SIGNATURES AND WHS REQUIREMENTS COMPLETING SAFETY DOCUMENTS, SUCH AS SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENTS (SWMSs), HAS BECOME A PART OF THE EARLY MORNING RITUAL FOR OUR INDUSTRY. BUT HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO ‘SIGN’ THESE DOCUMENTS? WHERE AND WHEN DO YOU NEED TO OBTAIN SIGNATURES AND WHAT FORMAT IS ACCEPTABLE? Must you sign at all? In New South Wales, whether it is a SWMS, policy, JSA or toolbox talk, there is no explicit requirement for a physical signature to be included on any safety document or SWMS under the Model Work Health and Safety Act or the Work Health and Safety Regulations. There is a requirement for workers to ‘acknowledge’ a confined space entry permit, but that is about as prescribed as it gets. The Model Code of Practice for Construction Work (the Code) provides that an “SMWS may include details of workers who have been consulted on
the SWMS, the date the consultation occurred and the signature of each worker acknowledging their participation in developing the SWMS”.
that must be included, and other information that should be included. Notably, the sample provides a space for workers to sign and date the document.
Safety documents and SWMSs are not legal contracts or deeds, but they can be considered legal documents that are admissible in court. The Code does not express that signatures on SWMSs are a control measure; therefore, when considering the SWMS, the presence or absence of a signature will not be the smoking gun needed to address business owners’ non-compliance.
While the Code does not mandate signatures on SWMSs, it is generally considered that an actual signature from the worker is evidence that they have:
However, the Code includes an example SWMS, which sets out the information
been taken through the SWMS, provided their feedback on the steps, and led to the person conducting a business or undertaking’s (PCBU) assessment that the worker understands the SWMS.
A code of practice is admissible in court proceedings as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control, and to determine what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates. However, compliance with a code is not mandatory, providing that any other method used, provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than a code suggests.
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