Ebony Middleton | Published on 31 January 2025
Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) play an indispensable role in managing the hazards of high-risk work. They are vital for worker safety, compliance, and project success, and help protect contractors from potential prosecution.
Modern SWMS management software offers significant advantages for contractors aspiring to optimise their compliance processes. Making the transition from filing cabinets bursting with paper, to a centralised digital platform ensures SWMS management is standardised and automated. This not only proactively mitigates safety risks, but it also paves the way for continuous improvement and future-proofing of construction operations.
Standardises SWMS management which facilitates consistency and increases auditability
Rigorous, organisation-wide approval and digital sign-off processes are key to consistent SWMS management and implementation, preventing key processes from being skipped or overlooked.
Modern systems build in this standardisation and automatically enforce workflow approvals, providing auditable tracking and time-stamped sign-offs to create a historical log of actions. This enables organisations to identify at any time, which team members approved, revised, and signed off on each SWMS.
With SWMS and usage data all stored in a central location, modern SWMS management software allows teams to extract data and build custom safety reports detailing the full SWMS history on a project at any time, e.g. worker actions, approvals, revisions and documentation. This is critical for investigations, such as incident reviews, where management teams need to retrieve historical records and prove that a worker had signed off on their SWMS prior to the incident.
Delivers real-time compliance tracking via actionable HSE dashboards
Fosters a strong safety culture through greater accountability and transparency
Creating a strong safety culture starts with a clear process that everyone can easily follow. Modern SWMS management software makes safety protocols visual, transparent, and predictable, eliminating any confusion surrounding the process. The system’s ease of use and ability to clearly show the end-to-end workflow ensures that each step is accessible and easy to understand.
From there, every individual is held accountable through automated notifications and visible audit trails that prompt them to act. The continuous reinforcement of responsibility helps to make safety second nature and ensures the entire team follows the process, improving overall awareness and fostering a safety-first culture.
Automates subcontractor compliance by digitising SWMS sign offs and issuing non-compliance notifications
SWMS management software also streamlines subcontractor induction by automatically flagging non-compliance. For un-inducted subcontractors, the software can require SWMS review and sign-off before induction completion. Furthermore, it proactively identifies inducted workers assigned to high-risk work permits who haven't signed their SWMS, notifying managers to take immediate action. This ensures workers review and sign off on required SWMS before commencing high-risk activities. This comprehensive oversight enhances site-wide SWMS compliance and enables fast corrective action to prevent incidents.
Donovan de Ligt, HSEQ Manager
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8 Must-Have Features for Streamlined SWMS Management
Centralised management of SWMS submissions and sign-offs
Automated notifications and digital signatures
Real-time compliance tracking
SWMS version control
Standardised compliance procedures
Integrated site access
Automated alerts for non-compliance
Customised compliance reports
Staying ahead of SWMS regulations and legal risks
Regulations set out minimum requirements for SWMS compliance with suitably harsh penalties for breaches. The burden of responsibility falls on contractors who must ensure SWMS are accurate, involve worker consultation, undergo final reviews and organise finalised copies to be available for auditors.
Beyond approvals, they’re responsible for enforcing SWMS onsite, but they can’t be everywhere at once. With competing demands pulling them away, the challenge isn’t just overseeing high-risk work – it’s keeping safety front and centre without getting caught up with paperwork.
Real world consequences of SWMS breaches
Watertank Solutions Victoria
In July 2024, Watertank Solutions Victoria was fined $45,000 after a worker was left paralysed and another injured from a fall in 2022. SafeWork inspectors found that no Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) had been put in place. This, combined with several other safety lapses, resulted in the significant penalty.
AGL Macquarie
In 2023, AGL Macquarie was fined $450,000 after an explosion at the Liddell Power Station left a worker with severe burns to 19% of their body back in 2015. Investigations revealed that AGL had failed to implement a safe method of work for the offending task, leading to the significant penalty.
Make site safety easy for you and your workers
Simpel’s SWMS/Safety Plan module is designed to reduce administrative strain, provide visibility from beginning to end, and ensure safer and more compliant construction sites. But it doesn’t stop with SWMS. Simpel offers a comprehensive HSE functionality suite designed to simplify every aspect of safety management, including incident management, daily declarations, and site diaries. With 30+ modules available on the platform, you can integrate safety management seamlessly into every stage of your project.
Let’s make your SWMS process smarter, safer, and stress-free. Book a demo now and explore how Simpel is transforming business outcomes.
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