Every organisation needs Work Method Statements (WMS), how many they need depends on the work that they undertake. A Work Method Statement or WMS needs to be created for ALL high-risk work that a company does prior to the work commencing and if we don’t have one that you are searching for we can create one specifically to meet your needs.

What is a Work Method Statement?

A Work Method Statement is a document that identifies health and safety risks and outlines appropriate controls to minimise the identified risks. What is necessary to point out is that they are required by law for what can be referred to as “high risk tasks” in the construction industry.

However, they are becoming a standard method of demonstrating a work system that is safe, that training has been provided, instruction given and supervision applied.

A growing number of industries require them as normal practice to ensure that health and safety of workers is protected through controlling risk.

The information that must be in a Work Method Statement according to legislation includes:

• A comprehensive description of the task that is the focus of the Work Method Statement
• The company ABN, certificate numbers and other official information
• The controls that will be in place to minimise risk
• A description of how the task will be carried out and the method used to implement the controls
• How efficient the controls will be and the method by which their effectiveness will be measured
• The planning for worker training and the supervision that will be applied

How to assemble a Work Method Statement

1.Create a team of people to complete the task

People that are part of this team need to be relevant to the task that the Work Method Statement is being created for. People such as:

• Workers that do the work as a part of their assigned duties
• Health and safety representatives for the area
• A delegate from a relevant health and safety committee
• Others that have pertinent knowledge that can assist with the creation of the document

2. Identify the activities of the task

With most activities there are stages or steps that are undertaken prior to the task being undertaken, these all need to be included and in the order that they would be performed. Things such as:

• The planning
• The preparation
• Any inspections that need to be performed prior to the task
• Maintenance checks
• The operation itself
• Plans in the case of emergency

3.  Identify the hazards that accompany all activities

Work through each activity step by step to ensure that all hazards are documented, they could include things such as:

• Slips, trips and falls
• Injury from manual handling
• Machinery entanglement

Speak to qualified people when identifying hazards and it is helpful to determine whether there has been an incident previously where others have encountered these hazards.

Make sure that the hazards are clearly documented on the Work Method Statement.

4. Recommending controls

After the hazards are indentified appropriate controls must be decided upon to minimise the risks to health and safety.

Note: Any risk assessment must be undertaken before the controls that are recommended are in place.

Consultation as a part of the process

After the Work Method Statement has been completed the next step is to consult with workers that are affected by the document. They need to be walked through the document and feedback sought of all aspects of the Work Method Statement.

Implementation of the Work Method Statement

The final step is to ensure that the Work Method Statement is put into practice and that workers are properly supervised. All of the risk controls must be used and the effectiveness of the Work Method Statement needs to be monitored.