Safe System of Work Plan (SSSP)
What an SSSP is
A Safe System of Work Plan (SSSP) — sometimes called a Site-Specific Safety Plan — documents how the health and safety of a job will be managed: the hazards and risks, the controls, the people responsible, and the emergency and first-aid arrangements. It's closely related to a UK RAMS, pairing a risk assessment with the safe method and site arrangements.
While the plan itself is a widely-used industry practice rather than a named legal form, it's the standard way New Zealand contractors demonstrate they're meeting their legal duties — and it's very often a contractual condition of getting onto a site.
What the law and WorkSafe expect
New Zealand's health and safety system is built on the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) — the most significant reform of the country's workplace safety system in 20 years, passed in the wake of the Pike River mine disaster. It places the primary duty on the PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) to ensure health and safety “so far as is reasonably practicable.”
WorkSafe New Zealand is the regulator. HSWA also emphasises overlapping duties — where more than one business shares a workplace (a principal contractor and subcontractors, say), they must consult, cooperate, and coordinate. An SSSP is how those shared arrangements are written down and agreed.
What an SSSP's risk assessment contains
RiskForms builds the risk-assessment table at the heart of an SSSP with 5×5 initial and residual ratings, plus a dedicated emergency & first-aid arrangements section.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Job step | Each sequential phase of the task, broken into a handful of granular steps. |
| Potential hazards | The specific hazards that could realistically cause harm during that step. |
| Initial risk | The risk rating before controls, scored on a 5×5 likelihood × consequence matrix. |
| Preventive controls | The preventive controls, chosen using the hierarchy of controls. |
| Residual risk | The risk rating after controls are applied — it should be lower than the initial score. |
What a good SSSP covers
Beyond the task risk assessment, a site plan typically pulls these together.
The work & the hazards
A task-by-task risk assessment of the specific work, rated before and after controls.
Roles & responsibilities
Who the PCBU and principal contractor are, and who is responsible for each control.
Emergency arrangements
How to raise the alarm, first-aid provision, emergency contacts, and the muster point.
Consultation
How the businesses sharing the site will coordinate their overlapping duties.
Building your SSSP
The core of the plan is a solid risk assessment: identify the hazards, rate each on a risk matrix, and control them with the hierarchy of controls. Our guide on how to do a risk assessment covers the full method.
RiskForms drafts the risk assessment and emergency arrangements for your task in the New Zealand format — aligned with WorkSafe NZ expectations — so you have a strong, task-specific starting point to review, complete with your site details, and sign.
Official guidance & sources
Always confirm the current requirements with the regulator for your region.
Related documents & guides
OSHA JHA / JSA
SWMS (Australia)Safe Work Method Statement
RAMS (UK)Risk Assessment & Method Statement
SSSP (New Zealand)Safe System of Work Plan
Job Hazard Analysis (Canada)Provincial & federal JHA
How to do a risk assessmentStep-by-step walkthrough
What is a risk assessment?Definition & legal context
Hazard identificationSpotting hazards before work
Risk matrix explained5×5 likelihood × consequence
Hierarchy of controlsElimination through to PPE
Generate your SSSP
Describe the job and get a complete, New Zealand-specific risk assessment and emergency plan in seconds — ready to review and sign.
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