Health & Safety Services - Safe Systems of Work

Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) are known by various names e.g. working procedures (WPs), standard operating procedures (SOPs), method statements etc. They are all variations of the same theme which is to accurately document how you consider the work of the company should be done by your employees, particularly with regard to hazardous work processes. Simply put, they are the detailed instructions given to employees to enable them to work safely.

As an employer you are required by law to implement SSOW. These are developed by a process of firstly recognising the significant hazards which are applicable to your workplace, then subjecting each hazard to a risk assessment process. The result of the risk assessment process is the detail used to develop a safe system of work.

SSOW are designed to standardise working practice in order to ensure that no-one gets hurt or injured .When these are developed they should be rigorously implemented. They are the benchmark used to determine fault should an incident occur. Clearly from this perspective it is important to get the balance right between insufficient relevant detail in the SSOW, which expose employees to unsafe working practices, and too much unnecessary detail which would impede efficient working. Our consultants have the training and experience to ensure the balance is right.

Plus Safety recommends that all SSOW are collated in one place and freely available to all employees. This is usually as a manual issued as your H&S Employee Handbook or incorporated into your Company Handbook.

For more information, please contact us or call us on 01257 411 827

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