Safe Work Australia has developed a new, online, interactive SWMS tool to help workplaces prepare their Safe Work Method Statements before activities start.
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The new tool includes interactive elements and videos that can be used for toolbox talks or as a learning activity, featuring information on the “true purpose” of a SWMS, such as when it is required and how to use it, according to a press release from the national body. The tool, according to Safe Work Australia, aims to change the culture around SWMS, ensuring persons conducting business or undertaking (PCBUs) genuinely consider hazards and risks, using the best possible controls to keep workers safe.
Contained within Safe Work Australia’s new development is a step-by-step guide about how to complete a SWMS, signposts, and a reinforcement of SWMS requirements. It achieves this through interactive content across three modules: understanding a SWMS, preparing a SWMS, and using a SWMS. Furthermore, the interactive tool includes case studies, simple examples of control measures for various high risk construction work activities, and a toolkit with jurisdictional resources for small businesses who prepare their own SWMS, and people new to the construction industry.
News of the new SWMS interactive tool comes after a review found that SWMS are often not used as intended, with many viewing the process as “unnecessary paperwork” rather than a “key step in managing the risks of hazardous work”, according to Safe Work Australia.
The interactive SWMS tool can be found here.
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