Safe Work Method Statements for High-Risk Construction Work

About this course.

What this course covers. This course takes you through the Safe Work Method Statement from first principles to practical use on site. It explains the purpose of a SWMS, the legal trigger that makes one mandatory (high risk construction work), the categories of work the model WHS Regulations treat as high risk, the mandatory content of a SWMS, who carries the duty to prepare it, the duty to consult the workers who will do the work, and how a SWMS must be kept available and actually followed on site. It distinguishes a SWMS from a broader risk assessment and from a safe work procedure, explains how a SWMS sits underneath a principal contractor's WHS management plan on larger projects, catalogues the common failings that render a SWMS worthless, and flags the jurisdictional differences every practitioner must check — in particular Victoria's separate Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regime.

Who it is for. Builders, site supervisors, principal contractors, subcontractors and trades who carry out or coordinate construction work in Australia and who record CPD against their own professional obligations. It assumes you work on real building sites and want to understand the SWMS duty well enough to prepare, review and challenge these documents competently.