Safe System of Work: The Complete UK Guide for Construction and High-Risk Industries

A safe system of work is one of the most important concepts in UK health and safety law. It's the foundation for preventing workplace injuries and keeping your team protected on site.

Yet most businesses get it wrong. They either overcomplicate things with excessive paperwork, or treat it as a box-ticking exercise that never gets read. Neither approach protects anyone.

This guide explains what a safe system of work actually is under UK law, how to create one that works in practice, and how it connects to your RAMS documentation.

What Is a Safe System of Work?

A safe system of work (SSOW) is a formal procedure that results from a systematic examination of a task to identify all hazards, and defines safe methods to ensure those hazards are eliminated or risks minimised.

Put simply: it's a step-by-step method for doing a job safely.

The concept comes from Section 2(2)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA), which requires every employer to provide and maintain "systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health."

A safe system of work isn't a single document. It's the combination of:

• Risk assessment — identifying what could go wrong
• Method statement — describing how to do the job safely
• Permits to work — for high-risk activities
• Training and competence — ensuring workers can follow the system
• Supervision — checking the system is being followed

Safe System of Work vs Method Statement vs RAMS

These terms are often used interchangeably, but they're not the same thing:

Term: Safe system of work — What It Is: The overall approach to safe working — Legal Basis: HASAWA 1974 s.2(2)(a)

Term: Risk assessment — What It Is: Identifying hazards and evaluating risks — Legal Basis: MHSWR 1999 reg.3

Term: Method statement — What It Is: Step-by-step safe working procedure — Legal Basis: Best practice (not explicitly required by law)

Term: RAMS — What It Is: Combined risk assessment + method statement — Legal Basis: Industry standard, often contractually required

A RAMS document is the most common way to document a safe system of work. It combines the risk assessment and method statement into a single document that covers both the "what could go wrong" and the "how to do it safely."

UK Legislation Requiring Safe Systems of Work

Several pieces of UK legislation either directly require or support the need for safe systems of work:

Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

The primary legislation. Section 2(2)(a) requires employers to provide and maintain safe systems of work. This is an absolute duty — you must do it, regardless of cost or convenience.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

Regulation 3 requires every employer to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks. Regulation 4 requires employers to implement preventive and protective measures based on the assessment. Together, these regulations form the legal backbone of your safe system of work.

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

Under CDM 2015, contractors must plan, manage, and monitor construction work so it's carried out safely. Regulation 15 specifically requires contractors to ensure work is carried out in accordance with the construction phase plan — which is effectively a safe system of work for the entire project.

Work at Height Regulations 2005

These regulations require a safe system of work for any activity involving working at height. The hierarchy of control (avoid, prevent, minimise) must be documented and followed.

COSHH Regulations 2002

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations require employers to prevent or control exposure to hazardous substances. A COSHH assessment is a specialised safe system of work for chemical hazards.

PUWER Regulations 1998

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations require that all work equipment is suitable, maintained, and used safely. Equipment-related safe systems of work must address these requirements.

When Do You Need a Safe System of Work?

The short answer: always. The HASAWA duty to provide safe systems of work applies to every employer, for every task.

However, the level of formality depends on the risk:

Low Risk Activities

For routine, low-risk tasks (office work, basic cleaning), a verbal briefing and general training may be sufficient. You still need a system — it just doesn't need to be a formal written document.

Medium Risk Activities

For tasks with moderate hazards (working with power tools, manual handling, using ladders), you should have written procedures. This is where RAMS documents become essential.

High Risk Activities

For high-risk work (confined spaces, working at height, hot works, excavation, demolition), you need:

• Formal written RAMS
• Permit to work system
• Specific training and competence checks
• Active supervision
• Emergency procedures

CDM Notifiable Projects

For CDM notifiable projects (lasting more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers, or exceeding 500 person-days), you need a construction phase plan that serves as the overarching safe system of work.

How to Create a Safe System of Work: 5 Steps

Step 1: Assess the Task

Start with a thorough task analysis. Walk the job mentally (or physically) from start to finish:

• What are the work activities involved?
• What materials, substances, and equipment are needed?
• What are the site conditions (height, confined space, ground conditions)?
• Who will be doing the work? What's their competence level?
• What other work is happening nearby?

Step 2: Identify the Hazards

For each activity, identify everything that could cause harm:

• Physical hazards (falls, struck by objects, entanglement)
• Chemical hazards (dust, fumes, hazardous substances)
• Biological hazards (asbestos, legionella, contaminated land)
• Ergonomic hazards (manual handling, repetitive strain)
• Environmental hazards (noise, vibration, temperature extremes)
• Psychological hazards (lone working, fatigue, stress)

Use a risk assessment methodology to evaluate the likelihood and severity of each hazard.

Step 3: Define Control Measures

Apply the hierarchy of control for each hazard:

1. Eliminate — remove the hazard entirely (e.g., prefabricate at ground level)
2. Substitute — replace with something less hazardous (e.g., water-based paint instead of solvent-based)
3. Engineering controls — isolate people from the hazard (e.g., guardrails, LEV systems)
4. Administrative controls — change the way people work (e.g., job rotation, safe procedures)
5. PPE — personal protective equipment as a last resort

Step 4: Write the Method Statement

Document the step-by-step procedure, incorporating your control measures:

• Sequence of operations
• Materials and equipment required
• Control measures for each step
• Emergency procedures
• Competence requirements
• Supervision arrangements

Step 5: Communicate, Implement, and Review

A safe system of work is worthless if nobody follows it. You must:

• Brief all workers before they start (a toolbox talk is ideal for this)
• Check the system is being followed through supervision
• Review and update when conditions change, after incidents, or at regular intervals

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Generic systems copied from the internet. A safe system of work must be specific to your task, site, and team. Generic templates miss site-specific hazards and won't protect you in court.

Writing it after the work is done. The whole point is to plan safe work before it happens. Retrospective RAMS are useless and potentially fraudulent.

Not involving the workers. The people doing the job know the practical realities. Involve them in creating the system — they'll spot hazards you miss and actually follow a procedure they helped create.

Treating it as a one-off. Safe systems of work need regular review. Site conditions change, new hazards emerge, and lessons from incidents should be incorporated.

Overcomplicating it. A 50-page RAMS for painting a fence helps nobody. Match the detail to the risk level. Clear, concise, and practical beats long and exhaustive.

Safe System of Work Examples

Example 1: Roof Repair

A safe system of work for a roof repair would include:

• Risk assessment covering falls from height, fragile surfaces, weather conditions, overhead services
• Method statement with access arrangements (scaffold or MEWP), edge protection requirements, fragile surface exclusion zones, rescue plan
• Permit to work if on a fragile roof
• Evidence of competence (CSCS card, roof work training)
• Working at height controls documented per the hierarchy

Example 2: Electrical Installation

• Risk assessment covering electric shock, arc flash, fire, cable routes
• Method statement with isolation procedures, lock-out/tag-out, testing sequence
• Permit to work for live working (if unavoidable)
• Competence verification (17th/18th Edition qualified)
• References to BS 7671 and Electricity at Work Regulations 1989

Example 3: Demolition Works

• Risk assessment covering structural collapse, dust, noise, asbestos, falling materials
• Method statement with demolition sequence, exclusion zones, structural survey findings
• Pre-demolition asbestos survey (R&D survey)
• CDM 2015 principal contractor plan
• Environmental controls (dust suppression, noise barriers)

How AI Can Help

Creating safe systems of work used to mean hours of writing, research, and formatting. AI RAMS software can now generate task-specific, legislation-compliant documentation in under 2 minutes.

The best AI tools don't just fill in templates. They analyse your specific task description, identify relevant hazards based on the activity type and site conditions, cite the correct UK legislation, and produce professional documentation that's ready for review.

This doesn't replace professional judgement — a competent person should always review AI-generated content. But it dramatically reduces the time from "blank page" to "review-ready draft."

Key Takeaways

• A safe system of work is a legal requirement under HASAWA 1974 for every UK employer
• It's not a single document — it's the combination of risk assessment, method statement, training, supervision, and review
• RAMS documents are the standard way to record safe systems of work in construction and high-risk industries
• The level of formality should match the risk level — from verbal briefings for low risk to formal permits for high risk
• Always make them task-specific, involve the workers, and review regularly
• AI-powered tools can generate professional safe system of work documentation in minutes, giving you more time for the supervision and implementation that actually keeps people safe