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Writing Safe Work Procedures

If you read our last blog Back to Safety Basics you would have read about Safe Work Procedures (SWP). Now remember SWP have many names and acronyms such as Safe Work Instructions, Safe Work Practices, Safe Work Systems or Safe Operating Procedures. The way Projects One Safety Online has broken it down is that if you are operating plant, tools, equipment we call it a Safe Operating Procedure (SOP), if you are doing a task that has a number of hazards involved such as entering a confined space then we have Safe Work Procedures (SWP) for our teams to follow.

These documents allow us to use them when training new staff. It means everyone is trained the same way and allows us to monitor the procedure to ensure that it remains unchanged and in place. We can tell immediately if someone is trying to cut corners, this is when accidents happen.

Safe Work/Operating Procedures also give us a tool when doing a safety audit or if an incident or near miss should happen we have a standard to work from. We look at the current hazard control measures in place and look at how they can be improved. We also give the procedure to our team for checking over and to provide feedback as consultation with the team is a vital part of the process.

If writing an SOP or SWP baffles you beyond frustration keep reading.

10 tips to writing Safe Work Procedures

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

(I have used Worksafe Queensland as an example below as it is what I am most familiar with, each state follows similar rules and guidelines. Please check your own states website for further information. This is not a complete list and care should be taken to ensure you cover all aspects of your Safety)

“Some work tasks carry risks. Good risk management, including safe work procedures, ensure risk at your work is minimized and workers know how to perform tasks safely.”

10-minute 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 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.

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.