Rather than a Method Statement you should have a suite of Risk Assessments which identify the significant risks arising from your work activities. The RAs should identify the controls needed to eliminate or reduce the risks through training, instruction, supervision, PPE, etc.

Management could devise a set of work instructions to assist with the control of the aforementioned risks and ensure all personnel are properly trained and familar with the work instructions. 

Originally Posted by: Anneliese1973

However, we dont have anything documented which states the correct way to do it - So had he had a major eye accident, how would we have been able to prove that he was trained properly - I am wondering whether this activity would warrant a documented SSOW/Method Statement, or whether this would be overkill. I would appreciate some advice as I'm really struggling with this

Thanks

I think it would be more appropriate to maintain a training manual where people have been trained correctly by a competant person and then entered into the training matrix, which also shows any further training or improvements.

When you get a new member of staff comes in, how do you let them know how to get the job done?? is it something they do themselves or do you actually show them? Do they come to you as untrained or fully skilled? 

Apart from the Risk assesments which you should do, having a training register is the next phase to show that the employee has been taught to work in the correct fashion with a bid to prevent poor working practices and injuries.

Having said that a review of training should be carried out say every 6 months with an audit to see if further requirements are needed as there will no doublt be some cutting corner incidents which can occur over a period of time, especially with repetition work.

Video the correct procedures / processes using a competent (and co-operative) worker.

Select key parts to either screen grab, or go back and take still shots.

Compile these as part of training / procedure manual, aimed specifically at workers (don't muddle up with risk assessment findings or other management guff). You can show video but it may not be the best way. Still shots allow for notes, arrows, highlighting etc. 

Make this the induction & training process and have competency 'signed off' by supervisors.

Supervisors to supervise (I know - really!) all work activities and correct any observed mis-application or mis-underhearing (!). Retrain where necessary.

Job done.

People will still 'do their own thing' occasionally - you will never be able to prevent everything. Once you have done everything 'reasonably practicable' yet something as you say goes wrong - that is where your insurance kicks in.

You will find little on 'method statements' on HSE website, as these are just refined forms of SSOW / SOPs and their proliferation is down to the construction industry and contractor management as much as anything.

I do not think this is necessary or appropriate in this case.

Anneliesse By asking "how would we have been able to prove that he was trained properly" it implies that you are most interested in blaming the individual for having an accident.  I presume that is not really your intention.

Assuming you actually want to prevent these types of accident you really need to understand why did the incident occur? I am assuming that this was a routine task for the person.  Was this the first time that this person had used the wrong tool or do they do it regularly?  Is this the only person who would do this or would everyone?

You say the person had been trained properly, so more training will not be the answer.  Writing down how to do the task may help with ensuring consistency in training, but if the person is performing the task every day/continually, they will not be reading any instructions. Again, use of video may help with training, but as before it appears that training was not actually the problem.

As above, the answer will depend on if this was a routine or one-off event.