ WHS policies and procedures, as part of

their contract

Comply with reasonable WHS instructions given by RMS

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

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Health and safety

representatives

(HSRs) must:

Work cooperatively with RMS

 Carry out the role and functions of the HSR, in compliance

with WHS legislation



Provide workers’ feedback on workplace hazards and

working conditions to RMS

Health and safety

committee members

must:

Work cooperatively with RMS

 Perform the role and functions of the H&S committee

members, in compliance with WHS legislation

 Provide RMS with workers’ feedback on any workplace

hazards

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6 SafeWorkMethodStatementrequirements

6.1 Riskmanagement

A SWMS is a documented list of the steps for a task/activity and provides workers

and others with a system for doing their work safely. The implementation of the

SWMS relies on the individual to follow the requirements as set out in the

document. Therefore a procedure can be regarded as an administrative control

type and should only be adopted once all other types of controls, such as

elimination, substitution, isolation and engineering, have been considered.

A SWMS should be developed, once it is identified as:

 An action arising from an incident investigation or hazard report, and/or;

 A control measure in a risk assessment.

Further information can be found in the Risk Management and Systemic Safety

Investigation procedures.

NOTE: High Risk Construction Work

A SWMS must be prepared for high risk construction BEFORE work commences.

Please refer to ‘Definitions’ (Appendix A) for classification of High Risk

Construction Work.

The SWMS must take into account all circumstances that may affect the way in

which the high risk construction work is carried out and also

the WHS

management plan, if conducted as part of a project. Those responsible for the

work site must ensure that high risk construction work is carried out in

accordance with the SWMS for the work.

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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If any person finds that high risk construction work is not being carried out as per

the SWMS, then that person must:

1. stop the work immediately or as soon as it is safe to do so, and

2. resume work only in accordance with the SWMS

6.2 Development

SWMS should be developed in consultation and cooperation with the workers

undertaking the activity. Consultation and cooperation will also ensure that

hazards and controls are appropriately identified.

WHS Committee or Health and Safety Representatives for that team/workgroup

shall assist, where practical, in the development of the SWMS

The following steps should be followed to ensure that a proper SWMS is

developed:

 Observe the task/activities: Although workers might have

knowledge/understanding of the task/activity, it is important to observe the

task/activity being performed the preferred way, to ensure the safest

method is documented.

 Review associated legislative requirements: Some task/activities are

governed by legislative requirements. These must be considered when

developing a SWMS to ensure any legal requirements are included. If the

task/activity uses any hazardous substance/s or dangerous good/s the

SWMS must reference the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for each

hazardous substance or dangerous good.

 Record the sequence of basic job steps: Assemble the steps involved in

the activity and then write down the ones that make up the task/activity.

 Record potential hazards of each step: Next to each step identify what

may have potential to cause injury or illness (to those doing the work or to

anyone else nearby), damage to the environment, property, plant or

equipment.

 Identify ways of eliminating and controlling the hazards: For each

identified hazard, list the measures that need to be put in place to

eliminate or control any likely risk occurring.

 Test the procedure: Observe the workers or others following the SWMS

and adjust the procedure as necessary.

 Monitor and review: Make sure the activity is supervised to ensure the

documented process is being followed.

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7 of 12

Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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6.3 Implementation

Once the SWMS has been approved it is then implemented and available for use.

All workers will be inducted and must sign the SWMS before commencing work.

The finalised copy must be kept within the workplace and be available for use. A

copy should be with RMS staff at all times when undertaking the activities

described in the SWMS.

6.4 Accessibilityanddisplay

SWMS should be physically displayed prominently or readily available in the

areas in which they are to be used.

6.5 Recordsmanagement

The development of SWMS needs to be done by using the SWMS template

attached or to an equivalent standard. SWMS shall be retained locally for future

reference and maintained for auditing/verification purposes.

SWMS records are to be maintained as follows:

 The manager is responsible for ensuring that all SWMS are kept on the

Project File and/or other local records

 Record of induction into the SWMS must be maintained

When developing a SWMS that involves hazardous substances or a traffic

control plan, the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and Traffic Control Plan

TCP) must be attached to the SWMS

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6.6 ReviewofSWMS

SWMS shall be regularly reviewed to make sure they remain effective. You must

review your control measures and, if necessary, revise them:

 After an incident or near-miss (control measure was not effective in

controlling the risk)

 If there is a change of supervisors, workers, designers or engineers

 If the task/activity changes

 When a new hazard or risk is identified

 If the results of consultation indicate that a review is necessary, or if a

health and safety representative requests a review

 Where a known risk exists (such as industry incidents like utility strikes,

plant rollover etc)

 Where the equipment or plant used in the SWMS changes

 If there is a change to legislation, standards or codes of practice

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

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All SWMS should be reviewed annually, in consultation with all RMS workers.

7 Relatedinformation

 Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks;

Construction Work

 NSW Government WHS&R Management System Guidelines

 RMS QA Specification G22 WHS

 WorkCover Guidelines for Writing Work Method Statements in Plain

English

 WHS Act 2011 (including: 46-48 Consult, cooperate and coordinate with

‘Workers’)

 WHS 2011 Regulations:

 32-38 Manage Risks

 38 Review controls

 289 Construction work

 291 High Risk Construction Work

 299 SWMS required for High Risk Work

 300 PCBU Must ensure SWMS implemented

 309 – Requirement for WHS Plan on Construction ≥ $250,000

 39 – provide information, instruction, supervision, & suitable to

worker

 44-46 PPE requirements

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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AppendixA Definitions

Hazard

A hazard is anything that has the potential to cause injury or disease to

people, damage to the environment, property, plant or equipment.

Risk

The likelihood that a hazard will result in injury, illness, loss or damage to

people, to the environment, property, plant or equipment and the potential

consequences of that injury, illness, loss or damage.

Risk control

Methods used to manage the risk to an acceptable level by applying the

hierarchy of control. Always try to eliminate risk in the first instance

Safe Work Method

Statement (SWMS)

A procedure which describes how work is to be carried out in a safe and

standardised process. A SWMS outlines the hazards, risks and

associated control measures to be applied to ensure the task/activity is

conducted in a safe and injury-free way.

Medium/High risk Work

Activity

Any work undertaken by RMS business units that exposures workers to

medium and high risk hazard exposures

High risk construction

work

High risk construction work is defined as construction work that:

 Involves a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres (for

example when a worker is installing an evaporative cooler on the

roof of a double-storey building).

 Is carried out on a telecommunications tower (for example

installing equipment on.a telecommunications tower).

 Involves demolition of an element of a structure that is load-

bearing or otherwise related to the physical integrity of the

structure (for example knocking down load-bearing walls as part

of a warehouse conversion).

 Involves, or is likely to involve, the disturbance of asbestos (for

example removing floor tiles containing asbestos as part of a

building refurbishment or cutting or drilling into an asbestos

cement sheet wall).

 Involves structural alterations or repairs that require temporary

support to prevent collapse (for example using props to support a

ceiling where a load-bearing wall will be removed).

 Is carried out in or near a confined space

 Is carried out in or near a shaft or trench with an excavated depth

greater than 1.5 metres or is carried out in or near a tunnel (for

example laying or repairing pipes and conduits in a 2-metre

trench, testing drainage pipes in a 2-metre trench, building a

tunnel in the course of constructing an underground railway or

road).

 Involves the use of explosives (for example, blasting in

preparation for the construction of a building or road, breaking up

rock during construction of foundations).

 Is carried out on or near:

o pressurised gas distribution mains or piping

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

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o chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines

o energised electrical installations or services

(‘Near’ in the above circumstances means close enough that

there is a risk of hitting or puncturing the mains, piping, electrical

installation or service).

NB - High-risk construction work is not limited to electrical safety

‘no-go zones’. Electrical installations do not include power leads

and electrically powered tools. Some examples of high-risk

construction work include working near overhead or underground

powerlines and construction work that involves drilling into a wall

where live electrical wiring may be present.

 Is carried out in an area that may have a contaminated or

flammable atmosphere (for example demolishing a petrol station

and removing old tanks, decommissioning plant and removing

pipe work that may contain residue of hazardous chemicals).

 Involves tilt-up or precast concrete (for example building a factory

using tilt-up panels or installing a precast drainage pit).

 Is carried out on, in or adjacent to a road, railway, shipping lane

or other traffic corridor that is in use by traffic other than

pedestrians (for example building an additional lane on a road or

installing drainage that involves digging up part of the road).

 Is carried out in an area at a workplace in which there is

movement of powered mobile plant (for example working in an

area of a construction site that is not isolated from the movement

of skid steer loaders, telehandlers, backhoes, mobile cranes or

trucks).

 Is carried out in an area in which there are artificial extremes of

temperature (for example construction work in an operating cool

room or freezer or construction work alongside an operating

boiler).

 Is carried out in or near water or other liquid that involves a risk of

drowning (for example constructing a bridge over a river or

restoring a wharf), or

Constru ction work

Defined as any work carried out in connection with the construction,

alteration, conversion, fitting-out, commissioning, renovation, repair,

maintenance, refurbishment, demolition, decommissioning or dismantling

of a structure.

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AppendixBSWMSProforma(mustbeusedinthedevelopment

ofSWMS) 

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Office Location:

I approve the use of this Safe Work Method

Statement:

Name: Position:

Signature: Date:

Local Reference No:

(SWMS) Activity Guide(s) used:

Description of Activ i ty:

Work

Site/Project

Depot:

Critical Steps in this Activity: Potential

Hazards:

Safety Controls:

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Procedure: Safe Work Method Statements Effective date: 12-12-2012

Version: 2.0 Approved by: Stephen Barton, General Manager, WHS

Last updated: 12-12-2012

UNCONTROLLED WHEN PRINTED

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