I am often asked,” how do I meet some of my safety obligations”. What becomes imperative when trying to prove that you have complied with the Work Place Health and Safety ACT is your evidence of consultation that you have undertaken. Consultation with employees, contractors, apprentices, volunteers can come in many forms, and the use of consultation tools such as Risk assessments, Standard operating procedures, Safe Work Method Statements, JSA’s, safety meetings is an important step in compiling your evidence that you have complied.
Using a software solution such as KeepShift can help streamline and transform the management of your safety requirements from a paper based laborious process to a quick and easy process of capturing and storing the necessary information.
Every industry, no matter what has a requirement to provide risk assessments, but if you work in the trade sector you are required by law to provide Safe Work Method Statements as evidence for high-risk work activities. If you carry out high risk construction work the PCBU must also ensure a SWMS is reviewed and the necessary measures are put in place to control risks to health and safety. You must obtain, prepare and revise a Safe Work Method Statement before work begins. Consulting workers with the safe work method statement should be reviewed and hazards and controls detailed and explained. This should then be signed as evidence by any employees or contractors.
The pain point for many in the trade sector is that managing your Safe Work Method Statements and controlling document flow can be time consuming. Utilising a safety management software system like KeepShift can make the processes easier, faster and stored against a job more efficiently. Electronic signing of any safety document including safe work method statements can be done on any mobile device. The creation template guides a person through the key requirements of completing a Safe Work Method statement which are:
- Identifying the work activities involved
- Identify hazards relating to the work and their risks
- Documenting and describing the control measures for the risks involved control measures and;
- Describing how control measures are to be implemented, monitored and reviewed.
Streamlining your internal processes with some safety management software like KeepShift can help collect and collate your evidence with ease.
I always pose the same question to owners in the trade?
If you have an incident of any sort, do you have enough evidence to protect yourself? What can you prove to the Regulator? What can you prove in a court of law?
Your evidence needs to be documented and Not verbal.
