It is a legal OHS obligation that Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are produced for any high risk construction work. High risk construction work most typically performed in the domestic sector include:

• Work at heights where there is a risk of falling two or more metres;
• Work involving demolition;
• Work involving the removal or likely disturbance of asbestos;
• Structural alterations that require temporary support to prevent collapse;
• Work involving a trench or shaft if the excavated depth is more than 1.5 metres;
• Work on or near energised electrical installations or services;
• Work on or adjacent to roadways or railways used by road or rail traffic;
• Work at workplaces where there is any movement of powered mobile plants.

As mentioned in the video, it is the duty of the employer (or self-employed persons) performing the high risk construction work to prepare a SWMS. The SWMS must be developed in consultation with employees and be site specific.

Note – there is a legal duty to consult affected employees and their HSRs when identifying hazards or measures to control risk.

Remember, the most effective way of controlling any risk is to eliminate it. If the risk cannot be eliminated, it must be reduced by following the hierarchy of controls. These steps include (from most effective to least effective):

• Eliminating the risk;
• Substituting out the risk;
• Isolating the risk;
• Using an engineering solution;
• Applying an administrative control; and
• Using personal protective equipment (PPE).

It is the principal contractor's (builder's) responsibility to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that no High Risk Construction Work (HRCW) under their management commence until they have received the SWMS from the contractor due to perform the work. The builder will then review the document to ensure that it's adequate.

You are not expected to be the expert in all of the specialist subcontractors’ tasks. You should therefore not attempt to provide or revise the subcontractor’s system of work detailed in their SWMSs. However, where there is an obvious deficiency in safety or risk controls, you can refuse to accept the system of work in its current form.

Once you have received a satisfactory SWMS you must retain a copy of it for the duration of the high risk construction work. Master Builders Victoria recommends SWMSs are retained indefinitely, on file, as a means of demonstrating that steps that were taken to provide a safe workplace.

As the principal contractor, you must, so far as is reasonably practicable, monitor your employees' and contractors' health and the conditions of the workplace under your management and control. Central to this responsibility is regularly checking that high risk construction work is performed in accordance with the SWMSs. If work is not being undertaken in accordance with the SWMS work must stop as soon as it is safe to do so.

Work must not resume until the SWMS has been complied with, or alternatively, have been reviewed and if necessary revised. This should not involve accepting a less effective risk control.

Use this template and supporting guidance to create a safe work method statement before you commence High Risk Construction Work (HRCW).

Click here to view the Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) Template PDF.