Same document, many names · UK

Work method statement, job method statement, SWMS: one document.

Specifications and principal contractors use half a dozen names for the same document: work method statement, job method statement, task method statement, safe system of work statement, and SWMS from Australian-drafted paperwork. Whatever the heading says, UK practice expects the same thing: a step-by-step safe system of work for the task, backed by a risk assessment. SITEPAPERS writes it whichever name your client uses.

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§ 01

The names, decoded

Work method statement and WMS: the standard UK term in many specifications; identical in content to a method statement
Job method statement and task method statement: emphasis on a single task or activity; same structure, same purpose
Safe work method statement (SWMS): an Australian regulatory term that appears in internationally drafted contracts; a UK method statement satisfies the intent
Engineering method statements: for temporary works, lifting plans or structural sequences, expect more detail, named checks and hold points; ours run as complex tasks at £139
Whatever the name, reviewers look for the same content: job facts, sequence with embedded controls, plant and competence, emergency arrangements
The document travels with its risk assessment as RAMS, which is how we write and deliver it

Written to: HSWA 1974 section 2, MHSWR 1999 regulation 3; SWMS is a term from Australian WHS regulations, not UK law. Every document is job-specific; padding is what gets paperwork rejected.

§ 02

How it works

Order and tell us the task

£89 fixed, paid securely by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Then a ten-question intake: the job, the site, your crew and plant, anything unusual.

5 minutes

Written, then signed off

Your RAMS, method statement included, is written for that exact task and reviewed by an SMSTS qualified professional with years running live UK sites.

Within 24h

Send it, get approved, start

Branded PDF plus editable Word, one revision round included. If the principal contractor comments, we turn the revision around.

PDF + DOCX

§ 03

Questions, answered

A contract asks for an SWMS. Is that different from a method statement?

In content, no. SWMS is the Australian regulatory term; the UK equivalent is the method statement within your RAMS. A properly written UK method statement answers the requirement, and we write it to the contract's wording where that helps.

Is a safe system of work the same thing?

The safe system of work is the legal concept: the organised way a task is done safely. The method statement is the document that records it. Reviewers use the terms almost interchangeably.

What makes an engineering method statement different?

Hold points, named checks and interfaces with temporary works or lifting plans. The structure is the same; the sequencing and sign-offs carry more weight, which is why those run as complex tasks at £139 with a longer clock.

Fixed rate, no subscription

Your method statement is inside a full RAMS, back within 24h of your completed intake.

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Also available: the construction phase plan £199 and the full site pack £349