SWMS explained: the 18 high-risk construction work categories and what a good SWMS contains
A safe work method statement is required before high-risk construction work starts. Most builders have plenty of SWMS; far fewer have ones that describe the actual job. Here is what the law requires and how to make a SWMS useful.
7 min read
Blog
Safety and WHS
Site safety that works on real jobs: the hazards that hurt builders, the duties behind them, and the controls and paperwork that hold up.
SWMS explained: the 18 high-risk construction work categories and what a good SWMS contains
A safe work method statement is required before high-risk construction work starts. Most builders have plenty of SWMS; far fewer have ones that describe the actual job. Here is what the law requires and how to make a SWMS useful.
7 min read
Managing plant and equipment around the public on tight suburban sites
On a suburban infill site the public is often a metre from the tracks. Separation is a design problem you solve before the machine arrives, not a barrier you throw up after.
12 min read
Heat on site: getting a heat plan ready before summer
Spring is the time to plan for summer heat. Heat illness can kill, and roofs, roof spaces and unshaded slabs are among the hottest workplaces in the country. A practical heat plan for residential sites.
7 min read
Toolbox talks that suit the stage of the build
Toolbox talks work best when the topic matches the stage of the build. A talk about excavation hazards is wasted on a framing crew. This article organises talks by construction stage and covers how to run them, not how to file the paperwork.
12 min read
Wearables and safety tech on building sites: what actually reduces injuries
From proximity tags that warn when a worker is near an excavator to digital inductions and heat stress monitors, safety technology is arriving on building sites. What works, what it costs, and why it never replaces the basic controls.
7 min read
Nearly 1,400 Victorian pool fences under review after inspector banned
The BPC has asked councils to review pool barriers certified by an inspector it has banned for three years. What happened, what pool owners and builders should check, and the common barrier faults that put children at risk.
5 min read
Electrical safety on building sites: temporary power, RCDs, leads, and buried and overhead services
Electric shock remains a real risk on building sites, from damaged leads and missing RCDs to excavators hitting buried cables and booms touching overhead lines. The controls are well known and cheap. Here they are.
7 min read
Consulting workers and subbies on safety decisions: the duty, the steps and the records
Consultation is something you do with the crew on the ground, not a form you keep in the site folder. Here is how to run it so it stands up when a regulator or a certifier asks.
11 min read
Plant and people: traffic management on residential building sites
Concrete trucks reversing down driveways, excavators on tight blocks, crane trucks near power lines, kids walking past the site on the way to school. Traffic management on a house site is a real hazard, not a formality.
7 min read
Asbestos in renovations: what builders must do before the first cut
Most Australian homes built before the 1990s contain asbestos somewhere. On a renovation, the builder is the person most likely to disturb it. Where to look, who can remove it, and the steps that keep workers and families safe.
8 min read
Recording injuries, near misses and toolbox talks: building an incident register that survives the job
Notification is the part everyone practises. The register is the part that decides whether you can reconstruct the job two years later, when the paperwork is all that is left of it.
13 min read
Psychosocial hazards on building sites: the WHS duty many builders are still missing
Long hours, impossible deadlines, bullying of apprentices, aggressive clients and isolation are WHS hazards, not personality problems. The law now says so explicitly. What builders are required to do, and what actually helps.
8 min read