FIA Supporter Built are working with a number of industry associations, insurance experts, SafeWork NSW and industry leaders, including the FIA, on improving industry wide practice around Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS). The mission of this dedicated group and driven by the forward thinking team at Built, is “to save lives by bringing High Risk Construction Work (HRCW) top-of-mind and making Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) simple and effective”.

Built is developing an industry-wide collaborative platform to address confusion, inconsistency and ineffectiveness around HRCW and the use of SWMS in the construction industry, the subject of which has been discussed at a number of recent events, including the FIA workshop with SWNSW on SWMS.

The aim of the platform is to address one of the key problems facing our industry in that even with WHS regulation requirements, traumatic and fatal injuries have not significantly declined.

Industry insights from research completed by the team for the project discovered:

• Subcontractors are confused about SWMS requirements
• Tasks are the focus of SWMS instead of HRCW
• Control measures are not cutting through the paperwork
• No single recognised SWMS template nationally
• Workers see SWMS only as a procedural document

Additional supporting data also showed:

• HSE managers spend 60 hours of additional time on SWMS paperwork per project.
• None of the workers surveyed could accurately describe one or more HRCW that was relevant to their job
• 40% of workers said they signed a SWMS without reading it

Built along with the participating industry bodies and those supporting the project have identified the opportunity:

• to create a digital and innovative method to eliminate WHS risk,
• to focus on workers of different cultural backgrounds; and
• to assist in reducing HRCW fatalities and serious injuries.

The proposed solution is to create a nation-wide collaborative online and simple method of creating and monitoring SWMS for HRCW.

Referred to as Simply SWMS, an online application is now being developed and will be soon undergo usability testing with subcontractors and then be tested on a number of projects across the country and initially focusing on the following three trades, Formwork, Plastering and Mechanical Services.

We will bring you further updates from the trials when they happen and would like to commend Built for this initiative and the work that is being put into developing this solution to one of the biggest issues in our industry.