I've always taken them to mean:

Method statement - a basic step by step run through of the task steps with no mention of risk or safety measures to take.

Safe System of Work - as the method statement but with safety instructions included with each step as required.

I prefer the later!

They are different docs but you won't necessarily need all 3.

- A RA is needed whenever there is a significant risk to determine what control measures should be put in place. It is your tool for identifying the hazards, the risk and control measures.

- A safe system of work details what procedures should be followed only when the risk cannot be reduced to an acceptable level through other meanss. So for example maintenance or setting up of a machine requires a SSoW to determine what procedures should be followed (lock off tag off etc)

- A method statement is usually only used for construction purposes or installation of plant etc. It may include reference to the RA and control measures but also qualifications of those involved, materials to be used, safety checks on equipment, safe systems of work to follow etc. Often it follows a sequential format (arrived on site, set up safety cones around hazard area, dig hole etc).

Make more sense?????

Of course this forum being what it is you will get many different types of responses to your question and many different definitions of all three things!!! Good luck :-)

Of course the difficulty is that I don't believe that either SSOW or method statement are defined in statute or unless others know otherwise, by precedent. It has been pretty clear to me from looking at the forums over the years that what some people consider to be a SSOW, others may consider to be a MS and vice versa.

I pretty much take the same line as Claire, 'Principles' from memory suggests that a method statement is a step by step sequence of the order in which things need to be done in order for the overall task to be done 'safely' and is usually used for demolition, removal of asbestos etc. It also gives a 'definition' of an SSOW that I personally feel is a bit 'goobbledegookish'. To me a SSOW is a clear instruction from managers to 'workers' on the measures needed in order to complete a task 'safely'.

Alan - that doesn't make UKCG 'right' and of course MS and SSOW can be of any length depending on the complexity of the task and the risks.

In much the same vein as the accident/incident thread, it horses for courses and at the end of the day, it's whatever works for you, and as long as it effectively manages the risk.

I agree with Phil

Its all in a name SSoW - MS - SWP -PJI - and on.

They are all supposed to take salient points from the assessment of the task and the associated risk and convert them into an easily understandable format for the front line chaps to understand - its the imparting of a triparte of information such as hazards/consequences/controls. They should be concise - understandable - succinct and salient.

Method Statements at 15 - 25 pages long - what bit of easily communicable does that fit . make no wonder HSE Practitioners get a bad name allowing such monstrosities into a SMS.

If something needs 25 pages to communicate its no longer a Method Statement - it nearly qualifies as a training course its only a few week short of a Diploma.

The sad thing is there is sometimes a misconception that such documentation is pro active or covers the legislative framework requirement better if it has more in it and there is nothing further from the truth.

A 25 page method statement would take how long to read do you think????????
How long to take in and understand??????

Taking this in its true meaning. a method statement is limited to then task to be performed, that is how to do something, whereas a safe sytem of work is how to achieve several things. It is plain to me that a method statement may be one of several steps in a process and becomes a safe system of work when several metods become a single process. Hope you are with me? Each task is a complementary piecs of a process, they may be distinct parts of the overall process and very imortant to each step but the overall process is what makes the output viable. each step must be measured and covered to achieve the safe system of work which contains several methods of delivering the end product. Hope you are still with me as I am getting a bit confused really. Sorry time to go to bed I think.

This is where H&S gets very confused. The main confusion is between processes and documents recording those processes. Here is my tuppence worth:
- The RA is the process you undergo to decide whether to procedure you are doing is safe (or SFARP). This is a process not a document. It should be recorded, so that people have evidence of what has been done and people can why you have done it. The worker doing the process need not actually see this record.
- A safe system of work is the overall method of doing a process including the controls identified in the risk assessment. Again the employee need not see this document ( or set of documents)
- A method statement (or SOP) is the detailed documents describing what the employee is expected to do. It should include reference to any H&S controls mentioned in the safe system of work. It is his instruction so he must see this document and understand what he is to do and why.
When we had our ‘tame’ HSE inspector in recently and he said that he was not that interested in the risk assessment document. His main concern was what people were actually doing. Only if there was evidence that something was wrong, would he look at the documents.

Oh yeah forgot to say; Method statement = a statement on which method is going to be used.

I'm not being sarky by the way, its just my interpretation of the whole subject which means the same to me. Sorry to disappoint anyone or boffins who thinks completely different.

I'm just a simple layman who likes lay language.

A bit off topic

This is typical of the safety profession, one practitioner trying to show they are cleverer than the last very much in the vein of my dads bigger than your dad. If you follow a previous thread regarding techiosh , grad or chartered its very much the same giving the whole profession a bad press. I had a rejection of a single contractor because he did not hold a first aid certificate. My question was who was he going to carry out first aid on; himself? We cannot agree on the meaning of 3 documents most user deal with on a daily basis, and yet we are supposed to have qualified with the same qualifications..............I despair!!

I haven't read all the replies so forgive me if I am repeating something alread written?

Surely a safe working procedure applies to every workplace as it is the duty of the employer to ensure.

A method statement is a written method of ensuring a particular task is carried out correctly/safely.

iceboy,

IMHO the method statement is as many have stated a document explaining how the task will be conducted, the equipment to be used, the location of the action, the skills and experience of those involved in the task. When assessing the application for a permit for higher risk and sometimes normal risk jobs a MS helps the issuer to understand what, when, who, where, and how will be done.

Based on this information and supported by the RA the PTW issuer can assess if the applicant has sufficient knowledge and understanding of what lays ahead to conduct the task, and if the risks have been mitigated to as low as possible.

The SOP perhaps is a live document which has been developed as a safe way of doing the job, or procedure for any given repetative task. It may also compliment the MS. In islotated tasks this again can and should be developed if the risk warrants such procedure.

Regards

Wizard