Custom Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) For Your Work - Acceptance Guaranteed

Custom SWMS - electrical, plumbing, carpenter, builder, gasfitter, painter, plasterer, cleaner, tiler, bricklayer, concreter, plant operator, demolition, excavation

Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are a legal requirement for any high-risk construction work in Australia. Having an up-to-date SWMS is vital to ensure the task is done correctly and above all, safely.

ISOsafe prepare custom SWMS, Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Risk Assessments for all types of work and equipment.

Each custom SWMS is prepared specifically for your needs, we insert all your details, including logos into the SWMS so its ready to use right away.

Our documents are prepared by highly qualified health and safety professionals, each with many years of industry experience.

We prepare each SWMS in simple, everyday language so that everyone can understand and follow it. 

Our SWMS comply with legislation (WHS Act 2011, WHS Regulations 2017) in all States/Territories, Australia-wide. 

We prepare SWMS for all industries and just about any activity – contact us today 1300 789 132

In addition to SWMS, we can build complete Safety Management Systems (SMS):

•             Site specific safety management plans (SSSMP)

•             OHS Policies

•             Tools such as:

o      risk assessment template

o      pre-start checklists

o      Safe Operating Procedures (SOP)

o      electrical test & tag and hazardous chemicals registers

o      site specific induction forms

o      incident forms

o      workplace inspections forms

We prepare tailored SWMS for all Industries and activities:

•             Agriculture

•             Air Conditioning

•             Asbestos

•             Auto Industry

•             Bricklaying

•             Carpentry

•             Civil Road Works

•             Cleaning

•             Communications

•             Concreting

•             Construction

•             Earthmoving

•             Electrical

•             Engineering

•             Flooring

•             Landscaping

•             Glazier

•             Handyman

•             High Risk Construction

•             Hospitality

•             Joinery

•             Make Safe

•             Manual Handling

•             Manufacturing

•             Mobile Plant

•             Painting

•             Pest Control

•             Plastering

•             Plumbing

•             Office/Retail

•             Refrigeration

•             Roofing

•             Security

•             Shop Fitting

•             Silica Dust Exposure

•             Solar

•             Swimming Pool

•             Tiling

•             Transport & Logistics

•             Tree Lopping/Felling

•             Warehousing

•             Welding

•             Working at Heights

Our SWMS are up-to-date with current requirements and cover all States/Territories.

Guaranteed acceptance by your client.

Call ISOsafe Today 1300 789 132

How To Plan For The Christmas Shutdown Period

How employees are paid over the Christmas and New Year period depends on:

the award or agreement they're covered by

whether they're working or on leave.

Directing an employee to take annual leave

An employee can be directed to take annual leave during a shut down if their award or registered agreement allows it.

Most awards have rules about how and when an employer can direct an employee to take leave. For example, an employer may need to give the employee a set amount of notice (eg. 4 weeks) that they will need to take annual leave.

Employers with workers covered by any of the following Awards are required to provide 1-2months notice:

Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010

Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2010

Joinery and Building Trades Award 2010

Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2010

Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services Award 2010

Aircraft Cabin Crew Award 2010

Alpine Resorts Award 2010

Aluminium Industry Award 2010

Ambulance and Patient Transport Industry Award 2010

Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award 2010

Asphalt Industry Award 2010

Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2010

Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2010

Broadcasting and Recorded Entertainment Award 2010

Business Equipment Award 2010

Car Parking Award 2010

Cement and Lime Award 2010

Children’s Services Award 2010

Cleaning Services Award 2010

Clerks—Private Sector Award 2010

Coal Export Terminals Award 2010

Commercial Sales Award 2010

Concrete Products Award 2010

Contract Call Centres Award 2010

Food, Beverage and Tobacco Manufacturing Award 2010

Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2010

Gas Industry Award 2010

General Retail Industry Award 2010

Graphic Arts, Printing and Publishing Award 2010

Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2010

Horse and Greyhound Training Award 2010

Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010

Journalists Published Media Award 2010

Legal Services Award 2010

Local Government Industry Award 2010

Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010

Miscellaneous Award 2010

Mobile Crane Hiring Award 2010

Pest Control Industry Award 2010

Pharmaceutical Industry Award 2010

Poultry Processing Award 2010

Premixed Concrete Award 2010

Quarrying Award 2010

Racing Clubs Events Award 2010

Racing Industry Ground Maintenance Award 2010

Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2010

Restaurant Industry Award 2010

Road Transport and Distribution Award 2010

Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2010

Seafood Processing Award 2010

Security Services Industry Award 2010

Silviculture Award 2010

Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2010

Sugar Industry Award 2010

Supported Employment Services Award 2010

Surveying Award 2010

Telecommunications Services Award 2010

Timber Industry Award 2010

Water Industry Award 2010

Wine Industry Award 2010

Find out if your award allows an employer to direct an employee to take annual leave over Christmas and New Year by calling us on 1300 789 132.

If an employee isn't covered by an award or an agreement, their employer can direct them to take annual leave if the direction is reasonable.

What if an employee doesn't have enough annual leave?

If the award or agreement provides for it, an employer can direct an employee to take annual leave in advance of accrual, or unpaid leave, for some or all of the time.

What if an award or agreement doesn't have rules about shut downs?

If your award or agreement doesn't have rules about annual leave during shut downs, an employer can't direct an employee to take leave.

However, an employer and employee can agree that the employee takes annual leave (including in advance of accrual) or unpaid leave for the shut down time. The employee can't be forced to take unpaid leave, so if an agreement can't be reached with their employer, they need to be paid their ordinary pay for the time.

What happens if a public holiday falls during an employee's annual leave?

If a public holiday falls during an employee's annual leave, they need to be paid for the public holiday - not annual leave. This means that an employee should be paid their base pay rate for the day and it shouldn't be taken off their annual leave balance.

Working during a shut down

If employees continue to work when a business shuts down they should be paid as normal. If any of the days are public holidays, these days are treated as public holidays. This means the employee should be given the day off without loss of pay or they should be paid public holiday rates as per their award or agreement.

FAIR WORK LAW UPDATE: Offsetting Rules For Casual Loading Payments

Employers who incorrectly classify employees as casual instead of full-time or part-time could be responsible for back paying various entitlements under the National Employment Standards (NES), following a recent Federal Court of Australia decision

However, the Government has varied the Fair Work Regulations 2009 to introduce a new rule that clarifies that employers, in certain circumstances, may claim that an employee's casual loading payments should be offset against certain NES entitlements owing to the employee.

This regulation comes into effect on 18 December 2018.

The new regulation applies where all of the following criteria is met:

an employee is employed by their employer on a casual basis

the employee is paid a casual loading in lieu of receiving entitlements that casual employees are not entitled to under the NES, such as personal or annual leave

despite being classified by the employer as a casual, the employee was in fact a full-time or part-time employee for some or all of their employment for the purposes of the NES

the employee has made a claim to be paid for one or more of the NES entitlements (that casual employees do not have) that they didn't receive for all or some of the time that they were incorrectly classified as a casual.

If all of these points are satisfied, an employer can make a claim to have the casual loading payments made to the employee taken into account when working out the entitlements owing to the employee for the relevant NES entitlements.

ISOsafe can assist your business in correctly classifying you employees, as well as, complying with all other Fair Work requirements. Contact us today on 1300 789 132 for a free review.

The new regulation applies to employment periods that occurred before, or that occurred on or after, 18 December 2018.

QLD LAW UPDATE: New Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 - Private Employment Agents

The Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 responds to evidence of serious exploitation of vulnerable labour hire workers and to inappropriate labour hire business practices, and establishes a mandatory licensing scheme for all labour hire providers operating in Queensland.

Media investigations, and government and parliamentary inquiries brought to light evidence of inappropriate business practices, such as:

underpayment, or non-payment of workers' wages, taxes and superannuation

not providing workers' compensation cover

not providing appropriate safety equipment or training

housing workers in substandard accommodation

forcing workers to use particular travel services at inflated prices

serious mistreatment of workers, including sexual harassment

withholding workers' passports

avoiding responsibilities by creating a new company to continue the business of a company that has been deliberately closed to avoid paying its debts, including employee entitlements and taxation obligations (phoenixing)

undercutting legitimate labour hire businesses as a consequence of not meeting legal obligations to workers and others.

The scheme applies to labour hire providers (Private Employment Agents) operating in Queensland and those who use labour hire services as of April 2018.

Labour hire providers must be licensed to operate in Queensland and users of labour hire services must only use licensed providers.

Labour hire providers are broadly defined as a person (individual or business) that in the course of carrying on a business, supplies to another person a worker to do work. The workers are paid by the supplier for the work they do for the labour hire user.

ISOsafe can help your labour hire agency (Recruitment Agency) comply with these new requirements. The licensing criteria includes compliance with:

Safety and workers' compensation laws

Workplace health and safety laws

Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 (Qld)

Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)

Explosives Act 1999 (Qld)

Heavy Vehicle National Law Act 2012 (Qld)

Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 (Qld)

Radiation Safety Act 1999 (Qld)

Safety in Recreational Water Activities Act 2011 (Qld)

Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)

any other applicable safety law

Corresponding state, territory or Commonwealth laws

Workers' compensation laws

Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld)

Corresponding state, territory or Commonwealth laws

Labour laws

Fair Work Act 2009

Fair Work Regulations 2009

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Who is responsible for enforcing compliance with the new laws?

Labour Hire Licensing Compliance Unit (LHLCU) is responsible enforcing compliance with Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (the Act) and the Labour Hire Licensing Regulation 2018

What are the penalties for offences?

Labour hire providers who do not comply with the Act are liable for a range of penalties. These include fines, suspension or cancellation of a licence and imprisonment.

The most serious offences for labour hire providers are:

providing labour hire services in Queensland without holding a licence

entering into avoidance arrangements.

These offences have a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment, or a fine.

What are Recruitment/Labour Hire (License Holder) Companies ongoing reporting obligations?

These reports will include information on your business, but more specifically:

the number of workers engaged

details on the type of work carried out by the workers, including the industry in which the work was carried out

the locations, in Queensland, where work was carried out by the workers

any accommodation provided to the workers, or any other services

information about the licensee’s compliance with relevant laws for the reporting period

disclosure of any disciplinary action or enforcement action taken

disclosure of any incidents involving a worker notifiable under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011

disclosure of any applications for compensation made by a worker under the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003

Contact ISOsafe today to ensure your Employment Agency complies with the Queensland Labour Hire Licensing Act on 1300 789 132.