Most people associate SSSPs with construction, but they are used across any industry where work is carried out at a specific site: civil, infrastructure, maintenance, trades, cleaning, landscaping, events, and more. If a principal or client has asked you for an SSSP, you are not alone, and the document itself is not as complicated as it looks.
When Do You Need an SSSP?
There is no single law in New Zealand that says every business must have an SSSP. The requirement almost always comes from the commercial relationship rather than from legislation directly.
You will typically need an SSSP when:
- A principal contractor or main contractor requires one before you can start work on their site
- A tender or procurement process asks for your SSSP as part of the submission
- A prequalification scheme such as SiteWise or Totika requires evidence of site-specific safety planning
- Your own health and safety management system requires one for each new project or site
That said, the legal foundation sits in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Under section 36, every PCBU must manage risks so far as is reasonably practicable. Under section 34, when multiple PCBUs share overlapping duties, each must consult, cooperate, and coordinate with the others. An SSSP is the standard way to document how that happens in practice.
What Goes in an SSSP?
The specific contents depend on the site and the industry, but a typical SSSP covers these areas.
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Project and site details | What the project is, where the site is, the expected duration, and any site-specific conditions (terrain, access, neighbouring risks) |
| Roles and responsibilities | Who is responsible for health and safety on the site: the PCBU, site supervisor, health and safety representative, and key contacts |
| Hazard identification and risk assessment | The specific hazards identified for this site and this scope of work, the assessed risk level for each, and the controls in place |
| Risk controls | How each identified risk is being managed, following the hierarchy of controls (eliminate, minimise, PPE) |
| Emergency procedures | What to do in an emergency: evacuation routes, assembly points, first aid, emergency contacts, and the process for notifying WorkSafe of notifiable events |
| Training and competency | What training, licences, or competencies are required for the work, and how they are verified |
| PPE requirements | What personal protective equipment is required on site and for which tasks |
| Incident reporting | How incidents, near misses, and hazards are reported, recorded, and investigated |
| Worker engagement | How workers are consulted and involved in health and safety decisions on this site, as required by HSWA 2015 |
| Subcontractor management | How subcontractors are inducted, managed, and monitored on site |
| Review and sign-off | When the SSSP will be reviewed, who signs it off, and how changes are communicated |
A good SSSP is typically 20 to 30 pages. It should be specific to the site and the work being done, not a generic template with your company name dropped in. Principals and assessors can tell the difference, and a generic document is more likely to get sent back than accepted.
SSSP vs. Safety Management Plan
People sometimes confuse SSSPs with broader safety management plans or health and safety management systems. They are different things.
| Document | Scope | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| SSSP | One specific site or project | Created for each new job, site, or contract where one is required |
| Safety Management Plan / OHSMS | Your entire business | Ongoing, covers all your operations, updated as the business changes |
The SSSP sits underneath your broader management system. It takes the policies, procedures, and registers from your OHSMS and applies them to a specific site. Without the management system behind it, the SSSP has no foundation. Without the SSSP, the management system has no site-level application.
If you need both, the most efficient approach is to build the management system first and then produce SSSPs from it for each job.
Common Mistakes
- Using a generic template unchanged. Principals and prequalification assessors review SSSPs regularly. A document that reads like a template, with vague references to "the site" and no specific hazards identified, will get rejected or flagged.
- Writing it once and never updating it. An SSSP is a living document. If the scope of work changes, new hazards emerge, or the people on site change, the SSSP needs to reflect that.
- Not involving the people doing the work. HSWA 2015 requires worker engagement. An SSSP written in an office and handed to workers without consultation is both a legal risk and a practical one, because the people on site know hazards the writer may not.
- Treating it as a tick-box exercise. If the SSSP sits in a drawer and nobody on site has read it, it is not managing anything. It exists to be used, not filed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, section 36: primary duty of care requiring every PCBU to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. legislation.govt.nz
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, section 34: duty of PCBUs with overlapping duties to consult, cooperate, and coordinate activities with each other. legislation.govt.nz
- WorkSafe New Zealand, contractor management guidance: guidance on managing overlapping duties when multiple PCBUs work on the same site. worksafe.govt.nz