The Health & Safety at Work
Act part 1 section 2 (2) (a) states that it is a duty of an employer to
“Provide and maintain plant and systems of work that are, so far as is
reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health or safety”
Safe Systems of Work – what are they?
A SSoW
is generally accepted to be a formal procedure, which results from systematic
examination of a task in order to identify all the hazards. It defines safe
methods to ensure that hazards are eliminated or risks minimised.
There
are two principle aims:
1.
To provide sufficient knowledge to the employees on how
they can carry out the work safely
2.
To provide a quality plan to ensure that the work is
carried out in the way it was intended
Components of a SSoW
The
components of a safe system of work would typically include the nature of the
work, the materials being used, the people involved in carrying out the work,
any plant or equipment that is required and finally the task to be carried out
coupled with the specific environment.
It must
have a logical well-thought out approach, and should fully identify and
document all the hazards, safety precautions and safe working practices
associated with all the activities performed by operatives.
When is a SSoW Required?
There
are many hazards that are clearly recognisable and can be overcome by
physically separating people from them e.g. by using guarding on machinery. A
SSoW is needed when hazards cannot be physically eliminated and some element of
risk remains. Remember to include non-routine work as well as normal
operations.
Designing a SSoW
There
are 5 steps to designing a SSoW:
1.
Assess the task
2.
Identify the hazards
3.
Define safe methods and control measures
4. Implement
the system
5.
Monitor the system
1. Assessing the Task
Assess
all aspects of the task and its risks. When doing this consider health hazards
as well as safety be mindful to take account of:
·
What is material or products are used
·
Who does what and their competence
·
Where the task is carried out
·
How the task is done
2. Identify the Hazards
Spot the
hazards, evaluate the risks and where possible eliminate hazards before you
rely upon a SSoW. The Construction, Design and Management Regulations 2007
require a design risk assessment to be carried out to ensure that the structure
being designed can be built, maintained and demolished safely.
3. Define Safe Methods
Define
by written procedures or by permits to work. When doing this involve the people
who will be doing the work - their practical knowledge of problems can help
avoid unusual risks and prevent false assumptions being made.
4. Implement the System
Safe
system of work must be communicated properly, understood by the operatives and
applied correctly. You should ensure that supervisors know they are responsible
for the implementation and maintenance of the system of work. You must ensure
adequate training is carried out for employees and supervisors.
When
implementing the SSoW, stress the need to avoid short cuts - part of the system
should be to stop work when faced with an unexpected problem until a safe
solution can be found.
5. Monitoring the System
The SSoW
must be periodically checked to ensure that the employees continue to find the
system workable, that the procedures laid down are being carried out
effectively and that any changes in circumstances which require alterations to
the system of work are taken into account.
Summary
·
SSoW are required by law
·
Some risks are clear and can be overcome
·
Look at every job - think about what is used, who does
what, where and how it is done
·
Give employees clear directions on how the job must be
done
·
When job is complex or risks are high, put instructions in
writing
·
Make sure the system is supervised
At Mabey Hire Services our Safe Systems of Work for
our on site installation teams have evolved over a number of years and
generally follow the template below:
1. An
introduction
This basically states who we are,
our recognition of our duties under the CDM Regulations 2007 and that the work
will be carried out accordingly and that no variations
or deviations to the planned sequence will of works will be taken without prior
consultation and agreement between all parties concerned.
2. Project
details
This would
include but not be limited to:
·
Location
·
Nature of works
·
Phasing of works
·
Resources
·
Site Personnel:
- Visiting staff
-
Plant and Equipment provided by ourselves
-
Plant and Equipment
provided by the Client or Principle Contractor
3. Construction Sequence
Often
called the “method statement”, this section details how the works will be
assembled including the plant or equipment to be used. It will also include
'hold' points. These are typically
potentially dangerous situations were all parties concerned must be sure that
all precautions have been taken and all risk eliminated so far as is reasonably
practicable. This would typically include lift plans for cranes, permits to
work in place, inspections etc.
4. Facilities
to be provided by the principle/main contractor
This
section deals with our expectation of what we require from our client. This
varies considerably from site to site but a minimum requirement would be:
·
Suitable
roadways for articulated/rigid vehicles to
gain access to and from the public highway and onto the site.
·
Provision of suitable areas to store and assemble equipment,
adjacent to the work site - The areas should be reasonably level, clear of obstruction, clear of mud
and should be of adequate size.
·
Suitable
and sufficient welfare and first-aid facilities.
·
Measures
to ensure that the construction area is free from all other personnel not
immediately involved in the Mabey Hire Services Ltd. construction works.
Assessment
of the site in accordance with C.O.S.H.H. regulations, any substances hazardous
to health should be notified to Mabey Hire Services in time for suitable
precautions to be made.
5. General
Safety
This section gives the companies
expectation of minimum standards that will be met by our site labour force and
site management who are working in accordance with our Health & Safety
Policy.
6.
Lift
Plans
We undertake to plan all lifts
using an appointed person in accordance with BS7121. The lifts are then
detailed on a drawing which will typically show the size and weight of the
lift, the position of the crane and the radii and the outrigger loadings. Lifts
are managed on site with a trained Lift Supervisor.
7. Site
Specific Risk Assessment
The aim of this is to highlight particular elements
of the work that are NOT covered by standard (generic) risk assessments
because they are specific to the manner in which the work is being carried out,
the arrangement of the site and our clients own site rules. It consider what
the hazards may be, what risk is associated with the hazard, what control
measures are required to reduce the risk to an acceptable level and the
residual risk after the control measures have been applied.
8. Requirements
for induction
This
section is where our site crews are given an induction by our site management
after being inducted by our client. There would be a sign off sheet to confirm
attendance and acknowledgement of the briefing.
9. Generic
Risk Assessment
This section deals with the risk
assessment of our works on site based on the product being used and the nature
of the work. This is used in conjunction with the site-specific risk assessment
which is tailored to meet the individual site.
The
format of this SSoW is specific to the type of work we carry out on site with
our site erection crews. You must decide yourself on the suitability of any
SSoW that you adopt and ensure that it covers the methods of working and nature
of risks applicable to your work.
